Man a Really Underrated Group
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=57267
Printed Date: November 22 2024 at 17:28
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Topic: Man a Really Underrated Group
Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Subject: Man a Really Underrated Group
Date Posted: April 18 2009 at 23:58
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This thread refers to the welsh band Man, a very good bab IMO, long forgotten by prog listeners and non prog listeners. I discover Man via the old repertoire catalogue that used to be attach in the inlay CD case of the early catalogue of this company, i was amazed by the name, i used to think "wow Man? ...what going to sound a band with a very common name " and this company have only the first two albums : Revelation and 2 oz. Then after a time of searching in old books of rock (this was years before the internet age) i decide to buy the second album 2oz, Why my decision? because i think that the second one would be more advance than the first, and time prove that i was no worng with my though. After i listenting the first song of that album: I feel dissapointment at first because i think that is more psychedelic than prog and a very abstract song by those time to me (i started to see other groups apart of the inmortals one as the likes of Genesis, Yes, DP, UH, etc. and now is one of my own high aclaim track!  ) but the second track:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxJQqAdczKQ Really prove that my dissapoiment should really dissapear very, very fast furious song that have a very dominant riff and so many changes that really want to take your air guitar and demolish the world by my hand, it's not a casuality that this song first called Sh+t of The World, but the record company in a very high morality thinking, change the title to the known one. And then the other tracks are really great and have grown on me very much. http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10903 Later i bought the first record and at last i did not like very much, as at this time i did not play very much tat record. But maybe i have to change my mind in a while. Then a friend on mine gave me a cassette of the Live 1975 album with John Cipollina join on guitar to Mick, a great record and then i heard a complete different rendition of Man, Skip practically the 1970-1974 period. So to catch the "lost" period i have to wait saveral years to have practically one by one of those marvellous albums and now that i have almost all, i latety listen the 1971 effort: http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=10905 A very underrated record from what i heard of this great record that much define the Man sound with songs like Manillo that is a really well crafted song , We're Only Children that is a evocation of long lost childhood a melancolic track BTW and the punching Many Are Called and Love your Life, with really mean riffs and well constructed harmonies. I invite to you to discover this band and inf you already know them, give a second listen and apreciation, you really won't be dissapointment.  Comments, opinions, etc. Web page: http://www.manband-archive.com/ -------------  |
Replies:
Posted By: fusionfreak
Date Posted: April 19 2009 at 10:23
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Great band!Awesome twin guitar psychedelia,Maximum Darkness with John Cippollina is a real killer,very funny "Bananas".You're right to say one can't be disappointed listening to this band.
------------- I was born in the land of Mahavishnu,not so far from Kobaia.I'm looking for the world of searchers with the help from crimson king |
Posted By: Nightfly
Date Posted: April 19 2009 at 13:18
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A truly great band and one that deffinitely deserved more success than they ever got. I've written quite a few reviews of their albums for this site, not only because i like them so much but also because none of them have more than a handful of reviews, some none!
My favourite studio albums are Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics, Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day, The Welsh Conection and Slow Motion.....as you can see their mid seventies period stuff before the first split.
Of course Man were primarily a band made to play live with as many, if not more live albums than studio. Some of the best are Maximum Darkness, Back Into The Future (partly studio double album) and an overlooked gem is 1994 Official Bootleg which has one of the besy versions of live favourite C,mon.
Sadly Micky Jones has been in poor health for a number of years and is unlikely to ever play again.
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Posted By: fusionfreak
Date Posted: April 20 2009 at 07:36
------------- I was born in the land of Mahavishnu,not so far from Kobaia.I'm looking for the world of searchers with the help from crimson king |
Nightfly wrote:Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: April 20 2009 at 11:22
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Welsh acid rock? I'll be looking into these guys. By the way: Is the thread title meant to be a pun?  ------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: April 20 2009 at 13:43
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HI,
I was lucky enough to get to see this band in America ... on their same tour with Hawkwind (Space 1999 Tour) ... and while one was loud, the other was very good ... and it did not have their classic line up ... it was the ManWinos lineup which already is their second generation.
I have all the stuff through Maximum Darkness and love listening to it ... not always mentioned and I need to get it and have a fix of it ... which album is that live version of MONA that they do? It was a killer version!
The albums I play ... ...are you settling in ... be good to yourself ... back to the future ... maximum darkness ...
It's hard not to enjoy the first 2 albums ... not sure they are erotic or neurotic ... but they are good fun.
