Bootleg Archives, Vol.1-5
Artist: Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
Label: Independent (www.manfredmann.com 

Time: 57 Tracks / 6 Hours, 21 mins
1 13 tracks / 77 mins /
2 12 tracks / 75 mins
3 13 tracks / 78 mins
4 10 tracks / 72 mins
5 9 tracks / 79 mins

Teaser: What you sometimes lose in sound quality is more than made up for in hours of good listening.

There are not too many ‘60s artists who have developed what they do over the years and are still making strong music, but Manfred Mann is one. His strength, from the beginning, has been taking songs by classic songwriters and making them his own, such as Dylan’s "The Mighty Quinn."

He formed the Earth Band in the ‘70s, and adapted well to the rock style of the time. Solar Fire (which contained the single Joybringer ) and The Good Earth are still two of the band’s best albums, along with Watch and The Roaring Silence.

By the ‘80s he had established a consistent approach to re-inventing artists like Springsteen, and put out two very strong discs in Chance and Somewhere in Afrika. This set of five CDs of bootlegs starts in 1981 and catches a selection of tours (plus odds that make up free space on the discs). The box warns that the material is “not of a standard that we would normally consider releasing” but explains it is to make the material available at a reasonable price to take the market away from the bootleggers and get royalties to those who deserve them.

Volume 1 has a true bootleg feel, having clearly been recorded from well in the crowd, but during the songs the sound is very acceptable. The music is strong, too, featuring four tracks from the fine Chance album that they were touring. Highlights include an eleven-minute Martha’s Madman , where the Moog solo is one of the best on the whole set; a thankfully extended version of the instrumental "Fritz the Blank;" the first account of "Blinded by the Light," which appears three times in the boxed set; and "Give Me the Good Earth," which is sadly the only piece here from the eponymous album. The novelty track, "Hobo Bill’s Last Ride" would be better omitted.

Volume 2 (1986 Criminal Tango Tour) has possibly the most eclectic set of songs, ranging from "Gimme Some Lovin’/ Mony Mony" and "The Third Man Theme" to "Davy’s on the Road Again" , but reflecting the effect of the ‘80s New Wave, seen in tracks like the Jam’s "Going Underground" and Eddie & the Hot Rods’ "Do anything You Want to Do" . While Mann’s keenness to re-invent is laudable, the ‘70s rock approach to ‘80’s material plainly doesn’t work, the songs losing too much energy in the instrumental breaks. This is why punk happened in the first place.

Where the songs do work is in opening with Joni Mitchell’s "Banquet," one of their best 1980s tracks; a nine-minute "Father of Day" and long term favourite "Mighty Quinn."

1991’s Volume 3 from Cologne sees the band return from a five year hiatus with Tull’s Clive Bunker on drums and Noel McCalla singing. His vocals might be even better than Chris Thompson’s. Once over the disappointment of "Banquet" only being a two-minute introduction (if it were complete, it would be storming) this disc proves to be a twin-peak of the set, stuffed as it is with songs by major songwriters. Dylan has two, while Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Ry Cooder and Bob Marley each have one.

The disc is topped up by a couple of London tracks: the 1973 hit "Joybringer" and a pre-tour road test of the outstanding "Pleasure and Pain."

Volume 4 (1998) was recorded in Hell, Norway, for Norwegian radio and possible live release. This means excellent sound quality and the big songs all coming out again. Even excluding the redundant Volume 5, there are repeat versions of "Mighty Quinn," "Redemption Song," "Blinded by the Light," "Martha’s Madman," and "Castles Burning." By this point the evolution of these songs is clear to see. Occasionally, the musical sheen takes away from some songs’ original power (such as Dylan’s "The Times They are a-Changin"’) but most of the time, they are well polished from a series of tweaks and from new personnel adding their idiosyncrasies.

Volume 5 (2007) is the only one where the music is hard to enjoy, due to a very uneven sound balance that puts too much attention on a loud, plodding snare beat. It doesn’t matter, because seven of these tracks appear elsewhere.

This collection works as a superb introduction to the band. Even ignoring the last disc and the repeated tracks, it is still a comprehensive compilation of well-written songs featuring Mann’s keyboard solos, with their trademark Mini-Moog bleeps and pitch-bends. Sometimes the soloing gets the better of the players. Tighter arrangements and a little more discipline would boost the songs’ momentum, but more often these live versions have more life than their too-short album counterparts.

[If you like this, try Solar Fire for its spacious, proggy sound; Good Earth for a poppier set; or Somewhere in Afrika for a more African tone. All of these are very strong releases that have plenty of material to complement, rather than duplicate, this collection.]

Derek Walker