A benefit for Harvey ‘the Snake’ Mandel

A benefit for Harvey ‘the Snake’ Mandel

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Harvey 'the Snake' Mandel

Harvey “the Snake” Mandel is a legend on the Chicago blues scene, having done time as a member of Canned Heat, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, and the Chicago Blues Reunion, as well as being celebrated as “the king of sustain” and the man who perfected hammer-on’s while Eddie Van Halen still was in short pants.

Now, Mandel is suffering from an aggressive form of nasal cancer that originally was mis-diagnosed as a broken nose. Family and friends are hoping to raise $80,000 to cover medical expenses, and to that end, they’re throwing a benefit starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Suite Live Lab (Huron and Wells) that will include a celebrity-studded jam and an auction with signed guitars from Carlos Santana, Keith Richards (Mandel played with the Stones on Black and Blue), and the Ventures, among other priceless goodies.

More information can be found here.

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