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Manfred Mann (musician)

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Manfred Mann
Mann performing with his Earth Band in 2016
Mann performing with his Earth Band in 2016
Background information
Birth nameManfred Sepse Lubowitz
Born (1940-10-21) 21 October 1940 (age 84)
Johannesburg, Union of South Africa
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Keyboards
  • synthesizer
  • piano
  • organ
  • vocals
Years active1960s–present
Member of
Websitemanfredmann.co.uk

Manfred Sepse Lubowitz[7] (born 21 October 1940), known professionally as Manfred Mann, is a South African-born musician, residing in the UK since 1961. He is best known as a founding member of the bands Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

Early life and career

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Lubowitz was raised in a Lithuanian Jewish family in Johannesburg, the son of David Lubowitz and Alma Cohen.[8] He studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand, and worked as a jazz pianist at a number of clubs in Johannesburg.

Strongly opposed to the apartheid system in his native South Africa,[7] Lubowitz moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 and began to write for Jazz News under the pseudonym Manfred Manne (after jazz drummer Shelly Manne), which was soon shortened to Manfred Mann.[9]

Manfred Mann (band)

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Mann in 1967

In 1962, he met drummer and keyboard player Mike Hugg at Clacton Butlins Holiday Camp; together they formed a large blues-jazz band called the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. This eventually evolved into a five-piece group named after him, and they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963, under the HMV label.

Prominent in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, the group regularly appeared in the UK Singles Chart.[10][11] Three of their most successful singles, "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Pretty Flamingo", and "Mighty Quinn", topped the UK charts.[11] The band's 1964 hit "5-4-3-2-1" was the theme tune for the ITV pop music show Ready Steady Go!.[12] They were also the first southern-England-based group to top the US Billboard Hot 100 during the British Invasion.[11]

The band split up in 1969.[13]

Manfred Mann Chapter Three

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With Manfred Mann recently broken up, Mann and Mike Hugg created Manfred Mann Chapter Three. The group's debut performance, which was at Newcastle's Mayfair ballroom on 24 October 1969, consisted of Mann and Hugg on keyboards and organ,[14] as well as:

  • Bernie Living (alto sax)
  • Steve York (bass guitar)
  • Craig Collinge (drums)

They were also backed by a five-piece brass group consisting of:

  • Clive Stevens (tenor sax)
  • Carl Griffiths (tenor sax)
  • Dave Coxhill (baritone sax)
  • Gerald Drewett (trombone)
  • Sonny Corbett (trumpet)

They recorded two albums: Manfred Mann Chapter Three, in 1969, and Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two, in 1970. The group were never commercially successful, and split up in late 1970.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

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Further information: Manfred Mann's Earth Band

In 1971, Mann formed Manfred Mann's Earth Band. They had a chart topping hit in 1976 with a cover of the 1973 Bruce Springsteen song "Blinded by the Light;" their cover went to number one in Canada and the U.S.[15]

Although the group never had the same success of "Blinded by the Light" with any of their other songs, the Earth Band still holds a great legacy when it comes to music of the 1970s.[citation needed] The band is still active, and Mann still tours with the group along with founding member Mick Rogers, as of 2024.[16]

Solo and guest work

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Manfred Mann appeared as a jazz pianist in the 1969 Jesús Franco film Venus in Furs, and performed the score for that film. He also released solo projects under the names Manfred Mann's Plain Music and Manfred Mann '06.[17]

Manfred Mann played a Minimoog solo on the Uriah Heep song "July Morning". He also played keyboards on Trevor Rabin's album Wolf.

Style

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Mann has used various keyboard instruments through his career (piano and organ in the early 1960s, later also including Mellotron), but he is especially known for his distinctive solo performance on the Minimoog synthesizer, which he personalized by extensive use of a filter.[18] His keyboard parts are often improvised and inspired by jazz. One example, as he explained in an interview with eclipsed magazine, is his tendency to bend notes downwards on the synthesizer, which he says he got from Miles Davis.

