- Carl Mann
Carl Mann (b. Aug. 22, 1942,
Huntingdon, Tennessee ) is an Americanrockabilly singer and pianist.Mann was raised in rural Tennessee; his parents owned a
lumber business. He sang in church and did country songs for local talent shows, playing guitar and piano. In 1957, he released his first single onJaxon Records , "Gonna Rock and Roll Tonight" b/w "Rockin' Love". Several further singles on Jaxon followed, after whichCarl Perkins ' drummer,Bill Holland , became Mann's manager, signing him toSun Records . [http://wc06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:a9fexq85ldhe~T1 Biography] , Allmusic.com] Sun ownerSam Phillips signed Mann to a three-year contract, and soon after Sun released Mann'srockabilly version ofNat King Cole 's "Mona Lisa". Mann andConway Twitty both released single versions of the tune at the same time, and both charted; it was sixteen-year-old Mann's first hit, peaking at #24 on the US Black Singles chart and #25 on theBillboard Hot 100 in 1959. [http://wc06.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:a9fexq85ldhe~T5 Chart Positions] , Allmusic.com]Mann's follow-up singles were less successful; he covered several pop standards, but the only charting hit was 1959's "
Pretend ", which peaked at #57 Pop. An LP, "Like Mann", was released in 1960 but did not sell well, and Mann began to drift from the business. He did a stint in the Army in 1964, and then released a single, "Down to My Last I Love You", onMonument Records ; after it failed, he returned to family life and battled problems withalcoholism .Mann returned as a country artist in 1974, releasing singles on ABC and Dot. His 1976 single "Twilight Time" scraped the US Country Singles chart, peaking at #100. In 1977, he landed a deal with Dutch record label
Rockhouse Records , who released a live/studio split "Gonna Rock'n'Roll Tonight" in 1978 and "In Rockabilly Country" in 1981. He toured occasionally inEurope in the 1980s, (also in 2007 see http://youtube.com/watch?v=fIkGuXU_eO8) but eventually returned once again to running the family logging outfit.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
