Biography of Lee Michaels

One of the most interesting second-division California psychedelic musicians, keyboardist Lee Michaels was one of the most soulful white vocalists of the late '60s and early '70s. Between 1968 and 1972, he released half a dozen accomplished albums on A&M that encompassed Baroque psychedelic pop and gritty white, sometimes gospel-ish, R&B with equal facility. A capable songwriter, Michaels was blessed with an astonishing upper range, occasionally letting loose some thrilling funky wails; for a time he played, live and in the studio, with the mammoth drummer "Frosty" as his only accompanist. In 1971, he landed a surprise Top Ten single with "Do You Know What I Mean," one of the best and funkiest AM hits of the early '70s, but Michaels was really much more of an album-oriented artist. His albums for Columbia in the mid-'70s were both commercial and critical disappointments, and he's rarely performed or recorded since. ~ Richie Unterberger