Man
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1968-69) - Clive John (aka Clint Space) -- keyboards - Jeff Jones -- drums, percussion - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guiatr - Ray Williams -- bass
line up 2 (1969) NEW - Martin Ace -- guitar (replaced Deke Leonard) - Clive John (aka Clint Space) -- keyboards - Jeff Jones -- drums, percussion - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar - Ray Williams -- drums, percussion
line up 4 (1969-72) - Martin Ace -- bass - Clive John (aka Clint Space) -- keyboards - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar NEW - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guitar NEW - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion (replaced Jeff Jones)
line up 4 (1972) - Martin Ace -- bass - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guitar - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion
line up 5 (1972-73) NEW - Clive John (aka Clint Space) -- keyboards - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar NEW - Phil Ryan (RIP) -- keyboards - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion NEW - Phil Youatt -- bass (replaced Martin Ace)
line up 6 (1973) - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar NEW - Alan "Tweke" Lewis --- guitar - Phil Ryan (RIP) -- keyboards - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion - Phil Youatt -- bass (replaced Martin Ace)
line up 6 (1973-74) - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar NEW - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guitar - Alan "Tweke" Lewis --- guitar NEW - Malcolm Morley -- keyboards NEW - Ken Whaley -- bass - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion
line up 7 (1974) NEW - Jim Horn -- sax - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guitar - Alan "Tweke" Lewis --- guitar - Malcolm Morley -- keyboards - Ken Whaley -- bass - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion (replaced Jeff Jones)
line up 8 (1974) NEW - Jim Horn -- sax - Micky Jones (RIP) -- lead guitar - Deke Leonard -- vocals, guitar - Alan "Tweke" Lewis --- guitar - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion (replaced Jeff Jones)
line up 9 (1975) NEW - Martin Ace -- bass - Micky Jones -- vocals, lead guitar - Deke Leonard -- vocals, rhythm guitar - Terry Williams -- drums, percussion, backing vocals
supporting musicians: (1975) - John Cipollina -- lead guitar
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- Alkatraz - Ancient Grease - Bees Make Honey - Big Sleep - Bobcats - Brothers Grimm - Pete Brown & Pibloktol - Buck and Evans - The Bystanders - Dire Straits (Terry Williams) - The Disco Brothers - Dream (Martin Ace, Deke Leonard, and Terry Williams) - Ducks Deluxe (Ken Whalley) - Eyes of Blue (Phil Ryan and Ray Williams) - The Flying Aces (Ace Martin) - Gentle Giant - Global Village Trucking Companu - Help Yourself (Malcolm Morley and Ken Whaley) - Icenberg - The Jets - Deke Leonard (solo efforts) - The Motors (Terry Williams) - The Mustangs - Neutrons (Clive John) - Quicksilver Messnger Service - Rockpile (Terry Williams) - Shogun - Tyla Gang - The Vikings - Wild Turkey (Alan "Tweke" Lewis)
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Genre: rock Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: Man 1970 Company: Sunset Catalog: SLS 50380 Year: 1976 Country/State: Swamsea, Wales Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: name 'George Webb' written on front and back covers Available: 1 Catalog ID: 6248 Price: $15.00
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One quick look at the original British album cover for 1970's "Man" should have made it clear why the artwork had to be modified before it could be released in the States ... Yeah, for some reason in 1970 full frontal male nudity simply didn't play well with American retailers.
Liberty catalog number LBG 83464
I'm not quite sure what the marketing logic was behind the decision to reissue the album in 1976. Released by Liberty's Sunset subsidiary, the album was repackaged as "Man 1970" - same track listing; different cover. Given the band's extensive catalog (this was actually their third studio set), you had to wonder why they decided to release this one, as opposed to say one of the band's two 1969 releases ... Regardless of the logic, what you got here was a totally strange mixture of boogie rock, one country-rock track, and a pair of strange experimental outings. "Man
1970" track listing:
1.) Romain (Martin Ace - Clive John - Michael Jones - Deke Leonard - Terry Williams) - 6:11 rating: *** stars The band-penned 'Romain' opened the album with a decent slice of country-blues. At least to my ears the highlight came in the form of Deke Leonard's acoustic steel guitar. There wasn't a single original note on this one, but it still sounded pretty good, especially considering you were listening to a band hailing from Wales playing country-blues 2.) Country Girl (Martin Ace - Deke Leonard) - 3:08 rating: * star The country-rocker 'Country Girl' struck me as being unlistenable. Why would a band from Wales want to play something like this? Was their anything worthwhile here? Not really ... okay maybe the background mandolin. 3.) Would the Christians Wait Five Minutes? The Lions are Having a Draw (Martin Ace - Michael Jones) - 12:52 rating: *** stars I'll give it a star for having one of the strangest titles I've ever heard and a second star for the warmed over space rock feel. Imagine a Hawkwind vibe, but with a more mainstream and tuneful melody. That melody was pretty, through it kind of dragged over the course of the lengthy song. Other than that 'Would the Christians Wait Five Minutes? The Lions are Having a Draw' was largely a waste of twelve minutes of your life.
