Manfred Mann's Earth Band: 3 Albums

 

After a very successful period in the 1960's with the pop group named Manfred Mann after him and a

much less successful intermezzo in Jazz with Manfred Mann Chapter Three, the South-African born keyboardist Manfred Mann (real name Manfred Lubowitz) turned towards rock music.
                   

In 1971 he formed Manfred Mann's Earth Band (MMEB). Mann's use of the Moog synthesizer was key to the sound of this band. MMEB had a very successful area during the mid 1970's and early 1980's but

was disbanded by Mann in 1987 after being fed up with trying to produce hit records. He started a project which was based mostly on the music of Native American Indians named Manfred Mann's Plain Music and which released one album. After this Mann reformed the MMEB in 1991 and was starting again to release records with them occasionally but also to be a regular live band with extensive tours mostly in Europe until today.
                   

Keyboardist Manfred Mann started in the 1960s with the self-titled band that had such hits as "Do Wah

Diddy Diddy" and Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn" and then moved on to jazz fusion-inspired Manfred Mann Chapter Three before forming the Earth Band in 1971. Feeling that Chapter Three had suffered from too many self-imposed rules, being frustrated with mostly only playing Mike Hugg's compositions and not being an economically feasible venture (due to the number of musicians involved) were all reasons for forming the new group,
                     

The original line-up consisted of Mick Rogers (guitar and vocals), Manfred Mann (keyboards, Minimoog synthesizer and vocals), Colin Pattenden (bass guitar) and Chris Slade (drums and vocals).

In its very earliest stages, the band was sometimes billed as "Manfred Mann" and thus a continuation of the 1960s group, sometimes as "Manfred Mann Chapter Three" due to that being the most recent incarnation of Mann's career. On two non-charting single releases in the UK in 1972/73, the group was billed simply as 'Earth Band', but otherwise, from 1972 forward, 'Manfred Mann's Earth Band' was the band name used on all releases.
                

The Earth Band combines the stylistic approach of progressive rock with Mann's jazz-influenced Moog

synthesizer playing and keen ear for melody. Beside producing their own material, a staple of the band's music and live performances from the beginning has been also relying on covers of songs by other modern pop/rock artists, notably Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, in their progressive rock style.
                    

Mann's interest in English 20th century classical music saw him adapt Gustav Holst's Planets Suite and

turn a version of the "Jupiter" movement into a UK hit entitled "Joybringer" (perhaps surprisingly excluded from the 1973 album Solar Fire). Other classical music adaptations include "Questions" from the 1976 album The Roaring Silence (which is based on the main theme of Franz Schubert's Impromptu in G flat Major), "Solar Fire is in Earth, the Circle, Pt. 1" (which uses the melody from Claude Debussy's "Jimbo's Lullaby") and "Starbird" also from 1976's The Roaring Silence (which is based upon Igor Stravinski's ballet The Firebird).
                   

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND - MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND 1972

                          

Manfred Mann's Earth Band was first released in January 1972 by Polydor Records in the United

States, where it sold modestly and charted for six weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 138 on 18 March. The single "Living Without You" spent seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 69 on 8 April. In the United Kingdom, the album was released on 18 February by Philips Records to lesser sales.

 

 

 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Label: Castle Classics – CLACD151
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo
Country: Europe
Released: 1988
Genre: Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Prog Rock, Classic Rock

TRACKS

                                

01. California Coastline   2:49
Written By – Meskell/Martin
02. Captain Bobby Stout   6:53
Written-By – Tietgen
03. Sloth   1:28
Written-By – Mann, Rodgers
04. Living Without You   3:38
Written-By – Newman
05. Tribute   5:28
Written-By – Mann
06. Please Mrs. Henry   4:33
Written-By – Dylan
07. Jump Sturdy   4:48
Written-By – Creaux
08. Prayer   5:36
Written-By – Mann
09. Part Time Man   3:00
Written By – Mann/Sadler
10. I'm Up And I'm Leaving   3:11
Written By – Mann/Sadler

LINE - UP

Bass – Colin Pattenden
Drums – Chris Slade
Guitar, Vocals – Mick Rogers
Organ, Synthesizer, Vocals – Manfred Mann