In the 2000s, he has regularly used a Roland keytar on stage for two or three songs. The instrument is visually striking for being decorated with zebra stripes. In the early 1970s, he played drums during the intro of the song "Black and Blue".[19]

Equipment

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Mann in 1973

By the early 1970s Mann used a Hammond M3 organ which he had acquired from Alan Price and then modified to give it a grittier sound.[20] This instrument was the basis for his live keyboard setup in Chapter Three as well as the classic Earth Band lineup until the late 1970s. For the Earth Band Mann added a Minimoog monophonic synthesizer to his setup which he had bought in the summer of 1971.[21] By the mid-1970s he added a Fender Rhodes 73 Stage Piano to his setup.[20]

In the late 1970s and early 1980s he combined the Minimoog with an Oberheim SEM to expand the filter and effect section.[22] At this point Mann used a considerably bigger live setup for which he had replaced the bulky Hammond M3 with a one-manual Korg CX-3 organ and added a Yamaha CP-70 for piano sounds as well as an ARP Omni for string sounds.[22]

When digital keyboards became more common, Mann began replacing the bulky analogue instruments with them. In the early 1990s he used a Yamaha SY77 and a Korg M-1 together with the Minimoog. During the 1990s Mann also used a Yamaha VL 1.[22]

By the early 2000s Mann had replaced the Minimoog with a new Minimoog Voyager for his live setup which he combined with a Korg Z1 for other sounds. In the 2010s he dropped the analogue Moog synthesizers from his live setup altogether and moved to a digital setup consisting of keyboards like the Roland V-Combo.[18]

Mann has relied on effect pedals to achieve his keyboard sounds. When he was using an analogue setup he fed his Hammond organ into a MXR Phase 100 and his Rhodes into a MXR Phase 90.[20] His lead sounds are often combined with distortion pedals and fuzz boxes, especially for studio recordings.[22] In the 1970s Mann used an Echoplex tape delay with his Minimoog.[20]

During the 1970s Mann used guitar amps to amplify his keyboard sounds. While the Hammond organ and Rhodes went into a 200 watts Highwatt half stack, the Minimoog was amplified using an Acoustic half stack, consisting of an Acoustic 270 amp and an Acoustic 271 cabinet.[20]

Discography

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References

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  1. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (14 October 2021). "60s hitmakers Manfred Mann: 'I've sung this 10,000 times and never liked it!'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2023. it is perfect evidence of how different Manfred Mann were from their contemporaries in what was then called the beat boom. [...] In fact, it's impressive how deftly Manfred Mann navigated the ever changing landscape of late-60s pop, releasing singles that hinted at a variety of trends – psychedelia, Kinks-y social satire, post-flower-power rootsiness
  2. ^ "The Foote Files: Manfred Mann". CBS News. 20 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2023. Manfred Mann was a British blues/rock quintet formed in England in the late 1950s.
  3. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Manfred Mann Biography by Bruce Eder". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 March 2023. An R&B band that only played pop to get on the charts
  4. ^ "Bio". Manfredmann60s.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  5. ^ "MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND band / artist (UK-England) - discography, reviews and details". Proggnosis.com. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  6. ^ kingsley (19 March 2020). "Manfred Mann - A Mann and his music". Beat Magazine. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b Robert M Corich and Andy Taylor, Sleeve Notes, The Best of Manfred Mann's Earth Band Re-Mastered, 1998
  8. ^ Benarde, Scott (2003). Stars of David: Rock'n'roll's Jewish stories. Hanover, NH: Brandeis University Press. p. 79.
  9. ^ Roger Dopson, sleeve notes, Manfred Mann: The E.P. Collection, 1989
  10. ^ "The story of pop: Episode 12: England Swings". BBC. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 345–346. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  12. ^ Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (first ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p. 258. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  13. ^ "104.5 Classic Rock - Biography - Manfred Mann". Player.listenlive.co.
  14. ^ "Manfred Mann Chapter Three". Manfremann.co.uk.
  15. ^ "Manfred Mann | Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Manfred Mann's Earth Band. 31 August 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Manfred Mann &No. 124; Free Music Videos, News, Photos, Interviews, Lyrics, Tour Dates, Ringtones". Vh1.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  18. ^ a b Sunderkötter, von Jörg (20 March 2017). "Manfred Mann: Interview mit dem Wizard of Minimoog". Keyboards.de (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  19. ^ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Black And Blue (Sydney 1972)". 26 January 2015 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ a b c d e McGaw, Candy (1976). "Manfreds know who to blame". Rockstar UK.
  21. ^ Klee, Joe (26 February 1973). "5 Generations of Manfred Mann". Rock Magazine.
  22. ^ a b c d "Legendäre Keyboarder: Manfred Mann – seine Musik, seine Geschichte". Amazona.de (in German). 16 April 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
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