Darrell Mansfield

    Darrell Mansfield

    Also credited as Darrell Mansfield Band, Darrell Mansfield Blues Band, Mansfield

    Fullerton, California10 reviews across 9 releases

    bluesblues rockgospel blueshard rock
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    Darrell Mansfield is a California gospel-blues musician who began in 1974 with the Christian country-rock group Jubal, later renamed Gentle Faith. He formed the Darrell Mansfield Band in 1977, developing a style that joined Southern rock force to Christian lyrics and prominent harmonica. The 1980 debut Get Ready is a hard-rocking record whose midtempo songs carry a Southern dual-guitar attack, while "Heaven Southwestern" pushes the concert energy to its peak. Mansfield then moved toward older blues forms. Trimmed and Burnin' reduces the music to voice, harmonica and steel guitar, using simple structures and direct religious lyrics. With Glenn Kaiser, Slow Burn keeps that acoustic basis but sounds looser and more personal, with shared vocals and a raw, porch-like recording style.

    In 1999, Live in Europe appeared under a different band credit, reflecting changes in its guitar and bass players; Live on Tour followed in 2000 with another live set built around familiar songs and Mansfield's stage energy. Mansfield continued recording and touring internationally, while also contributing harmonica and vocals to other musicians' work. A suicide attempt in 2000 led to two years at Atascadero State Hospital. In 2009 he founded the Darrell Mansfield Gospel & Blues Society, an organization focused on gospel and blues performance. By 2017, dementia had ended his performing career. Mansfield is no longer performing.

    9 releases reviewed