Manfred Mann

Manfred Mann were a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band (with a strong jazz foundation) of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Manfred Mann were chart regulars in the 1960s, and the first south-of-England-based group to top the US Billboard Hot 100 during the British invasion. Warner Music Japan is thrilled to announce the release of the first three records in conjunction with Parlophone Records.

Most folks know Manfred Mann from his '60s hits, but too few have ever heard the brilliant Manfred Mann's Earth Band album. Exploring arty and progressive directions, the Earth Band was a wholly different group from Mann's earlier lineup. Unlike the heavier art rock groups that would follow (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes), the Earth Band never became burdened by its own seriousness…

"Mann Alive" was recorded at various venues on the "Soft Vengeance" European Tour and mixed at the Workhouse Studios, London…

Manfred Mann's Earth Band had no shortage of albums to their credit across the 1970s and 1980s, though how many of them made it into the hands of American listeners is questionable – you'd have thought a live album would have been forthcoming sometime fairly soon after they scored their chart-topping hit with "Blinded by the Light," but that wasn't the case…

Vocalist Chris Thompson's last album with Manfred Mann's Earth Band is dressed up in Mann's beautiful keyboards. Angel Station has some key moments – "You Angel You," a Bob Dylan tune that sounds nothing like Dylan, and not the way their Top Ten version of "Quinn the Eskimo"/"The Mighty Quinn" was reinvented. "You Angel You" has a strong hook with topnotch Anthony Moore production work, and it melts into the title track of Harriet Schock's landmark Hollywood Town album, the source of Helen Reddy's "Ain't No Way to Treat a Lady." The Manfred Mann version is interesting, and explores the possibilities of the composition, though Schock's version is perfect country-pop and hard to top. It is nice to see a rock band with such good taste…

Manfred Mann's Earthband - 20 Years 1971-1991
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 334 MB | Full Artwork: 53 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Cohesion # BOMME 1 CD | Country/Year: UK 1991
Genre: Rock | Style: Pop Rock, Classic Rock

…The heavier, more synthesizer-oriented outfit made quite a few albums in the 1970s; 1976's The Roaring Silence made the Top Ten, and featured the number one hit "Blinded by the Light" (Mann also made the Top 40 with another Springsteen cover, "Spirit in the Night"). Ironically, despite Mann's oft-proclaimed preferences for serious explorations of jazz, blues, and progressive music, it's his pop/rock recordings that hold up best, and for which he'll be remembered most.