Hollywood Fats

Michael Leonard Mann (March 17, 1954 – December 8, 1986), known as Hollywood Fats, was an American blues guitarist, active in Los Angeles, California.

Biography Hollywood Fats was born in Los Angeles and started playing guitar at the age of 10. While in his teens, his mother would drive him to various clubs in South Central Los Angeles to jam with well-known blues musicians when they came to town. Hollywood Fats' father was a doctor and his siblings went on to become doctors and lawyers. He met Buddy Guy and Junior Wells who gave him the nickname. Hollywood Fats toured with James Harman, Jimmy Witherspoon, J. B. Hutto, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King.

During the 1970s and 1980s, he worked with the blues harmonica player and singer James Harman.

Hollywood Fats also played with a non-blues band called Dino's Revenge from 1985 until 1986. He recorded three songs with Dino's Revenge as well as playing several live performances. The band consisted of Marshall Rohner of T.S.O.L. as well as Kevan Hill, Butch Azevedo, and Steven Ameche, all of The Twisters.

Hollywood Fats died of a heart attack in 1986 in Los Angeles at the age of 32, the day after a show at the Music Machine in West Los Angeles. The attack was drug-induced. In addition to being a known user of hard drugs, fats had a very unhealthy diet.

Band reunion Around 2002, the remaining original members of the Hollywood Fats Band were reunited with young Kirk Fletcher on guitar, and recorded some new material. The first of the recordings came out on Al Blake's solo album Dr. Blake's Magic Soul Elixir released in 2002. This new version of the band started calling themselves the "Hollywood Blue Flames". They have released three albums under their new name for Delta Groove Productions. Their first album in 2005 was called Soul Sanctuary. The second album Road To Rio comes with a bonus CD titled Larger Than Life which consists of previously unreleased live recordings of the original Hollywood Fats Band. The third album Deep In America also has a bonus CD titled Larger Than Life, Vol. 2 which consists of more previously unreleased live recordings of the original band.

Discography With John Lee Hooker Free Beer and Chicken (ABC, 1974)