''Plains Music'' is an album released in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

by Manfred Mann's Plains Music, which was a project initiated by Manfred Mann after he retired his Earth Band in the late 1980s.

"This album is called ''Plains Music'', as it consists mainly of the melodies of the North American Plains Indians. We do not pretend that it is in any sense representative of the original ethnic music which was its source material. I tried to make a simple album of plain music, using as few notes as possible and keeping the tracks short and to the point." - ''Manfred Mann 1991''Manfred Mann's Earth Band Discography - Album Notes - 1991 Plains Music
The Official Website Of Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Mann recorded some of the album in his homeland, which he had been exiled from for nearly three decades because of his opposition to

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. The album was initially released in 1991 and was re-mastered digitally with three additional tracks in 1998.

Track listing

;Side one #"Kiowa (Kiowa Wind Song)" (Traditional; arranged by

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 ...

) – 3:16 #"Medicine Song (Apache Medicine Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Mann,

Anthony Moore Anthony Moore (also known as Anthony More) (born 13 August 1948) is a British experimental music composer, performer and producer. He was a founding member of the band Slapp Happy, worked with Henry Cow and has made a number of solo albums, inc ...

) – 4:15 #"Wounded Knee (Dakota Ghost Dance Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 4:51 #"Laguna (Laguna Corn Grinding Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 4:56 ;Side two #

"Sikelele I (Based on South African Xhosa Stick Fighting Song)" (Mann,

Mike Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended th ...

) – 3:43 #"Hunting Bow" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 1:35 #"Instrumedicine Song (As Medicine Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 4:06 #"Sikelele II (As Sikelele I)" (Mann) – 4:03 #"Hunting Bow (Reprise) (Kiowa War Song)" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 2:40 ;Bonus Tracks (1998 re-issue) #

"Salmon Fishing" (Traditional; arranged by Mann) – 4:02 #"L.I.A.S.O.M." (

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

, Charles John Quarto) – 3:51 #"Medicine Song" (re-mix) (Traditional; arranged by Mann, Moore) – 4:16

Personnel

- keyboards *

Noel McCalla Noel McCalla (born 5 November 1956, in London, England) is a British rock singer. He was the lead vocalist for the rock group Manfred Mann's Earth Band from 1991 until 2009. Early life McCalla was born to Hubert Sylvester McCalla, a minister in ...

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 ...

* Barbara Thompson -

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

s *Peter Sklair - bass *Ian Hermann - drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

with *Smiler Makana - African hunting bows *Kelly Petlane -

pennywhistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

*Doren Thobeki - additional vocals *Walter Sanza - additional vocals *Chief Dawethi - additional vocals

Notes

Manfred Mann's Earth Band albums 1991 albums {{1990s-hard-rock-album-stub