MP3 @ 320 Size: 115 MB
Flac  Size: 273 MB

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND - MESSIN' 1973

                     

Messin' is a rock album released in 1973 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Messin' followed Glorified Magnified and preceded Solar Fire, and like all Earth Band albums contains

a mixture of originals and covers. "Buddah" also appeared on the Vertigo budget sampler double album Suck It and See, along with tracks by then-labelmates Kraftwerk, Jade Warrior and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, amongst others. The album was produced by Manfred Mann and engineered by John Edwards at Maximum Sound Studios, London in 1973. For the United States release, the album was re-titled Get Your Rocks Off and the track "Pretty Good" was included in place of "Black and Blue", seemingly because the latter was about slavery and deemed unsuitable for the US market. Both tracks were included on the 1998 re-mastered re-issue.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band – Messin'
Label: Cohesion – MANN 005
Series: Manfred Mann's Earth Band The Re-Masters
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered   Nov 1998
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock

TRACKS

                                 

01. Messin'   9:53
Written-By – Hugg
02. Buddah   7:01
Written-By – Mann, Rogers
03. Cloudy Eyes   5:34
Written-By – Mann
04. Get Your Rocks Off   2:49
Written-By – Dylan
05. Sadjoy   5:15
Written-By – Mann
06. Black And Blue   6:44
Written-By – Chain
07. Mardi Gras Day   3:04
Written-By – Dr. John

BONUS TRACKS       

    
08. Pretty Good   4:11
Written-By – Prine
09. Cloudy Eyes (Single Edit)    3:31

LINE - UP

Synthesizer, Organ, Other [Additional Material Courtesy] – Manfred Mann
Tape Op [Tape Operator] – Laurence Latham
Guitar, Vocals, Other [Additional Material Courtesy] – Mick Rogers
Drums [Fibes] – Chris Slade
Backing Vocals – Judith Powell, Liza Strike, Ruby James, Vicki Brown
Bass Guitar – Colin Pattenden

MP3 @ 320 Size: 120 MB
Flac  Size: 290 MB

MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND - THE GOOD EARTH 1974

                        

The Good Earth is the fifth studio album released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1974. Its opening song is a cover of "Give Me the Good Earth", written by Gary Wright and released on his 1971 solo album Footprint, while tracks 2 and 3 were originally by Australian progressive rock band Spectrum.

Early owners of each copy of The Good Earth 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. This was part of the promotion activities linked to the album that had ecological inspirations. There was no swindle and thousands of fans were registered. Registration could be done on or before 31 December 1975. The album was on the US Billboard 200 charts for three weeks, peaking at number 157 on 7 December 1974.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band – The Good Earth
Label: Cohesion – MANN 007
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered Mar 18, 2008
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1973   
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock

TRACKS

                 

01. Give Me The Good Earth   8:31
Written-By – Gary Wright
02. Launching Place   5:53
Written-By – Mike Rudd
03. I'll Be Gone   3:42
Written-By – Mike Rudd
04. Earth Hymn   6:19
Written-By – Slade, Mann
05. Sky High    5:16
Written-By – Mann, Rogers
06. Be Not Too Hard   4:13
Written-By – Logue, Rogers
07. Earth Hymn Part 2   4:18
Written-By – Slade, Mann

BONUS TRACKS       

    
08. Be Not Too Hard (Single Edit)   3:39
Lyrics By [Uncredited] – Christopher Logue
Music By [Uncredited] – Mick Rogers
09. I'll Be Gone (Single Edit)   3:29
Written-By [Uncredited] – Mike Rudd
10. Earth Hymn Part 2 (Single Edit)   4:13
Written-By [Uncredited] – Chris Slade, Manfred Mann

LINE - UP

Keyboards – Manfred Mann
Drums [Fibes] – Chris Slade
Bass Guitar – Colin Pattenden
Guitar, Vocals – Mick Rogers

MP3 @ 320 Size: 120 MB
Flac  Size: 316 MB 

Manfred Mann's Earth Band on Urban Aspirines HERE