Manfred turns over a new leaf – once again!

Disc & Music Echo Jun 26 1971

Thanks to Mick Maloney

MANFRED MANN is back on the road, and back on the singles scene-with a new band, an uncharacteristic record and some rather strange gigs.

The new group, a four-piece, made its British debut recently at Crystal Palace, which also had Desmond Dekker on the bill. And tomorrow (Friday they are playing at an accountants' ball in Swansea.  However, they'll soon be playing clubs and universities and the single "Living Without You" doesn't sound as much like the original Manfred Mann discs as he worries it does. It's commercial and the synthesiser noises give it a very upto-date appeal.

"It's a little out of character. When I do singles my mind tends to work in a certain way. I seem to work in one kind of groove, or rut, if you like."

But the group's first album, due out in the autumn, will naturally give a broader impression of what it's all about, probably more so than their live appearances. 

Manfred will be using a small Moog on stage, while Mick Rogers will be on guitar and vocals, Chris Slade on drums and Colin Pattenden on bass.

So for the first time since 1963 Manfred and Mike Hugg are not in the same band together. Chapter Three was their last band, although they'll still be doing commercials together. "And I'll do sessions for him and he'll do sessions for me. But I don't think we'll ever have a live band together again.

"It's been a long association and we were very much in tune with each other, musically, especially at the start of Chapter Three. But that developed into cooler things, Mike's, which I like, but didn't particularly enjoy playing. I didn't think we were doing the right things for the musicians we had available. The brass section disappeared, then came back, and disappeared again, We both wanted to do different things.

"I think that doing the big brass section thing with freaky sax solos was something we had to get out of our system."

Chapter Three recorded three albums, the last, ("probably the best" says Man-fred), wasn't released. Chris Slade was on those sessions end Manfred asked him to join his new band. "I asked him if he knew any good bass players and he said 'no' and I kept asking him and eventually he said he knew one (Colin Pattenden) who wasn't too bad."

Manfred had already found Mick Rogers. "I heard about him through Mike Hugg who said he was all right. He was in Australia and it could have been an expensive mistake bringing him over, but it turned out fine. It was preferable to having to listen to 500,000 guitarists, none of whom would be any good and even it they were, you aren't able to tell good from bad after hearing that many. I have nervous breakdowns about that sort of thing.

"I really didn't think it was going to work but we got together for a blow and it did. I don't mean that we all suddenly smiled at each other and it happened, but I'm working with guys I get on with very well and the group, musically, seems very together. The band I had with Mike D'Abo was terrible live, Chapter Three was inconsistent, and, to quote Jon Lord, 'This is the best band Manfred Mann's had'.'

The new group played five dates in Australia with Deep Purple and Free and broke themselves in with a week at a Rome dub.

Manfred is confident he has a good rock band and judging by some of the things that will be on the album there's quite a bit of variety to it, too, although they'll be doing heavy stuff live. The only question mark, therefore is whether people will like it.

"I don't think there's much interest at the moment, unless the single takes off. When one isn't doing anything interests fades, unless you are Bob Dylan, and then it seems to grow and grow."

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