Like Bon Jovi, Santana and Van Halen where the whole band takes it's name from just one member, so too with Manfred Mann. Born Manfred Sepse Lubowitz he gave his name to a number of incarnations of groups bearing his name. The eponymous 'Manfred Mann', 'Manfred Mann Chapter Three' and 'Manfred Mann's Earth Band'.
Starting as the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers with Mike Hugg and Graham Bond, then changing to Manfred Mann and the Manfreds when Mike Vickers, Dave Richmond and Paul Jones joined, the name was trimmed down to just Manfred Mann when they released their first record in 1963, a blues instrumental called 'Why Should We Not'.
For this post though I mainly want to look at the group from 1964-69. They started having hits in early '64 but in September of that year I left for Australia so had to follow them long distance. It wasn't until 1966 that I got this first compilation.
When they were asked to compose a song as a theme tune to the ITV pop music show "Ready, Steady, Go!" Hugg, Jones and Mann came up with the brilliantly conceived '5-4-3-2-1'. The reason it was so brilliant is that it contained a major bit of self-promotion - each verse, whether singing about the Charge of the Light Brigade or the Trojan Horse, ended with the line -
"Uh-huh, it was the Mannnn-freds!".
The song was played weekly to households of rampant teenagers aching to buy records.
On '5-4-3-2-1' and their next single 'Hubble Bubble Toil and Trouble' Paul Jones not only provided the lead vocals but also some exceptional harmonica. Hardly surprising that years later he was awarded "harmonica player of the year" in the British Blues Awards of 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Two more singles came out in 1964 - their first #1 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' and the equally happy 'Sha La La' and 1965 continued their success, branching into Paul Jones' mellower tones with things like 'Come Tomorrow'. Over the years between early and late Manfred Mann groups they did over a dozen Dylan covers and 1965 gave us one of their best to date with 'If You Gotta Go, Go Now', a pre-cursor to the version in French "Si Tu Dois Partir" done by Fairport Convention in 1969 (Vinyl Vault June 4 2021).
Also in '65 there was another self-promoting song, 'The One in the Middle' this time written just by Paul Jones and really giving himself a lot of praise - he was the one in the middle !! "Let me tell you 'bout the Manfreds" he sings, then goes through an intro .. like a 'meet the band' break in a live concert -
"Mike Hugg plays the drums, yeah
Tom McGuiness lays it down on the bass
But the one in the middle sings "hey, diddle, diddle"
God, he's just a pretty face ...
... Manfred Mann plays the organ
Mike Vickers plays guitar
And there's a geezer called Paul who's so thin and so tall
And sure wants to be a star"
Shortly after getting a mention though, bassist Tom McGuiness took over guitar and relinquished the bass to .. wait for it .. Jack Bruce. Yes, THE Jack Bruce of Bluesbreakers and Cream fame. He wasn't with them long, but did play on the 1966 hit 'Pretty Flamingo' This was his only #1 record. Although he did play bass on The Scaffold's #1 'Lily the Pink', that was uncredited. When Jack left, Klaus Voormann took over. What a line-up!
In possibly one of the worst decisions since Abraham Lincoln bought tickets to the theatre, after 'Pretty Flamingo' Paul Jones decided to go solo. 'High Time' and 'I've Been a Bad, Bad Boy' were good songs and did OK, but to put it kindly, he was less successful without the band than they were without him. He was very quickly replaced with Mike d'Abo who helped them out by singing on 'Ha Ha Said the Clown', 'My Name is Jack' 'Fox on the Run' and another Dylan composition 'Quinn the Eskimo' which they put out as 'Mighty Quinn' and got it to #1. Sadly, the group known simply as Manfred Mann disbanded in 1969.
I can't leave it there though. Two more things need to be said. The first concerns Tom McGuiness, erstwhile bass player then guitarist. After the breakup of MM he later got together with ex Bluesbreakers drummer Hughie Flint to form .. you guessed it .. McGuiness Flint. They went on to release an album in 1972 called 'Lo and Behold'. It was credited to Coulson, Dean, McGuiness, Flint and it's taken me almost 50 years to find it. It was so very worth the wait and the search. It contains 10 Dylan cover songs done perfectly. I have over 30 albums of Dylan covers done by other artists and this one has become my favourite so far.
The second thing that bears comment is the other commercially successful incarnation - Manfred Mann's Earth Band - and if nothing else the monumental 1976 cover of Springsteen's 'Blinded By the Light' with Chris Thompson providing blistering vocals. Bruce originally had this on his debut album 'Greetings From Asbury Park' in 1973. Strangely, I didn't get the Springsteen album until well after hearing, buying and knowing the MM version for years and it came as a massive revelation. Both are great versions but oh so different and I love the MM interpretation and will be forever glad it was made .. BUT .. when Springsteen sings it you get the added bonus of Clarence Clemons on saxophone and that alone makes the original all the more worthwhile.
Manfred Mann in it's various group forms has written a very significant chapter in rock, pop, r&b, jazz and blues history. Known mainly as 'chart' groups they have a depth and breadth in their albums that is worth discovering.
5-4-3-2-1 A live performance and some ridiculously great harmonica from Paul Jones
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