Oh no! I suddenly have a yearning to track down and hear MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND

http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/862/cover_18392112008.JPG

Mann had some great hits in the 1960's—"Quinn the Eskimo," "My Little Red Book" among them—but all anyone really knows by this group is "Blinded By the Light" and, er, this:

Yet, their debut is seen by critics as some pop masterpiece. The New Rolling Stone Record Guide gushed. AMG calls it "brilliant..a completely satisfying album and one of the most underrated of the '70s." Xgau has this to say about it:

Manfred Mann's Earth Band [Polydor, 1972]
Mann has always embraced rock and roll's art-commerce dichotomy with uncommon passion--he used to rave on about jazz to the fanmags in the "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy" days. This extraordinary cult record achieves the synthesis. Almost every song is defined by a hook that repeats over and over--the phrase "down on my knees" in "Please Mrs. Henry," the galvanizing guitar riff that runs through the almost-hit "Living Without You." But the doo-wah-diddy is continually threatened by an undercurrent of jazzy disintegration--the Cecil Taylor piano jangles that close "Jump Sturdy" or the discords that dominate the closing instrumental. The deliberately characterless vocal ensembles and square rhythms defy today's pseudo-soul norm, and Mann's songs--especially the brilliant "Part Time Man," about not getting a job after World War III--are indecisive and a little down. In short, the perfect corrective to the willful brightness of boogie optimism. A+

What say ILM of this? A brilliant fusion of Dylan/Newman/Springsteen-covers or pop-prog monstrosity? Anything?

Twenty years ago I bought that record when I heard Xgau talking about that record on the radio on WPIX-FM, I think. Haven't played it much in the past decades but I remember liking all those cuts he names, and preferring their version of "Jump Sturdy" to the Dr. John one.

all anyone really knows by this group is "Blinded By the Light" and, er, this

I know "Quinn the Eskimo," which got MTV (VH1?) play. I don't know your youtube'd song, and I'm not sure if I've ever heard their "Blinded By the Light" other than via infomercial snippets.

Xgau talking about that record on the radio on WPIX-FM

!

They had a Sunday night radio show called "Radio, Radio" in about 1979 that had all kinds of interesting guests. I'm surprised you were old enough to stay up that late.

i !'d the idea of Xgau on WPIX in 1979, when i was not very old

I used to listen to this tape all the time in junior high and hadn't even thought twice about it until just now.

There was a great instrumental synth jam that closed out side one. And I've seen more versions of that album cover than usual.

gabnebb, you were probably old enough to call in to the afternoon kids show and shout "PIX, PIX, PIX!" to cause the cannon to fire on the Space Invaders.

I used to listen to this tape all the time in junior high and hadn't even thought twice about it until just now.

Roaring Silence or the S/T?

Did an album of prog entitled Solar Fire. "Father of Day, Father of Night" was the most played song from it. Didn't care for the debut as much. What was galvanizing riff to Christgau in '72 wasn't really.

Nightingales and Bombers has its moments.

"Blinded by the Light" was so overplayed at FM, it killed off most of the catalog for me.

Roaring Silence or the S/T?

Roaring Silence. Seriously, this and Agents of Fortune were my top two records to stay up all night and listen to, and I haven't listened to them again in over twenty years.

Listening to The Roaring Silence now, it's pretty clear that "Blinded By the Light" is some kind of classic. "Singing the Dolphin Through" (whatever the hell that is about) is a awfully silly but has some great Mellotron textures and synth work. "Waiter, There's a Yawn in My Ear" would be the aforementioned instrumental synth jam that closed out side one. Not bad for what it is.

Greil reps for the s/t in the Stranded discography too.

Wow, I haven't heard that song in that You Tube clip in forever. Surprised I can still remember how it goes. It's a good song but I don't recall buying the single.

A few weeks later, and I have to report that I've been listening to a LOT of these guys.

The debut is pretty interesting, but takes a few listens to appreciate given its eclecticism (which is partly what the likes of Xgau were attracted to). There def. is a premium on "musicianship" here -- lots of soloing and riffage. But also songs; the version of "Please Mr. Henry" is absolutely aces -- kind of like Free if they employed wailing female background singers and covered Dylan. The Dr. John "Jump Sturdy," too -- catchy as hell, as is most of the record, really. The woozy "Part Time Mine," etc. -- I'm not sure if I'd call it an A+ masterpiece or anything, but it's worth delving a little more deeply into.

After that, best as I can tell, they start to get more typically proggy. One thing that's sort of not mentioned about MMEB is that they have a fair amount of British 'eavy Metal (or what passed for heavy metal back in the seventies anyway) going on -- sludgy tempos, heavy bass. Solar Fire's "Father of Day, Father of Night" is a Dylan cover, but sounds like Iron Butterfly. It's really weird.

They seem to recover pretty well with Nightingales and Bombers which does, indeed, have its moments. I've found myself fairly obsessed with their version of Joan Armatrading's "Visionary Mountains" on this for some reason. There are assorted instrumentals which are def. wanky prog but I like nonetheless primarily b/c of their synth textures. And then of course, "Blinded By the Light" which I'm increasingly beginning to think is some kind of cruelly neglected masterpiece.

Saw them open for Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep at the Harrisburg Farm Show ca. early Seventies. They were, indeed, a fairly heavy band. Most of the thirty minute set was devoted to plugging Solar Fire but they capped the show with a surprising Quinn the Eskimo, which was great.

Just listened to their cover of "Blinded by the Light," which I heard for the first time when it was released and long before Springsteen's original. It's still a banger.