(side
2) Frankly, Leonard's 'Daughter of the Fireplace' was a rather forgettable slice of bar band boogie. The least memorable performance on the album ... Makes you wonder why it was tapped as the single.
- 1971's 'Daughter of the Fireplace' b/w 'Country Girl' (Liberty catalog number LBF 15448) 2.) Alchemist (instrumental) (Martin Ace - Clive John - Michael Jones - Deke Leonard - Terry Williams) - 20:41 rating: ** stars Man never struck me as being a particularly progressive, or experimental outfit which only served to make 'Alchemist' more of a surprise not necessarily a good surprise). Clocking in at over twenty minutes, the group composition started out as a lengthy sound collage. Absent anything remotely close of a melody or rhythm what you got was a seemingly endless series of human moans, including what sounded like a bit of Gregorian chanting, along with bizarre sound effects. A couple of minutes into the performance the song abruptly shifted into a molten hard rock pattern that sounded a bit like a throwaway Black Sabbath track. And then back to more in-studio weirdness including what sounded like a sick Wookie, someone trying to start a fire with sticks, and lots of deep sighs. It then slid into the only really enjoyable segment; a slightly lysergic-tinged segment complete with harpsichord, organ, and backward guitars. Perhaps admirable from an artistic standpoint (or a warning that band's shouldn't go into a studio totally stoned), but not exactly something you'd want to listen to on a regular basis.
About all I can say is that if you've heard anything else in the Man catalog this one's going to strike you as odd.
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Genre: rock Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Slow Motion Company: United Artists Catalog: UA-LA345-G Year: 1975 Country/State: Swamsea, Wales Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: original inner sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5204 Price: $10.00
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Co-produced by the band and Anton Mathews, 1975's "Slow Motion" has always been one of those Man albums I'm wishy washy about. The good news was the departure of keyboardist Malcolm Morley also seemed to have left the band with a tighter and leaner sound. The band also didn't seem to be trying as hard as on earlier releases. Whatever the explanation, this time around their unique hybrid of West Coast rock and UK pub rock actually clicked on tracks like 'Hard Way To Die' (which sounded like something by Terry Thomas and Charlie) and 'Day and Night'. Those positive factors were offset by the fact roughly half of the songs were completely forgettable. Tracks like ''One More Change, 'Rock and Roll You Out' and 'Rainbow Eyes' were little more than throwaways. Ironically, in spite of the classic Mad magazine inspired Rick Griffin sleeve the album sported some of the year's most depressing and downbeat lyrics - 'Grasshopper' and 'You Don't Like Us'. Elsewhere, side two's 'Bedtime Bone' opened with a weird slice of fusion-rock. Weird, but fascinating. The change in direction certainly didn't appeal to all of their fans, but it was enough to get the quartet to finally embark on a US tour, though it did little for sales.
"Slow
Motion" track listing: 1.) Hard Way To Die (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 5:37 2.) Grasshopper (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard)- 5:11 3.) Rock and Roll You Out (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 4:32 4.) You Don't Like Us (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 4:35
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2) 2.) One More Chance (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 4:46 3.) Rainbow Eyes (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 6:07 4.) Day and Night (Terry Williams - Ken Whaley - Mickey Jones - Deke Leonard) - 4:02
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Genre: rock Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Maximum Darkness Company: United Artists Catalog: UA-29872 Year: 1976 Country/State: Swamsea, Wales Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve; poster insert Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2730 Price: $40.00
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Hum, what do you get when you cross a bunch of stoned Welch rockers with a famed, but euqlly stoned Bay Area guitarist ? Oh, you get a live album - in this case 1975's "Maximum Darkness".
