''Manfred Mann's Earth Band'' is the eponymous debut studio album by English rock band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

, released on 24 January 1972 by

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

Marketing and sales

''Manfred Mann's Earth Band'' was first released in January 1972 by

in the United States, where it sold modestly and charted for six weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200, peaking at number 138 on 18 March. The single "Living Without You" spent seven weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching number 69 on 8 April. In the United Kingdom, the album was released on 18 February by

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

to lesser sales.

Critical reception

The album was met with positive reviews from American critics. Henry Edwards of ''

High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

'' said the Earth Band had proved themselves greatly superior to other acts in the "British Blues Invasion of the Seventies" by displaying a dedication to the music rather than flaunting their individual abilities. He also applauded bandleader

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

's performances of "Part Time Man" and "I'm Up and I'm Leaving", writing that they possessed "that haunting, urgent quality that has always marked Mann not only as a quality rocker but also as a musician with serious intentions and the ability to realize them". '' Ramparts'' magazine called the album a respite from the "excessively abstracted psychedelic/hard rock" of the time, as well as an exceptional-sounding record that would prove to be "a landmark in the assimilation of new technology into rock without yielding to any impulse to make it a gimmick". At the end of 1972, ''Manfred Mann's Earth Band'' was named the third best album of the year in

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

's column for ''

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''. The music critic applauded Mann's innovative synthesizer parts and both the "original and borrowed" lyrics, while calling the album "one of those future-rock records that will probably spawn no heirs, even by the group that made it". Reviewers in the UK were less receptive to the album, according to Robert Corich in his notes for its reissue. Christgau later ranked the album number 17 on a decade-end list for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', and described it as "an extraordinary cult record" that achieved rock's

dichotomous A dichotomy () is a partition of a set, partition of a whole (or a set) into two parts (subsets). In other words, this couple of parts must be * jointly exhaustive: everything must belong to one part or the other, and * mutually exclusive: nothi ...

"art-commerce" synthesis, something he said Mann had espoused since the early years of his music career.

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critic J.P. Ollio called it "a completely satisfying album and one of the most underrated of the '70s", in which the Earth Band explored "arty and progressive directions" without succumbing to the weight of their own pretensions. Ollio highlighted the record's "hypnotic instrumentals", Mann's "exhilarating original songs", and the "three definitive covers" of

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

's "Living Without You",

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk. Active as a session mus ...

's "Jump Sturdy", and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

's " Please, Mrs. Henry".

Track listing

Side one #"California Coastline" (Walt Meskell, Tim Martin) – 2:48 #"Captain Bobby Stout" (

Lane Tietgen Lane Tietgen (born Topeka, Kansas) was an American poet, composer and musician who sang and played guitar and bass. Tietgen lived in the Bay Area in California. He died on 14 July 2020, as reported in the Sonoma News A number of Tietgen's songs h ...

) – 6:54 #"Sloth" (

, Mick Rogers) – 1:27 #"Living Without You" (

) – 3:36 #"Tribute" (Mann) – 5:32 Side two #" Please Mrs Henry" (

) – 4:32 #"Jump Sturdy" ( Dr. John Creaux) – 4:49 #"Prayer" (Mann) – 5:41 #"Part Time Man" (David Sadler, Mann) – 3:05 #"I'm Up and I'm Leaving" (Mann, Sadler) – 3:11 * Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–10 on CD reissues. 1999 CD bonus tracks #

"Living Without You" (Single version mono) (Newman) – 3:36 #"California Coastline" (Single version mono) (Meskell, Martin) – 2:47 #"Mrs Henry" (Single version mono) (Dylan) – 2:39

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's 1999 reissue booklet. Manfred Mann's Earth Band *

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

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

, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Part Time Man” and “I’m Up and Leaving”, production * Mick Rogers – electric guitar, lead vocals *

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. Career Pattenden was taught guitar but learned to play bass from tuition books ...

– bass guitar *

Chris Slade Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh drummer, who is perhaps best known for playing for Manfred Mann's Earth Band from its inception in 1971 to 1978 on eight albums, and AC/DC, for which he drummed from 1989 to ...

– drums Additional personnel * David Mackay – producer * Dave Hadfield –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, producer * John Pantry – engineer * Bloomsbury Group – design * Bob Foster – photography * Re-mastered by: Robert M. Corich and Mike Brown

Marketing and sales

Critical reception

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

References

External links