The classic album, of all is "Be Good to Yourself ..." and believe it or not, besides it being a fabulous album, the even better part of it was the original cover and MAP of their country ... and the locations were marked with musicians names and there were a lot of names in there ... and it was fun chasing people down and see ... dang .. they all slept and went to school with each other!!!!
Do I have a favorite cut?
Never Say Nups to Nepalese - Back into the Future
C'mon - Be Good
C'mon - Back Into the Future
... and of course ... their family of friends and such ... the best of which is a fabulous little band called "Neutrons" ... and the other band that is also special is "Help Yourself" ...
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Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: April 20 2009 at 14:26
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Thanks to all for you answers.
somebody else wants to opinate, comment ------------- |
Posted By: crimhead
Date Posted: April 20 2009 at 19:33
| I liked what I heard but it wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for more psychadlic music. Something more on the lines of Hawkwind. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: April 21 2009 at 13:50
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Hi,
MAN is not psychedelic per se ... it is "stoned" ... and having fun with it.
I actually think that a lot of it was making fun of that stoned (age) era ... but all in all there is a side of their music that is party fun ... and stony, I find ... not even close to psychedelic.
In general, it is also more rock'n'roll oriented than Hawkwind ... who is definitly trip oriented and the word "rock'n'roll will probably get that person trampled to death by a sonic boom or two.
Hawkwind's excursions into ambient/acid (rock) as I call it, are excellent to my ear ... I can still sit through Space Ritual in its entirety and get totally thrilled and excited over it ... and that is not a tribute to drugs, which I am basically opposed to anyway ... you don't need them ... your body has better stuff to trip with! Use it!
The associations and "electric tepee" thing and eventually the "Bandits" album with that Black Elk speaks song ... is an example of how Hawkwind is just a tribe that is into a spirit form .... and it is electric and electronic ... and that visual to me, is clear and has been alive since their second album ... "In search of space" ... which is funny, it always gave the image of outer space and it is about inner space!
I loved that!
Other than the earlier days of Djam Karet and Amon Duul 2, I have not found any other bands that can sustain the "psychedelia" ... one sometimes thinks that Peter Hammill borders on that area, but one never gets the feeling that he is not honest about himself and what he does and sings. Many bands try to be wierd and this and that ... but the next album ... is not.
I really think that it is about the "concept" itself ... and you can't think of it as this kind of music or that kind of music ... you have to just play what your heart wants ... and the results will survive .... in many ways, I find Hawkwind's transitions amazing ....
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Posted By: himtroy
Date Posted: April 22 2009 at 14:46
| They have John Cippolina with them, as in from Quicksilver Messenger Service? Which album has him, because I'll definitely get that |
Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: April 22 2009 at 19:39
What you have heard?  ------------- |
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 02:28
Maximum Darkness, the live album from the mid-70s recorded in London.
Actually (I was at one of the two nights, but can't speak for the other) it's rumoured that much of Cippolina's stuff was removed and replaced with a bit of 'doctoring' from one Micky Jones. 7171 551 is actually a Deke Leonard song from his solo project Iceberg.
I'd heartily recommend the live Greasy Truckers Party (the inevitable Spunk Rock, plus Angel Easy) and Live at the Padgett Rooms Penarth. Man were essentially a great live band IMO, their rhythm section being referred to as the "Welsh Stomp" in the UK Press at the time.
Studiowise I'd go for Be Good to Yourself and Back to the Future.
Winos Rhinos is a bit more laid back but just as good, albeit with a different slant.
The Phil Ryan spin-off band The Neutrons released a couple of albums. I've only got one (Black Hole Star) which is IMO pretty good, with keyboiards to the fore and much less emphasis on guitars.
I'll leave with a famous Man quote from around 1973: "We may not be the best band in the world but we sure smoke the most dope."
------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 02:37
Thanks for starting the thread Alberto - I grew up with Man and still love them today.
Together with Hawkwind, the Pink Fairies and to a lesser extent Nektar, they were perceived as very much a "people's band" and rated very high in the 'cool' stakes, at least here in the UK.
They were always on the "second tier" circuit, meaning they could sell out 500-1000 seaters (OK no-one actually sat) and I think a couple of allbums scraped into the charts, although they always sold consistently well enough for the band to make a reasonably good living. There's some great interviews with Deke Leonard around on the net which say a lot more about the band than I ever could. ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: fusionfreak
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 04:16
------------- I was born in the land of Mahavishnu,not so far from Kobaia.I'm looking for the world of searchers with the help from crimson king |
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 08:33
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^
A Oui - c'est vrai.
The great thing with Man live was they'd have played till the cows came home if they could. Their live jams seemed to go on for ever and ever - hence the earlier recommendations.Only the licencing regulations stopped them, in my experience. And even then you'd get a few chords as they left the stage.
