Mannheim Steamroller

Mannheim Steamroller is an "18th century classical rock"/New Age group founded by Chip Davis, and co-founded by Jackson Berkey, well-known for their modern recordings of Christmas music.

Mannheim Steamroller is an "18th century classical rock"/New Age group founded by Chip Davis, and co-founded by Jackson Berkey, well-known for their modern recordings of Christmas music.

Mannheim Steamroller actually began as an alias for record producer/composer, Chip Davis. Before the fame of Steamroller, Davis had been best known for creating the country music character "C.W. McCall" (of "Convoy" fame) for his friend Bill Fries. And even before Davis "made" McCall a star, he produced an unusual album of classical music performed entirely by Davis, and musical collaborator Jackson Berkey, using electric bass and synthesizers. Since no major label would handle its distribution, Davis founded his own music label, American Gramaphone (a play on the classical record label Deutsche Grammophon), to release the album. The result, Fresh Aire, was released under the pseudonym Mannheim Steamroller, in the hopes of the album being a best seller.