Manfred Mann

Four From Five: The Albums 64-67 Deep-cut treasures and smash singles from the jazz-inflected 60s chart regulars.

Named after their founder member, an apartheid refusenik, one-time

Hugh Masekela sideman and South African exile, Manfred Mann were propelled chartwards with their surefire Ready Steady Go! theme tune 5-4-3-2-1.

The 1964 hit called for the hastily recorded, cover version heavy (as was the order of the day) debut album The 5 Faces Of. Actively discouraged from recording their own originals they nonetheless proved able to bring a vibrant personalised stamp to imaginative deep blues recreations (Smokestack Lightning, Hoochie Coochie) and deliver jazz-charged takes on the genre with I’m Your Kingpin. Meanwhile, the Paul Jonespenned, piano-pounding Don’t Ask Me What I Say is a capable, confident Motown vamp.

The hit singles would keep coming, but the albums showed the added depth and superior musicianship that set the band apart.

Singer and future Radio 2 DJ Jones’s stellar mouth harp contributions played off against Manfred’s sizzling Hammond lines. The prodigious talents were all let joyfully loose on Mr Anello, a freewheeling, groovetastic group original instrumental. The superior musicianship and connoisseur taste gained momentum on 1965’s expansive Mann Made. Mike Vickers, on the way to a successful career composing for TV, brought the gorgeous slinky The Abominable Snowman, while Tom McGuinness, who had come to Manfred Mann via a stint with Eric Clapton in The Roosters, essayed the savage and steamy L.S.D. (no relation to The Pretty Things song of the same title), a showdown with money in mind, rather than psychedelics.

With Jones off to star in rock fantasy feature Privilege, the Mann Made Hits compilation toasted Manfred Mann Mk.1 with the wry selfmythology of The One In The Middle, through exuberant chart topper Doo Wah Diddy Diddy, their eternally joyful Pretty Flamingo, ingenious take on Dylan’s then unreleased If You Gotta Go, Go Now and an eerie With God On Our Side.

The instrumental collection Soul Of Mann went further, featuring new takes on signature hits by the Stones and The Who, and highlights from Jack Bruce’s short tenure in the band.

Small wonder Manfred and The Manfreds survive to this day as two separate entities – these early albums show they had talent to spare.

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Gavin martin