Flesh & Blood — Blues For Daze (1997)

Flesh & Blood — Blues For Daze (1997) is a compact blues-rock record assembled by seasoned studio musicians that slipped under the mainstream radar but still rewards fans who like soulful singing and rootsy arrangements.

Mark Mangold, known for his keyboard work with American Tears, Touch, Drive and She Said, wrote the songs while pitching material to Paul Rodgers. Rodgers’ short-lived project The Law recorded only one of those songs, "For A Little Ride," on their 1991 debut, leaving Mangold with a bundle of blues-tinged tunes he would shape into a full album six years later.

The Flesh & Blood line-up reads like a who’s-who of hard-rock pedigrees: guitarist Al Pitrelli (ex-Alice Cooper/Savatage/Asia, later Megadeth), drummer Chuck Bonfante (Saraya), bassist Mitch DeStefano and, at the last minute, singer Danny Vaughn (Waysted/Tyketto). Mangold handled keyboards and arrangements, leaning hard into Hammond textures on tracks such as "Man Enough" and "Shake Ya Tail Feather."

The record favors lean, rootsy grooves over arena bombast. The title track carries a swaggering pace, while "Feel The Power" opens with a muscular, Cry Of Love-ish stomp that Mangold later revisited with his side project The Magic Freak Society in 2004. Intimate moments like "Bed Of Roses" and "Jenny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore" show a softer, more reflective side; "Voodoo Moon" flirts with a Cajun tinge.

Pitrelli, more often associated with metal, keeps his solos tastefully measured; his playing peaks on the gospel-tinged climax of "Sweet Sister Rose." Vaughn’s vocals were added after the basic tracks were finished, replacing an unnamed original singer — a detail Mangold and Vaughn have chosen not to reveal.

“We got to kick out Feel The Power and Jenny Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which was a fantastic experience,” Danny told Classic Rock.

Because members had other commitments, Flesh & Blood didn’t tour; the album stayed a collectors’ discovery until a 2021 reissue on Bad Reputation Records, when the band reconvened to add two new cuts: the new song "Ready To Roll" and an acoustic take on "Riverside" featuring Vaughn on acoustic guitar and blues harp. For anyone digging late‑90s roots rock that refuses to sound dated, Blues For Daze is worth tracking down.