''Nightingales & Bombers'' is an album released in 1975 by

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...

"The title of this album was inspired by a recording made in Surrey, England during the Second World War, by an ornithologist intending to record nightingales. The bombers flew over at the same time and were recorded by accident. The recording has been incorporated in 'As Above, So Below'". - ''Manfred Mann 1975''

The recording was made on 19 May 1942 by a sound engineer for the BBC. Intending to capture the nightingale's song he also, by accident, recorded the sound of RAF bombers on their way to attack

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

, Germany. In that raid 197 planes were dispatched and 12 were lost.

Track listing

Side one

# " Spirits in the Night" ( Bruce Springsteen) – 6:29 # "Countdown" (

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...

) – 3:05 # "Time Is Right" (Mann,

Chris Slade Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh musician, best known for playing for the Australian rock band AC/DC. He drummed for the band from 1989 to 1994, performing on their 1990 album '' The Razors Edge'' along wit ...

, Mick Rogers) – 6:32 # "Crossfade" (Manfred Mann, Chris Slade, Mick Rogers,

Colin Pattenden Colin Roy Pattenden (born November 1947, Farnborough, Kent, England) is an English bass guitarist, chiefly known for his membership of Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Pattenden was taught guitar but learned to play bass from tuition books, chiefly th ...

) – 3:38

Side two

"Visionary Mountains" ( Pam Nestor,

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

) – 5:38 # "Nightingales and Bombers" (Mick Rogers) – 4:45(*) # "Fat Nelly" (Manfred Mann, Peter Thomas) – 3:20 # "As Above So Below" (Recorded Live) (Manfred Mann, Chris Slade, Mick Rogers, Colin Pattenden) – 4:16

Bonus tracks on 1999 CD re-issue

"Quit Your Low Down Ways" (from US Release) (Bob Dylan) – 3:25 # "Spirits in the Night" (single version) (Bruce Springsteen) – 3:17 (*) The US version of the album includes "Quit Your Low Down Ways" as the second track on side two, which was not part of the original UK album. This song was recorded at the behest of the US record label, who were concerned that the album didn't contain enough songs with vocals (on the original UK LP, every second track is an instrumental, aside from one faintly heard line in the title track and some backing vocals on "As Above So Below"). "As Above So Below" is edited from a jam session that the band played in the middle of a 16-minute live version of " Mighty Quinn", recorded at the Marquee in London on December 18, 1973. This recording was then overdubbed with sound effects such as the aforementioned nightingales and bombers and reversed female vocals.

Personnel

The Earth Band

– Hammond organ,

synthesisers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Mick Rogers –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

– bass *

– drums, percussion

Additional musicians

* Ruby James,

Doreen Chanter Doreen Chanter is a British singer best known as a member of the Chanter Sisters, and for her work as a backing vocalist and session vocalist, primarily during the 1970s and 1980s. Chanter Sisters Chanter started as a member of a group called ...

, Martha Smith –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* David Millman –

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

* Chris Warren-Green –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

* Nigel Warren-Green –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

* Graham Elliott – cello * David Boswell-Brown – cello

Technical

* Manfred Mann's Earth Band –

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Laurence Latham –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Lilian Bron –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

* Dave Field – sleeve

Notes

External links

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - ''Nightingales & Bombers'' (1975) album releases & credits
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Manfred Mann's Earth Band - ''Nightingales & Bombers'' (1975) album credits & user reviews
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nightingales and Bombers Manfred Mann's Earth Band albums 1975 albums Bronze Records albums Warner Records albums