I'm just sorry to hear Micky Jones has been ill 'cos I didn't know - I'm too old to be a fanboy these days. ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 08:42
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Great band - don't know how often I saw them on the stage from the early 70's up to now ... this is an interview with Leonard and Ace speaking about Micky ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 08:56
Maximum Darkness ...
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Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 08:59
Thank you. ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 09:10
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Hi, Man and Nektar, I think were actually from the same area ... they say hello to each other in the album covers ...
Neutrons ... 2nd album "Man, we're glad to know you" ... and while I don't think that 2nd album is as good as the first, it's still good.
Help Yourself ... the double album with Ken Whaley and stuff had a long cut that was really nice (don't remember the title) and it also had another one of those "man letters" (as I call it) ... seems that these bands supported the mother band ... Man.
Psychedelic is a sor tof mis-understood term ... I remember that at the time we first heard Gentle Giant, that they were psychedelicized, and ... they weren't at all ... it was just musicianship at its insane level ... I often call it an english Frank Zappa ... the one artist and composer I find has the most to share with GG ... but I don't think that is a discussion that most prog'rs want to get into ...
Man ... to my ears, was not psychedelic ... it was stony. But to categorize good music one type or another, to me (NOW!) ... is kinda sad ... I can't say that this piece is better than the other because it has some grass in it and the other doesn't ... that's just not fair to the musicians and the creativity involved ... not to mention that their ability to travel from point A to point B ,,, is gonna be HELL!!!! and more HELL!!! ... they would be marked and chased down and frisked to no end.
Sometimes I think that Man took their Cippolina/Quicksilver thing a bit too far ... but it got them a really good audience in the Bay area ... and it was music that was appreciated much more so there, than in LA, or London, for example ... kinda sad if you ask me, but it tells you how strange and fickle some fans can be.
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Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 09:34
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^
I reckon that Revelation and 2ozs were, OK, psychedelic, but when the lineup changed they got more into the guitar-orientated stuff which I love so much.
No way am I trying to get Brownie Guide points here but I used to work with Ken Whaley's dad (also Ken, a photographer) and I remember when Ken Jr left Help Yourself to join Man Ken Sr was really worried for him 'cos of their "reputation"
 Any father (like me) would be. You're dead right about the incestuous music scene - Help Yourself used to tour with a Welsh band called Slapp Happy but the Nektar connection had nothing to do with geography - Roye D'Albrighton (or however he really spells his name) and the rest of Nektar were based in Germany where Man used to play a lot.
There's not (to my knowledge) a Welsh Connection ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 09:52
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the MAN and NEKTAR members felt like brothers in arms for some time - they toured and jammed together ... as for the Welsh Connection ... at least one event took place at Swansea in 1972 where Help Yourself (with Leonard) played the stunning jam 'Eddie Waring' http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/users/staffba3/mana2.html - Christmas At The Patti  ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 10:31
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Yes man shoudl deserve a really more attention.
Favourites of mine:
2 Oz
Man
Do you Like It
Maximun Darkness
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Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 11:26
Yes you're right. I think it was the Patti Pavilion in Swansea and if I'm not wrong it came out as a limited edition 10-inch - or something like that.
An older friend of mine bought it - I think it was a to be paid for "gift" to the ManFans as we were called, but I never owned it 'cos I couldn't afford it at the time.
Je Je that must be a real collectors' item now
Keep on Crintin - or whatever they call it these days.
And, yes, I do remember "Eddie Waring" - Man played it at Dagenham Roundhouse in 1972/3. What a homage to rugby it almost was.