Man had previously met and performed with Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina when they played several 1974 concerts at San Francisco's Winterland Theater. Cipollina and Man seemed to jell and for whatever reason, he agreed to accompany them on an upcoming 1975 UK tour. Recorded during a 26 May, 1975 performance at London's Chalk Farm Roundhouse, "Maximum Darkness" was billed as a collaboration between Man and "special guest" Cipollina. Unfortunately, anyone expecting to hear a healthy dose of QMS-styled psych injected into the Man catalog was going to be disappointed. 'Codine' and 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' were both part of the QMS repertoire, but with the exception of the opener; an extended version of Leonard's '7171-521', it was hard to pick Cipollina's contributions out in the mix. In fact, on at least one track (the closer 'Bananas'), Cipollina's out-of-tune performance was wiped and replaced by Micky Jones during post-production work. On the other hand, The Man performances weren't bad. Having bassist Martin Ace briefly return to the fold was a nice benefit and the five extended performances were all listenable; even a 13 minute track like 'Many Are Called But Few Get Up' going by quickly.
"Maximum
Darkness" track listing: 1.) 7171-521 (Deke Leonard) - 11:05 rating: **** stars Originally recorded for Deke Leonard's 1973 debut album "Iceberg" (great album), '717-521' gets re-tooled for a West Coast crown. I read online where the title was inspired by Michael Nesmith's personal phone number. Leonard eventually decided that wasn't a great idea and dropped the full ten digit sequence for the abbreviated '7171 551', but not before United Artists had pressed and released the first batch of albums. The opening sounded like some typical jazz-rock wanking (always loved that English verb), but luckily they quickly found their way into the song. The good news is they sounded pretty good on this one and the track had loads and loads of fuzz guitar. It was one of the few tracks where Cippollina's Gibson SG (shown on the album cover), seemingly made his presence felt. The bad news is there was loads of fuzz guitar. There was literally 11:05 minutes worth. Even the biggest guitar puke is going to reach a point of diminishing returns at some point. No Cippillina (you'll barely notice), but YouTube has an April 1975 performance of the song for the German Rockpalast television show. Yes, you get the full eleven minute plus version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knNAStZ9Qfw 2.) Codine (Buffy St. Marie) - 7:40 rating: **** stars Maybe because it was written out of true experience, Buffy St. Marie's 'Cod'ine' may be the finest anti-drug song ever written. I've always found it somewhat ironic that Quicksilver Messenger Service covered the tune on the "Revolution" soundtrack.. I'm guessing that's the reason it was included on the track listing. By the way, I've always loved the way Leonard sange the title - "co-dine" (the emphasis on "dine"). Very different than the way Americans say the word. Great Jones slide guitar performance. 3.) Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Darling - Bennett - Anne Bredon) - 6:30 rating: **** stars The writing credits confused me - I always thought Anne Johannsen-nee-Bredon penned the song back in the late-'50s. Anyhow, this was another tune in Quicksilver Messenger Service's early repertoire (also on the "Revolution" soundtrack. This version sounded quite impressive. In fact it was so smooth and the vocals so on-target, you had to believe it was "tidied" up during post-production work.
(side
2) Originally recorded for their 1971 "Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Stettling In?" studio collection, how do you describe this one ? Welsh Coast psychedelia jam ? More wanking ? I'll just say that clocking in at over 13 minutes, it's a bit too much for my tastes. You'll have to judge for yourself. To help, here's another clip from their 1975 Rockpalast performace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaPq4mO8X9g 2.) Bananas (Micky Jones - Phil Ryan - Terry Williams - Clive John) - 11:20 rating: **** stars Originally on their 1972 "Be Good To Yourself At LeastOne a Day" studio set, 'Bananas' started off as a slice of man-styled blues-rock. This version toughens up the sound with plenty of slide guitar (actually I think it's Hawaiian slat key guitar) and the band literally shouting out the famed "I like marijuana, cos it gets me stoned" lyric. The one track that I think's actually better than the studio original. Maybe nothing more than an ugly rumor, Cipollina's Hawaiian guitar was supposedly wiped from the tapes and replaced by Jones. Whoever is playing it; the results are quite cool.
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