THE FIVE FACES OF MANFRED MANN

All the selections on this LP are wonderful, it's taking blues and making it a little jazzy at times. All the song selections are well chosen and really well recorded and it's in mono and sounds just like it did to me in 1965....If you want Do wa Didi, you going to have to get the best of the Manfred's .. This is all old blues numbers and originals catching the same vibe and played with utmost joy...Paul Jones is a superb blues singer and the band is tight and makes it sound like they are having a jam in your living room... I used to have the Old Ascot album with the 45 pushed on it in electronically redone stereo aka an echo mix. Glad I waited for the clean superb mono mix, go listen to a few of the songs and tell me this LP hasn't aged well, as it is just as good and groovy as it was when I was 15 years old...

I bought the 1st Manfred Mann album when it came out back in the stone age. After "Do Whah Diddy" the rest of the album was crammed full of powerful R&B and Blues. Their version of Muddy Waters' "Got My Mojo Working" really cooks! This cd has every song from the first lp except "Diddy" and frankly, who cares....

I was just listening to my old vinyl copy of the first American Manfred Mann album prior to coming online because it was easily one of my favorite British Blues albums I had heard when I first was turned on to it in 1967 (it was released in 1964), and if this is the British counterpart it probably rates more than the four stars I gave it. The first US release was titled The Manfred Mann Album: Doo Wah Diddy Diddy and every song except the title track was previously released in the UK as The Five Faces of Manfred Mann, which had three additional tracks. My confusion comes from the fact that the second US album was also titled The Five Faces of Manfred Mann, but the cover shown was not an American cover so I must presume this is indeed the English first album. Of all the early 60s British bands that dabbled in the blues (Stones, Yardbirds, etc.) this album to me was stylistically closest to the Animals with more solid blues tracks than most: Howlin' Wolf's Smokestack Lightning, Muddy Waters' Got My Mojo Working, Willie Dixon's Hoochie Coochie Man, Amos Milburn's Down the Road Apiece and Bo Diddley's Bring it to Jerome (written by Bo's maracas man, Jerome Green) as well as the Ike and Tina tune It's Gonna Work Out Fine and the Adderly jazz instrumental Sack o' Woe. The other four tracks maintain the feel of these standards to make this an album that has stood up throuigh the years very well, so the additional UK tracks can't do anything but add to the value, but you might wish to keep searching for a better value with a version of the American album or buy the 2-disc set of the same name which also has stuff from the second US album, which is good but more MOR. The main thing is make sure you get the tracks mentioned here if you want the bluesy side, because they are not available in any "best of" type compilations I've seen. It would be nice if the track listings were available for this viewing.

I was surprised to receive both mono and stereo versions of the album. A nice treat that i have not explored yet.

Manfred Mann is one of mine favorit group. This is there first is very blues and jazzinspiration. I can really recommend it.

Some great early blues tribute songs by a great English band.

Great to hear old record again after all these years!

I like this one!

Fast so stark wie die Rolling Stones kommt diese Debutplatte der Manfred Mann Band daher. Das liegt an der guten Instrumentierung, aber vor allem an Paul Jones, dem Lead Sänger, der den Blues röhrt wie die Besten dieser Zunft. Auf der CD gibt es die 14 Tracks als Mono und als Stereo-Mix. Eine ganz starkes Stück frühen britischen Blues.

Paul Jones mentioned in a recent interview with Record Collector that he left the band because he didn't like MM's move toward pop singles. This, the band's debut album shows what they were originally about, and it stands as one of the early classic r&b albums by a British band. Their brand of blues was rather more measured than the Stones, Yardbirds, Animals, etc. They went more for finesse than frenzy. 'Smokestack Lightning' is a good example. Jones also revealed that he was nettled by the general perception that The Yardbirds' version of the song was the best available. The Yardbirds' version is a pumped up, live version, whereas MM's is slower and more insidious. Nevertheless, MM can blow harder when they want to, as on 'Sack O' Woe', but all of the tracks are beautifully crafted. A personal favourite is 'I'm Your Kingpin', probably the best of the six original tracks. As is often the case, EMI don't provide bonus tracks or new sleevenotes, which doesn't bother me, but will disappoint some. Instead, they reprint the original notes and the disc remains about 40 minutes. A great album regardless.

Primo disco uscito nel 1964 per questo quintetto con buone aspettative. Come altri gruppi nel loro esordio prendono pezzi storici e li adattano al loro suono. Ed escono canzoni fatte bene con arrangiamenti per quel periodo possono considerarsi all'avanguardia, come "Smoketack Lightning" la famosa "Hoochie Coochie", oltre al leader Manfred Mann che già in quel periodo si alterna a vari strumenti vi è l'ottima voce di Paul Jones, disco consigliato per capire lo sviluppo di un certo tipo di musica.

Sonido de los sesentas muy parecido a the Animals, album debut de la banda. Muy buen disco por el precio.

I have had this on lp then cd ever since it was first released. Of all the early British bands to make it big they were musicians and brought a different sensibility to those who listened. Yes they had a certain number of pop hits but even many of those had a different edge to them. Early British R'n'B and blues tinged with many a jazz feel brought to you by consumate musicians some of whom still bring musical joy today as The Blues Band. I'm glad that this release is being made (re)-available by Umbrella Music. HOWEVER - It is listed as being in mono and stereo, which it is. BUT although the booklet says tracks 1-14 are mono and 15-28 are stereo the reverse is actually true on the copy I have. I had hoped it would be like certain EMI re-issues with the original mono (which I truly prefer!!) as the first set, then the stereo to finish off, since the stereo version was not released until many years after 1974. Overall the sound, both mono and stereo is great! So - a full 5 stars for the music !!! - a ZERO for not paying attention to the order of MONO / STEREO !! JUST WANT TO MAKE ONE POINT VERY CLEAR--- I AM WRITING ABOUT THE "UMBRELLA" RELEASE NOT ANY EMI ISSUE!!! IT CAN'T BE THAT DIFFICULT TO GET IT RIGHT AND WRITE IT UP THAT WAY!!!?