Manfred Mann - The Five Faces Of Manfred Mann

Year: 1964/1997/2012
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 78:57
Size: 181,4 MB
Styles: R&B, blues
Scans: Full

1. Smokestack Lightning (3:32)
2. Don't Ask Me What I Say (2:59)
3. Sack O' Woe (2:08)
4. What You Gonna Do? (2:37)
5. Hoochie Coochie (3:18)
6. I'm Your Kingpin (2:47)
7. Down The Road Apiece (2:26)
8. I've Got My Mojo Working (3:11)
9. It's Gonna Work Out Fine (2:35)
10. Mr. Anello (2:08)
11. Untie Me (3:37)
12. Bring It To Jerome (3:26)
13. Without You (2:21)
14. You've Got To Take It (2:19)
15. Smokestack Lightning (3:33)
16. Don't Ask Me What I Say (3:01)
17. Sack O' Woe (2:09)
18. What You Gonna Do? (2:37)
19. Hoochie Coochie (3:18)
20. I'm Your Kingpin (2:47)
21. Down The Road Apiece (2:26)
22. I've Got My Mojo Working (3:11)
23. It's Gonna Work Out Fine (2:35)
24. Mr. Anello (2:16)
25. Untie Me (3:41)
26. Bring It To Jerome (3:30)
27. Without You (2:22)
28. You've Got To Take It (1:54)

The debut album by Manfred Mann holds up even better 40 years on than it did in 1964. It's also one of the longest LPs of its era, clocking in at 39 minutes, and there's not a wasted note or a song extended too far among its 14 tracks. The Manfreds never had the reputation that the Rolling Stones enjoyed, which is a shame, because The Five Faces of Manfred Mann is one of the great blues-based British invasion albums; it's a hot, rocking record that benefits from some virtuoso playing as well, and some of the best singing of its era, courtesy of Paul Jones, who blew most of his rivals out of the competition with his magnificently impassioned, soulful performance on "Untie Me," and his simmering, lusty renditions of "Smokestack Lightning" and "Bring It to Jerome."

The stereo mix of the album, which never surfaced officially in England until the 1997 EMI anniversary reissue (remastered in 24-bit digital sound), holds up very nicely, with sharp separation between the channels yet - apart from a few moments on "Untie Me" - few moments of artificiality. /Bruce Eder, AllMusic

Tracks 1-14 mono mix, tracks 15-28 stereo mix.

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Manfred Mann - Groovin' With The Manfreds: The Manfred Mann R&B Album

Year: 1996
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:50
Size: 179,4 MB
Styles: R&B, blues
Scans: Full

1. Groovin' (3:41)
2. Can't Believe It (3:18)
3. What You Gonna Do? (2:35)
4. Don't Ask Me What I Say (2:56)
5. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man (3:15)
6. Smokestack Lightning (3:29)
7. I'm Your Kingpin (2:43)
8. Bring It To Jerome (3:23)
9. Without You (2:18)
10. Let's Go Get Stoned (3:49)
11. Watermelon Man (3:14)
12. I Put A Spell On You (3:35)
13. Driva Man (2:29)
14. Call It Stormy Monday (3:39)
15. What Did I Do Wrong (3:49)
16. I've Got My Mojo Working (3:10)
17. Down The Road Apiece (2:23)
18. Watch Your Step (2:12)
19. LSD (3:48)
20. One In The Middle (2:39)
21. Did You Have To Do That (3:30)
22. Sticks And Stones (2:21)
23. Cock-A-Hoop (2:02)
24. The Way You Do The Things You Do (2:40)
25. You've Got To Take It (2:16)
26. Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble) (2:24)

The 26 songs here represent a slightly better investment than the See For Miles Records R&B collection by the Manfreds, as well as newer remasterings (by 14 years) of the same material. The notes by Paul Jones also provide an inside perspective, as well as a funny account of his entry into the band (and offer an incidental defense of Bo Diddley's underrated complexity as a writer and influence on the Manfreds).

Songs include "Smokestack Lightning," "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Got My Mojo Working," "Groovin'," "Watermelon Man," "I Put a Spell on You," and a bunch of other standards and originals. The only frustration is the presence of a shot of the band playing at the Marquee, which makes one wish all the more that somebody had recorded one of their shows at the time. The group's command of R&B and blues improved as they went on -- it was always little strange hearing an outfit as non-guitar-dominated as the Manfreds do some of this stuff, with lots of vibraphone and organ, not to mention sax -- all of which, along with their jazz roots, separated them from the Stones, Yardbirds, et al. But by the time of "Down the Road Apiece," they were making it work close to 100 percent of the time. /Bruce Eder, AllMusic

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