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Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Manfred Mann's Earth Band CD (album) cover

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

 

Eclectic Prog

3.10 | 132 ratings

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ClemofNazareth
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk Researcher
3 stars Manfred Mann seems to be one of the only iconic figures from the British Invasion period that hasn't had a decent biography written about him and his bands yet. The Stones, Beatles, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Kinks and others have had copious material published about them, while Mann remains something of a mystery except to his closest and most dedicated fans. Greg Russo took a shot at a decent bio with his 2011 'Mannerisms' release but while that one gives a good accounting of the Earth Band's discography it reveals little insight into the man. Take note for any aspiring writers out there that this is a literary monument crying to be erected in the pantheon of our contemporary pop culture.

As for this album, it is of course the debut of Manfred Mann's Earth Band, the third group Mr. Manfred (Michael) Lubowitz had formed since leaving his native South Africa in search of artistic freedom (and presumably a little fame and fortune) in the early sixties. By the time this album was released Mann had years of recording, touring and experience with the business side of the industry under his belt, and leveraged all of these in creating a solid, professional lineup that could crank out tight, melodic music with some muscle and creative force behind it but at the same time close enough to the mainstream to be commercially viable. Mann was proving himself to be a shrewd musical businessman in the mold of Sir McCartney, Jeff Lynne and Alan Parsons.

And he didn't seem to be too particular where the music came from, adopting even with this first album the habit of borrowing songs from others and relying on both band mates and friends to collaborate even on those tracks Mann wrote himself. This custom would of course result in some of the group's most well-known singles including Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light", "Spirits in the Night" and "For You" along with Mike Heron's "Don't Kill it Carol", Sting's "Demolition Man" and a slew of Dylan tunes. But on this album the covers are a bit more obscure, coming from the likes of 70s bubble-gum pop producer Walt Meskell, Topeka Kansas native Lane Tietgen and Cajun jazz-funkmeister Dr. John, although Mann also includes one each from the vast Dylan and Randy Newman songbooks.

Presumably the opening "California Coastline" was either Mann or the label's attempt at a pop single. The song was written by Walt Meskell and Tim Martin, a pair of fairly jaded and well-connected L.A. music producers who would become far better known for crafting the bubble-gum pop careers of Tony DeFranco and his siblings as well as producing novelty hits like C.W. McCall's 1976 cheesegasm "Convoy". Mann's trademark organ and Mick Rogers' succinct, efficient guitar work form the basis of an Earth Band sound that would flourish on future records but in the end this is a commercial song that interestingly enough must have missed the mark since it was never released as a single. There is a European CD from the 80s titled 'California Coastline' though that is basically this album minus "Tribute" and "Prayer". These are also the only two songs from the record written solely by Mann although I'm not sure that has any bearing on them being excluded from that reissue.

"Captain Bobby Stout" was written by Lane Tietgen and recorded by the obscure funk/heavy- rock band the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood on their self-titled debut in 1970. Tietgen was a Topeka, Kansas native (the same town that spawned most of the members of the band Kansas) and was earlier in a band called the Serfs whose main claim to fame was a brief encounter with Jimi Hendrix that led to their being included as guest musicians on a couple tracks from Hendrix' 'Electric Ladyland' LP. The song has a strong soul vibe that was not unusual in the often Motown-inspired American rock scene of the early seventies and the black female backing vocals debut another Mann musical signature he would use repeatedly in future music. There are references to Kansas landmarks including the city of Wichita in the song so I'm not sure exactly what a guy from South Africa via Britain saw in it, but his organ work and the persistent, heavy guitar riff are quintessential early Earth Band so in the end things worked out well enough.

Much of the original material on this album tends to be rather brief and sometimes seems more like sampler material than fully-formed tracks. That is definitely true of the Hendrix- like guitar foray with keyboard tinkling that comprises the terse instrumental "Sloth" as well as the sixties-sounding "Part-Time Man" and the almost folk-sounding closing track "I'm Up and I'm Leaving". But Mann does offer two solid self-penned songs with the aforementioned "Tribute" and "Prayer". "Tribute" is a slow-developing, heavily blues- infused instrumental that demonstrates the progressive/artsy side of Mann's musical ability while "Prayer" almost borders on southern boogie with some wicked guitar soloing and plenty of Mann's experimental organ bleating to give character to what would have otherwise been a rather pedestrian rocker.

I'm ambivalent about two of the other covers, Randy Newman's "Living Without You" which sounds like something from a chick-flick movie soundtrack (then again, what Randy Newman song doesn't sound like that). And Dylan's self-pity anthem "Please Mrs. Henry" has been covered by just about everyone in the music business at one point or another, so its hard to get excited about yet another competent but uninspired knockoff.

On the other hand the band does a serviceable job of representing Dr. John's Cajun weird- soul with their take on "Jump Sturdy", a song that tells the traditional Deep South tale of an otherworldly swamp-mermaid creature. Mann can't claim the same sort of Bijou-cred Dr. John can but he shows respect to the form and delivers a pretty tight arrangement that mostly favors guitar over keys except for a brief piano spotlight towards the end.

This certainly isn't my favorite Earth Band album and I only discovered it years after its release when I started hearing Manfred Mann's Earth Band on the radio circa 'Nightingales & Bombers' and 'The Roaring Silence' like most other Americans. But it's a lot better debut than most bands pulled off back then (and now), and the prominence of excellent organ work combined with a wide range of musical style samplings and the overall professionalism exhibited by the band lineup all work to create an album that is well worth owning. A very solid three stars for the Earth Band's debut, and in recommending it I'll say I would be very surprised if anyone who likes any Earth Band album doesn't also like this one.

peace

ClemofNazareth | 3/5 |

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