Manfred Mann The Best of

Varese's The Best of the Blues Band collects sixteen highlights from the Blues Band, the group vocalist Paul Jones formed after leaving Manfred Mann. This music is pretty much straight-ahead British blues, but since it was recorded after the peak of British blues, it's a little slicker and more commercial, and it also boasts some hints of album rock. As such, it's primarily of interest to either British blues fetishists or Manfred Mann collectors.

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.

Another piece of topical hard rock from Manfred Mann's Earth Band and, as before, listenable even to those without a serious bone in their bodies, by virtue of the playing. Moving between hard rock and British blues influences (with a special debt to Cream on the opening cut, "Give Me the Good Earth") and progressive rock, the quartet cuts a mean swathe across the sonic landscape, between Mick Rogers' soaring guitar solos and Manfred Mann's inimitable synthesizer work…

There's something about sixties music, a simplicity that appeals and makes for easy listening. This is a great collection for relaxing to, dancing to, or just having on in the background. It's an equitable selection with a lot of very well known songs. So get out your gogo boots and mini skirt, and go for it!