5 4 3 2 1 (Manfred Mann) (LP 3056 - 3070)

Manfred Mann  The Hits (CD, BR Music Records, ?) ****  

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1972 - this copy a reissue in 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Glorified Magnified (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1972) ***** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Messin' (Vinyl, Vertigo Records, 1973) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Get Your Rocks Off (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1973) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Solar Fire (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1973) ***** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  The Good Earth (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1974 - reissue from 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Nightingales & Bombers (Vinyl, bronze Records, 1975) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  The Roaring Silence (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1976) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Live in America (CD, The Store For Music, 2007) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Watch (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1978) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Angel Station (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1979) **** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Chance (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1980) *** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Somewhere In Afrika (Vinyl, Bronze Records, 1982) *** 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band  Criminal Tango (Vinyl, Virgin Records, 1986) **

Genre: Pop, Prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Amoeba Records, Spellbound Wax Co.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: I'm Gonna Have You All (Glorified Magnified)

Gear costume: Joybringer (Solar Fire); Blinded By The Light (Live in Budapest)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I have a ridiculous number of Manfred Mann Earth Band albums. A ridiculous number! But before I get to them, I need to acknowledge Manfred Mann, the band that started it all off. And to do so, I need to break my rule about including compilations in this cavalcade through my collection.

Manfred Mann (the band is named after the keyboardist) started out as a singles band. The group was blessed with two exceptional lead vocalists - Paul Jones (1962 to '66) and then Mike d'Abo ('66 - '69). Jones ended up in The Blues Band, which I've already included on this blog).

This band was a bit like John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in the way it was a proving ground for a large number of other musicians like Mike Hugg, Tom McGuiness, Jack Bruce, and Klaus Voormann.  

I have three greatest hits compilations to choose from - This is...Manfred Mann (Vinyl), The Very Best of Manfred Mann (CD) and the one I've chosen.

It includes in its 22 tracks material from 1964 to 1969 so it's the most comprehensive of the three. I also like the way it's chronological in approach so you can trace their development.

The band was pretty cunning in covering seminal artists like Barry/Greenwich, Goffin/King, Bacharach/David, Bob Dylan and Randy Newman. Of course, Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered a couple of Bruce Springsteen's early songs with great success but we'll get to them later.

The hits were aplenty for Manfred Mann: Oh No Not My Baby; Pretty Flamingo; If You Gotta Go, Go Now; Just Like A Woman; Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones; Ha! Ha! Said The Clown; Mighty Quinn; My Name Is Jack; Fox On the Run; and Ragamuffin Man are all on The Hits. Phew! See what I mean! A singles band.

Manfred Mann Chapter Three were formed before The Earth Band came into existence in 1971. I don't have either of their albums (from 1969 and 1970) but I'd be keen if I ever spotted them. Apparently, they are more jazz-fusion than pop/rock and I lurve jazz-fusion.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band got under way with their first self-titled album in 1972 and it's pretty experimental/prog oriented. Again - right up my street. A Dylan song from the Basement Tapes era is included, as well as a Randy Newman tune but the rest are mostly self-written things.

The band at this point was, apart from Manfred: Mick Rogers (guitar, lead vocals); Colin Pattenden (bass) and Chris Slade (drums). This was the stable group until The Roaring Silence (1976)

Glorified Magnified was a second album for 1972 and with the same lineup. If anything, it's better than their debut. It's a tad more together and the confidence oozes from the band. It's also a lot heavier. The riff to I'm Gonna Have You All is a classic hard rock one but then it ends with Manfred going to town on his keyboards until the bass riff returns before the abrupt (but appropriate) end. All of the bands strengths are on display.

A Dylan song is included too - It's All Over Baby Blue. The team does their creative thing and it well and truly becomes a Manfred Mann's Earth Band song. Mick Rogers sings it really well and the augmented instrumentation is superb.

All up, Glorified Magnified is a stunning album which lives up to its title boast. 

Next up were two albums in 1973 - the band worked hard! Yes, two rather than three because Messin' (released in the UK) and Get Your Rocks Off (USA) are basically the same album - there's only one track that is different to suit the American market. The second album of 1973 was The Good Earth.

Okay, so Messin'. The boys were riding a creative wave as Messin' is another terrific album. Some topical subject matter is addressed - 'we're messin' up... the land/sea/air/you and me', and done with a prog sensibility. And it works!

The Dylan song this time out is the obscure Get Your Rocks Off from The Basement Tapes. It's pretty cool as the guys tear into it as if they were channeling Deep Purple! Although there is nothing showy or flash about Mick's guitar or Manfred's keyboard style.

They also cover Black and Blue, a song by Australian band Chain. Coincidentally, next up after MMEB are albums by Phil Manning and Matt Taylor of that band.