PS I'm so glad other folks on PA appreciate what was always to me a very fine band.  ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 14:11
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Feltham Rox, somewhere in the 80's (1983/1984?) - does anybody know who is on the stage here? I only recognize 'Pugwash' Weathers, Deke Leonard, Mickey Jones ... and Martin Ace later at the end probably one of them is Tweke Lewis? not the best version of Spunk Rock - but an interesting line-up anyhow ... a mixture from some bands which played that venue probably ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: el dingo
Date Posted: April 23 2009 at 15:05
Yes and no, get Deke Leonard from the Humbug/Zebra (whatever you called it); John Weathers on drums def, Micky Jones is self-evident (& having a bit of a bop as he always did); Martin Ace too. I honestly don't recognise the "missing person" 'cos I never saw the band with Tweke Lewis (tho I did with both Phil Ryan and Terry Williams). I really tried but it could be Robert Fripp for all i know  ------------- It's not that I can't find worth in anything, it's just that I can't find worth in enough. |
Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: April 24 2009 at 02:25
 This was probably the first time the band performed in Herford, my little hometown in Germany and at that time famous for the 'Jaguar Club' I was a little bit too young for being aware of them in 1970 - but they came back a few times later and I could enjoy their fantastic live presence - once together with NEKTAR for example ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: 7171551
Date Posted: July 19 2009 at 07:48
| Actually the estimated dates here are incorrect it was 1992...Bassist is/ was the late Ray Williams...Roger Hoodless ( roadie) and yes Tweke is here too.... |
Posted By: Rivertree
Date Posted: July 19 2009 at 08:07
1992? you're sure? Not to believe ... ------------- https://awesomeprog.com/users/Rivertree" rel="nofollow"> |
Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: October 03 2009 at 03:17
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Listen to Manillo excelent track with a rockin tempo angry lyrics and a sense of deseperation and resignation but with a power feel of i have the best in my innerself
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Posted By: TODDLER
Date Posted: October 03 2009 at 07:51
| Man 1999 Party tour in the summer of 1974. Hawkwind and MAN were together on this tour and played in Philadelphia that summer. Man 1999 Party Tour is a worthwhile cd. Man(self titled) originally on the United Artist label and Are You Settling IN? are off the cuff albums for Man. Be Good TO yOURSELF and Back To The Future are my personal favorites. I discovered Man, Hawkwind, and Can all the same time when they were on the United Artist label here in America. All 3 bands were on this domestic label, while Guru, Guru, Lucifer's Friend, Amon DULL II and Neu were on another domestic label Billingsgate records. These bands were actually given the chance to sell their records in the U.S back in the 70's. |
Posted By: Adams Bolero
Date Posted: October 03 2009 at 12:17
| Man are great; ''We're Only Children'' is one of my favourite songs. |
Posted By: Hogweed57
Date Posted: October 03 2009 at 13:18
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yea agreed Man were indeed a great band as has been said they and nektar were true prog twins very similar but different enough so to speak. I always felt Man reminded me of the Greatful Dead in that they were incredible musos and knew how to extend a song live without going off on too much of a tangent Ah memories!! ------------- Be safe be happy |
Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: October 27 2009 at 21:24
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Bump!!! ------------- |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: December 24 2009 at 17:47
I think there is ... Nektar was actually from England, and I think that some of the names are listed in the album sleeve that had the family trees for all these ... and that list even includes Mick Jagger, Gentle Giant, Dave Edmunds and many others ... Nektar became based in Germany a bit later.
Man being appreciated in Germany is not a surprise since they were/are known for some extended jams and songs, and if there is an audience in the world that loves that ... I would say that the Germans are the best at appreciating improvisations and experiments ... I really don't think they were appreciated enough in their own home land ... and I am not sure that there are enough bands that had tried as hard as they did ... but one guitarist that will be missed ... is definitly Mickey ... almost no one could float all over the place and sound so nice and good as he did ... and make Deke Leonard sound better! ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: December 24 2009 at 17:49
That version of MONA ... is unreal ... ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |
Posted By: The Truth
Date Posted: December 24 2009 at 20:43
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They are not underrated on this site, but overall I feel VDGG needed more recognition, Hammill is such an amazing musician and recieves little credit for it. ------------- http://blindpoetrecords.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow">  
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Posted By: Alberto Muņoz
Date Posted: March 11 2010 at 13:52
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8562033.stm - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8562033.stm
  ------------- |
Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: March 11 2010 at 13:55
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I'm not familiar with much of their work but do own Do You Like It Here Now Are You settling In and love that critter to bits. Is that album typical of large swathes of their output ?
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Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: March 13 2010 at 13:01
You want to get the "Be Good To Yourself At Least Once a Day" album, which, yeah ... is closer to that one even in design ... 4 cuts, 2 on each side of the album (now a CD) ... and one of the best right off the bat is their anthem called "C'mon" which gets a doubled up version in the next album "Back Into the Future" and it has one of the prettiest guitar suport/solos that I have ever heard, and you want to listen to that middle section carefully as the little touches here and there by Mickey and the responses and adds by Deke Leonard are awesome and then some.
And if you get bored, you can always get that Male Choir, which supposedly is the crew that was/became Monty Python under the direction of Neil Innes in their college days drunk or otherwise, but I am not sure of the veracity of that. And rumor has it that's the same folks that had fun with Pink Floyd for 5 minutes! And Neil Innes is not talking about rubber dux much more either!
But what do I know? ------------- Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told! www.pedrosena.com |