Assuming it was indeed a tax scam label (speculation on my part), judging by the dates for the Mandala catalog
(1972), Robert John Gallo appears to have been a pioneer in this area, beating competitors like Dellwood,
Guinness, and Tiger Lily to the IRS write-off punch by some five years.
This isn't a label I've done a great deal of research on, but it seems unlikely that most of these artists had any
notion their work was being released. That seems to be underscored by an email I received from a member
of one of the bands released by Mandala:
"I was in the band "Mud in Your Eye" who did the album "Million" that you have shown on your page. We
were a band formed with myself, Barry Taylor, Ronny Altaville and John Scaduto (from Aesop's Fables) and
Tony D'nofrio. Louis Lofredo was our manager and brought us into his studio on Long Island and gave us
free studio time. Bob Gallo engineered all our stuff. As far as I knew, the stuff was never released."
Jimmi Accardi February 2011
There are also some interesting overlaps with the Guinness tax scam label.
- In addition to the albums on Mandala, Gallo released several solo albums on Guinness.
- Ben E. King had an album released on Guinness ("Rebirth")
- The Vibrations had an album released on Guinness ("Good Vibrations")
- Sum Pear had an album released on Guinness ("Sum Pair")
Recent changes:
- November 12, 2015 added photo of Canada LP (thanks to James Baird)
| LP cover | Artist | LP Title | Label | Catalog | Year | Grading |
Genre |
 |
Canada | What's So Good About Feeling Good | Mandala | MANX 002 | 1972 | rock | rock |
 |
Mud In Your Eye | Million | Mandala | MANX 003 | 1972 | rock |
 |
Rainy Days | Good Time Sunshine | Mandala | MANX 004 | 1972 | VG+ / VG+; Australian pressing | rock |
 |
Robert John Gallo | Painted Poetry | Mandala | MLP 3005 | 1972 | pop | rock |
 |
Vibrations, The | Taking a New Step | Mandala | MLP 3006 | 1972 | soul |
 |
Ben E. King | Beginning of It All | Mandala | MLP 3007 | 1972 | soul |
 |
Ben E. King | Audio Biography | Mandala | MLP 3008 | 1972 | soul | soul |
 |
Robert John Gallo | Audio Biography | Mandala | MLP 3009 | 1972 | pop | rock |
 |
Aesops Fables | Pickin' Up the Pieces | Mandala | ST-14001 | 1972 | VG / VG+; small punch out hole top right corner; Canadian pressing |
rock |
 |
A New Place To Live | A New Place To Live | Mandala | SKAO 14003 | 1972 | VG+ / VG+; gatefold sleeve | rock |
 |
Bernard Backman | Portrait of a Man | Mandala | 6962 | 1969 | Christian |
 |
Sum Pear | Bring Me Home America | Mandala | 1972 | rock |
 |
Don Lorusso | The Best of Don Lorusso | Mandala | 1972 | pop |
 |
Robert John Gallo | Compositions | Mandala | 1972 | r | pop |
 |
Robert John Gallo | I was a King | Mandala | 1972 | unknown |
 |
Patrick Norman | Reunion | Mandala | 1972 | unknown |
 |
Bernard Backman | Portrait of a Woman | Mandala | LPS-1001 | folk |
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