Steve Mann (7)

American songwriter and guitarist (May 2, 1943 - September 9, 2009, San Pablo, California, USA). As a student at Valley State College in Los Angeles, Mann began to perform folk music at hootenannies and clubs like The Ash Grove, Los Angeles and The Troubadour. He became accquainted with a number of musicians in the folk music scene, including Hoyt Axton, Judy Henske, Gail Garnett, Jimmy Rubin, and Terry Wadsworth. He also began accompanying Janis Joplin on guitar and they performed at open mics around the Los Angeles area. Mann was also a fixture on the 1960s San Francisco rock scene, playing with Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa, and members of Grateful Dead. Around 1967 Mann suffered a mental breakdown and went into partial retirement. In 2003 Mann moved to Berkeley, California where he began to perform again with the help of friends Will Scarlett and Janet Smith. Mann continued to play locally in Berkeley until shortly before his death in 2009.