Manfred Mann R&B Album, The/Groovin' With The Manfreds

The 26 songs here represent a slightly better investment than the See For Miles Records R&B collection by the Manfreds, as well as newer remasterings (by 14 years) of the same material. The notes by Paul Jones also provide an inside perspective, as well as a funny account of his entry into the band (and offer an incidental defense of Bo Diddley's underrated complexity as a writer and influence on the Manfreds). Songs include "Smokestack Lightning," "Hoochie Coochie Man," "Got My Mojo Working," "Groovin'," "Watermelon Man," "I Put a Spell on You," and a bunch of other standards and originals. The only frustration is the presence of a shot of the band playing at the Marquee, which makes one wish all the more that somebody had recorded one of their shows at the time. The group's command of R&B and blues improved as they went on -- it was always little strange hearing an outfit as non-guitar-dominated as the Manfreds do some of this stuff, with lots of vibraphone and organ, not to mention sax -- all of which, along with their jazz roots, separated them from the Stones, Yardbirds, et al. But by the time of "Down the Road Apiece," they were making it work close to 100 percent of the time. ~ Bruce Eder|