This is the second UK album in a stereo version with the Manfred Mann and if you like the first album
with them, yeah then you gonna like this one too, even I think that I like the first one better, on this
album Paul Jones has only written one song, but the others bar Manfred had written on each too, and Vickers
got even two tracks on this album, they made some great covers too, yeah they even made the Temptation hit
The Way You Do The Things You Do, yeah it was the Temptations first hit, so they released both on thier
first and second album, yeah it was the first recording since the David Ruffin had take over the vocals
from Elbridge Bryant in the 1964, but Paul Jones was no David Ruffin, nah he was an Englishman, but he
manage to make a great version of it, and they do some fantastic R&B on this album too, so I can just
mention Watch Your Step and Stormy Monday, no I don't need to say more of that, so all you have to do
is just enjoy this album too, I have listen to it three times now this night.
01 - Since I Don't Have You (2:38) (Rock-Martin-Beaumont-Vogel)
02 - You're For Me (2:56) (Vickers)
03 - Look Away (2:21) (Meade-Russell)
04 - The Abominable Snowmann (2:47) (Vickers)
05 - Watch Your Step (2:17) (Parker)
06 - Call It Stormy Monday (3:43) (Walker)
07 - I Really Do Believe (3:07) (Jones)
08 - Hi Lili, Hi Lo (2:43) (Kaper-Deutsch)
09 - The Way You Do The Things You Do (2:44) (Robinson-Rogers)
10 - Bare Hugg (3:52) (Hugg)
11 - You Don't Know Me (3:47) (Walker-Arnold)
12 - L.S.D. (3:53) (McGuinness)
13 - I'll Make It Up To You (3:16) (Ragavoy-Raleigh)
Paul Jones - Lead & Background Vocals, Harmonica
Manfred Mann - Keyboards, Vocals
Mike Vickers - Guitar, sax, Flute, Vocals
Tom McGuinnes - Bass, Vocals, Guitar
Mike Hugg - Drums, Vibes, Vocals
Review by Bruce Eder
The group's second British album -- released just as the original lineup was entering a state of collapse with the impending departure of two key members -- shows some of the changes that can happen in a year, as they moved away from Chess Records' brand of blues as their baseline. Instead, they produced a sound that's slightly smoother and a lot more soulful. A handful of originals, mostly by Mike Vickers and Mike Hugg with one Paul Jones-authored number thrown in, are scattered amid covers of songs originated by the Temptations, the Skyliners, and T-Bone Walker. If it isn't as fierce, bold, or daringly ambitious as the Manfreds' debut long-player, Mann Made is just as much a virtuoso effort, and a surprisingly cohesive one, considering that it was released immediately after Mike Vickers and Paul Jones announced their respective departures from the band. The 1997 EMI 100th Anniversary series edition features 24-bit digital EMI CD remastering, which is as sharp and clean as one could possibly hope for.
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