Solar Fire was that most prog rock of things - a concept album. This time I get it because it's simply a set of songs build around cosmology. It's also heavily instrumental in its approach so it's very accessible. Given all that, it still has a Dylan song - Father of Day Father of Night to kick things off. Of course it does. This is Manfred Mann's Earth Band, after all.

The whole thing works spectacularly well. It even has a hit single in Joybringer. I have the US version of the album - most of those albums all had different covers/ labels/ even song selections for UK and US releases which makes it quite confusing at times. Stunning album though in whatever format you have it.

The Good Earth came out with a nifty publicity gambit. The front cover reveals that early owners of each copy of the album were 'entitled to rights over 1 square foot of the earth situated at Llanerchyrfa in the County of Brecon, in Wales'. 

The inner sleeve included a coupon that had to be sent for registration. There was no swindle and thousands of fans were registered. Registration could be done on or before 31 December 1975. So, too late for me who caught up with the joys of MMEB well after that date.

As for the actual album? It's another excellent example of British hard rock/ prog rock. Shock horror - there is no Dylan cover on this album!!

Although often compared to King Crimson in these early albums, I find MMEB more melodic, less defiant in their approach. They are certainly progressing/ experimenting but these guys are no show offs. Manfred is no Keith Emerson, and Mick is no Ritchie Blackmore (or Robert Fripp). Instead, they have their own confident/ compact/ tasteful style.

Nightingales & Bombers was the last album to feature Mick Rogers for a while (he would return for Criminal Tango in 1986). This was a breakthrough album as the songs were shorter and more poppy in nature. It was also the album that housed the cover of Springsteen's Spirit In The Night, which became a big hit for the band.

There were two new members on board for The Roaring Silence in 1976 to replace Mick Rogers: Chris Thompson (a Kiwi) in on vocals/guitar; Dave Flett lead guitar. It was a case of instant success as lead track and single - a cover of Springsteen's Blinded By The Light, went crazy and went to Number One on Billboard.

The rest of the album is MMEB on top form throughout. As one critic wrote - The Roaring Silence basks in veiled poetry, cryptic but at the same time intriguing, verging on the complexities of progressive rock but far from its pretentiousness.

Live in America was recorded from a gig in Boston 1977 with The Roaring Silence band members. It includes a nice mix of recent singles (both Springsteen covers) and older Dylan songs (The Mighty Quinn and Father of Day). 

The quality of the performances is high throughout. This was the last we heard from Colin Pattenden as he left at the end of the tour but he had been a key part of the band's sound since 1971 and his bass sounds were in total synch with the Earth Band sound.  

New bassist, Pat King, made his debut on Watch. Sadly, this was also the final album for another long-standing member - original drummer Chris Slade (plus the last album for Dave Flett).  

There weren't any big hits coming from this album, although California is a terrific song and coulda/shoulda been a hit. The album is a lovely collection of songs done in Earth Band prog rock style. There's also room for a rerun of The Mighty Quinn - a live version. It and a live version of Davy's On The Road Again are not out of place on Watch. I think this one is an under-appreciated album in their catalogue.

Angel Station was their final album of the seventies. New members were coming (and going) around this time. Geoff Britton (later briefly of Wings) was on drums just for this album. Steve Waller was on guitar/vocals to replace Dave Flett.

The songs embrace some fresh production ticks and there is a Dylan cover (You Angel, You) back in the line-up. Angel Station ended the seventies well, with not one but two under-valued albums.

Their first album of the eighties, Chance, was a stab at new sounds - in that pursuit they stayed true to their progressive rock aesthetic. I love the way this band never sits still - new people come and go but Manfred Mann sticks to his MMEB mission statement. He's at the core of their sound, even if Trevor Rabin's more hard rock presence is on this album. 

The Springsteen cover of For You is another spectacular success. It always takes me by surprise because it sounds like a MMEB song.

Somewhere In Afrika is an intriguing blend of African rhythms with rock band moves MMEB style, best summed up by side 2's Africa Suite and their version of Bob Marley's Redemption Song. Manfred pays a kind of homage to the land of his birth with this album. 

Live In Budapest is subtitled The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band Live. It certainly has all the cover version hits on it: 3 from Springsteen; 1 from Marley; 1 from Dylan; 1 from Robbie Robertson. That makes for a very enjoyable set of hits!

The final album in my list is Criminal Tango from 1986. Mick Rogers, who had made appearances on some of the previous albums was back in the band. Manfred Mann's eye for others' songs continued with Paul Weller, Joni Mitchell, and even a Beatles cover (Hey Bulldog).

Unfortunately, the things I dislike about mid eighties music and production are all over Criminal Tango - hence my reluctance to buy their albums after '86.

Where do they all belong? A few more post Criminal Tango from the late eighties onwards to track down but I'm wary. The good thing about MMEB is that you can pick up their albums comparatively cheaply and as shown above - they contain some superb music.