Black Sheep | Interview | “It was wild”

A Rochester, New York-based band Black Sheep released two fantastic hard rock records in the 1970s.

---

Don Mancuso is guitarist and songwriter best known for his role as guitarist and co-writer for Black Sheep as well as The Lou Gramm Band and The Voice of Foreigner. He also has a successful solo career and continues to work with many different musicians.

“It was wild”

You were very young when you joined the Black Sheep. Would you like to tell us what the scene was like in Rochester? Was there a certain moment that influenced you to pick up guitar?

Don Mancuso: It was the same as most cities in the US. Great place for music with the Eastman School of Music and Hochstein. Lots of talent in the area, bands and musicians. Yes, my parents wanted me to learn guitar at eight years old and bought me my first guitar from Sears. I got a year’s worth of lessons and learned the basics. I stopped for another year, or two thinking baseball was my calling and rediscovered it and got the bug again when I was in 7th grade seeing a live band in our gymnasium. Was amazing seeing that you could do that and I was hooked. I’d been listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix Experience and loved it.

Did you play in any other local bands before joining Black Sheep? 

Oh yes! My first band with a few friends… We’d ride our mini bikes in the woods and then play for hours. I can’t remember the name of that band. Then we had a band and got serious enough to start playing out at local tennis court dances and schools. Maelstrom was the name. We played in one of our neighbors’ basement for a year, or two getting it together. We played an outdoor show in a schoolyard on a flatbed truck on a beautiful day. My dad had just bought me my first Marshall 50 amplifier with an 8X10 bottom and I had it cranked! Sounded amazing… the bass player for Black Sheep was sleeping on his girlfriend’s couch after being in Massachusetts and lost their guitarist. He came over and asked me if I’d be interested in auditioning for the band. I said yes of course, because they were local legends and a great band and I got the gig.

It must have been quite exciting to be so young having just signed a deal with Chrysalis. How did this come about? Did you play a lot of shows or where did the label find you?

I was pulled out of high school and did the bar circuit in Rochester, Buffalo and Massachusetts for a year, or two until we had an A&R call us and start the wheels rolling to get into NYC to play Max’s Kansas City in front of several labels and Chrysalis wanted to sign us as their first American act. We recorded one single and were dropped from the label. Sales weren’t what they expected.

Tell us about ‘Stick Around’ / ‘Cruisin’ (For Your Love)’ single. What do you remember from recording it and where did you record it?

We recorded it at the Record Plant in NYC during their off hours on a Sunday to save money. It was during the gas crisis when they were shutting down gas stations on the weekends. We had to fill a 55 gallon drum in the back of our equipment truck with the gear and siphon gas into the truck and my Chevy van that we were traveling in to get there and record it. It was during the winter and really cold from what I remember. We were determined to say the least.

How come an album followed on Capitol then?

When we were dropped our management shopped us and got us a three record deal with Capitol Records within weeks.

What’s the story behind your debut album? Where did you record it? What kind of equipment did you use and who was the producer? How many hours did you spend in the studio?

We had half the material ready and wrote the other half in Rochester. We decided it should be a self-titled album and returned to the Record Plant in NYC with our manager/producer Stuart Allan Love and an engineer Ed Sprigg. The cover was a picture and designed by Richard DiLello who wrote The Beatles book The Last Cocktail Party. We used all of the latest technology, 24-track analog to ¼” tape masters. Marshall amps, mellotron, grand piano, Hammond B3, Lesies tone cabinets, Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker guitars. State of the art microphones and more. It took 40-60 hours recording it. We stayed at a beach house in Long Island and commuted every day.

“We did the delays by putting the amp at the top of the stairway”

What kind of pedals, effects et cetera did you use?

Pedals weren’t around to us at that point, so straight into the amp. Effects were whatever the studio had…delay, reverb tank.. We did the delays by putting the amp at the top of the stairway and placing mics at each floor going down to get the timing… It was wild and worked very well!

What was the songwriting process like within the band? Did you just get together and jam or? 

Actually, yes. We’d have an idea that was developed by someone, or two in the band and work on it at practice. Or just start playing with an idea and do the reverse.

Did the band tour to support the LP?

Yes. We toured with everyone from Blue Öyster Cult, Ten Years After, Hall & Oats to Kiss and more…

What do you recall from working on your second album, ‘Encouraging Words’? What would you say was the main difference from your debut?

It was much easier having the first album experience and the main difference was our new drummer allowed us to keep more space in the music.

How come you decided to split so soon? After all, you were doing quite okay overall?

Well, we had been through watching ourselves being mismanaged and three truck accidents that destroyed all of our equipment. We were broke and didn’t see any way to go on.

What followed for you? You also played in Cheater. Tell us more about that.

