Snake Box

At long last guitarist Harvey "The Snake" Mandel gets some respect in his home country. Mandel has played with everyone. Beginning in the 1960s, he played with the Barry Goldberg-Steve Miller Blues Band and Charlie Musselwhite' he moved on to Canned Heat (his third gig with them was at Woodstock), then to Graham Bond and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He has also played with the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and literally a hundred others. Like Jeff Beck, who also prefers a low profile, Mandel pioneered his own sound and it's instantly recognizable no matter what he happens to be playing. This set collects the first five of his 12 solo albums and as a bonus contains a rarity. While there isn't a weak record in the bunch, some shine more brightly than others. His debut, Cristo Redentor, was recorded in both San Francisco and Nashville and features Goldberg-Miller bandmates, Dan Healy as one of its engineers, and Kenny Buttrey and Pete Drake, among others. 1969's Righteous has string and horn