Cosmic Guitar Gurus
Saturday 30 May 2009 (Part 2)
- Harvey Mann - From Underdog to Living Force - Pt 2 of Cosmic Guitar Gurus
- In his early teens Harvey Mann left his hometown of Mt Maunganui and arrived in Auckland to form the McGee St Underdogs. (duration: 23′27″)
from (04 Jun 2009)
The Harvey Mann story - From Underdog to Living Force
Pig, Mann & Edwards aka the final version of the Underdogs
From left to right: Neil Edwards on bass, Harvey Mann on guitars and Glen Absolum on drums. Edwards joined Human Instinct while Absolum and Mann went on to form Space Farm and then Living Force. Photo courtesy of Neil Edwards
In his early teens Harvey Mann left his hometown of Mt Maunganui where he’d been playing in a rock ’n roll band and, with another local musician Archie Bowie, arrived in Auckland to form the McGee St Underdogs.
They were soon belting out raw British influenced rhythm and blues in Auckland’s top nightclubs. They recorded a couple of albums, toured extensively and appeared on TV shows. Among their hit singles was the John Mayall cover Sitting in the Rain.
There were many several versions of the Underdogs and Mann recorded and played with the first and the last.
His evolving guitar style captured the imagination of many punters who were impressed by his expertise at the fret board. When he formed his next unit Space Farm, he was given suitable Clapton-like recognition with graffiti scrawled on a high profile Auckland wall that simply said ‘Mann is god’.
Mann was however always interested in expanding his knowledge of his instrument and began to shun the lifestyle that is often associated with rock ’n roll for a more philosophical and even spiritual approach to his craft. This became evident in many of the songs of Living Force, where he was joined by his friend Eddie Hansen, also on guitar, who had previously been with acid rock unit Ticket.
Both Living Force and Space Farm drew capacity crowds around the country but recorded only one album each; both are now considered among the most rare and collectable LPs in Kiwi music’s rich past.
Produced by Keith Newman for Radio New Zealand National
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