I tried to quit playing and moved to California and got a two year degree in music, I ended up coming back to Rochester to first form a rock band with a keyboard player I’d met in California and wanted to play with. We recorded a demo and played a few gigs. Then I formed a fusion band called Aurora with my long time friends Pat Petrone, Greg Brown and the drummer that did not get the gig for the second album in Black Sheep and is now playing with Billy Sheehan in Talas V2 Mark Miller. Cheater came after that and was signed to a label in Buffalo and released the EP ‘Ten Cent Love Affair’ and went on to be a super successful venture due partly to Lou’s success in Foreigner.

What was it like to go to school for classical guitar? 

Difficult. I was trained in rock, blues and R&B. I had to learn a whole new way of playing, which really benefited my technique and skills.

You built your own studio as well?

Yes, I discovered that if I wanted to continue writing and recording I would never be able to afford doing it at big studios. I also went back to school and got my degree in Electrical Engineering so that I could afford to repair/maintain and run all of the gear I needed.

Is there any unreleased material by the Black Sheep?

No.

Tell us about the solo albums you did. What was that like for you?

It was amazing, inspirational and the most work I’ve ever put into anything. I had the support of many great musicians including Lou Gramm (Grammatico). I learned more than I had ever learned in prior projects about writing, recording, collaboration and audio engineering. DDrive achieved a large worldwide following and was very successful both live and in the studio. It was the title of my second solo album and became the name of the group after Lou left. We put out our latest album under the name Lips Turn Blue on MIG Records out of Germany. It reached #69 on the charts in Germany. Our singer and my long time writing partner and friend Phil Naro passed away before it was released. We promised him it would be released and it was some of his greatest work. I miss him dearly…

What was it like for you to be part of The Lou Gramm Band?

Exciting at first. Playing in front of thousands and being treated like royalty. The novelty wore off after a few years realizing that I was just in another cover band. We then wrote and recorded Lou’s first Christian Rock album ‘The Lou Gramm Band’ on Frontier Records and I contributed 60-70% of the music, which was awesome and breathed new life into it for me.

Can you share some further words about your recent DDrive album?

It was a labor of love doing it during the pandemic and being forced to be isolated to do it. We found ways of making it better, but it was the hardest album I’ve ever done sitting alone in my studio with only Zoom calls to collaborate with the others. It was slated to be the next DDrive album, but there was another band named DDrive in Japan that had gained more followers with social media and YouTube and a beautiful and amazing shredder named Yuki. So we changed the name as requested by our record company. We still own the name, but they can use it in a different form. There’s some amazing songs on the album from both my second solo album, the first DDrive album ‘Straight Up The Middle’ and new songs written for the album by myself, Phil Naro and Eric Beiber, the keyboard player.

What’s next for you?

Well, still writing and recording although with the loss of my main writing partner I haven’t really been motivated to finish much and get it out. That coupled with the fact that new music is not really doing much for me. Generated mostly by machines and computers… doesn’t take a lot of talent to do a simple song, do a YouTube video and if you’re good looking become famous. I just completed an EP with Lisa Gee. It was produced by Carmine Appice (Beck, Bogart & Appice, Rod Stewart many more) and he played drums on it as well along with bassist James LoMenzo of Megadeth. I am working on my next solo album with my friend Regi Hendrix as a co-writer. He’s a second cousin of Jimi and an amazing artist and musician. I’m also working with the guys from Lips Turn Blue on a possible second album which will be on a different label in America. Most of my playing and time now are going to be playing live in a few tribute bands and having my own little group doing acoustic duo’s, trio’s and band with myself doing more of the vocal work. I’d like to do a book as well. I’ve had a lot of good stories come my way with the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met and played with.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band? Which songs are you most proud of? Where and when was your most memorable gig?

There are way too many to put in words here! But probably the Ten Years After Tour with Alvin Lee and the Kiss Alive tour with Black Sheep. A local TV show in Rochester with Aurora which I just saw a copy of that Mark Miller had. Playing the Lilac Festival in front of 7,000 people in Rochester for the release of my second solo album. Doing the Rock Meets Classic Tour of Europe with Lou, Ian Gillan (Deep Purple), Dan McCafferty (Nazareth) and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. The Jingle Bell Rock Tour with Eddie Money, Lou Gramm and Micky Thomas. And I can not forget the 8th grade talent show with my son Donald! 500 screaming kids… it was like being at The Beatles first show in the States!! I have it up on my Youtube channel with a lot of other stuff. Songs I’m Most proud of are… too many to list!

What would be the craziest gig you ever did?

Easy! Black Sheep got a last minute call to play the New York Academy of Music in NYC opening for one of our heroes Peter Frampton (before he got really huge with the ‘Live’ album!). His opening act cancelled because they just had a huge hit on the radio and went to do their own tour. They were called Montrose with Sammy Hagar! Unfortunately Montrose was the “DRAW” and we were booed off stage during the one and only performance I’ve ever been booed off stage at in… thank god…

What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?

Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Paul Kossoff, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and many others.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.

I’d just like to thank you and your readers for giving me this opportunity and hope that you look through my many sessions and records I’ve appeared on to find new music that you enjoy. PLEASE support original music!!

Klemen Breznikar

---

Don Mancuso Official Website / Facebook / Twitter  / YouTube