Man are a rock band from South Wales whose style is a mixture of West Coast psychedelia, progressive rock, blues and pub rock. Formed in 1968 as a reincarnation of Welsh rock harmony group ‘’The Bystanders’’, Man are renowned for the extended jams in their live performances. Man evolved out of The Bystanders, a successful close harmony pop group from Merthyr Tydfil who played numerous club residencies in Wales, often playing several clubs a night. They also recorded sessions of cover versions for the BBC as rules restricting needle time required "live" performances between the records during the 1960's becoming regulars on the ’’Jimmy Young Show’’, "The David Symonds Show" and others.
The band released its first album in 1969 and gradually built up a solid following, playing in a loose, jamming style influenced by US West Coast bands such as Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Grateful Dead. They were known for frequent changes of personnel, the NME Encyclopedia Of Rock (1977 paperback edition, p145) calling them "a biographer's nightmare...confused by the fact that everyone involved in the group since their inception seems to have left and rejoined at least twice". Between 1969 and 1976 Man had twelve different line-ups [1]. Guitarist Deke Leonard split from the band in 1973 but this didn't prevent them from releasing successful albums and touring Britain, Europe and the USA until 1976, when they finally split up. They reformed in 1983 and continued to make live appearances into the 2010s.
Links To Peel[]
In later years, Peel looked back to the early 1970s as a time when new bands tended to be made up of former members of old bands, and Man typified this trend. Among the musicians who played with the band were ex-members of Wild Turkey, Help Yourself, Global Village Trucking Company and Bees Make Honey, all of them respected live bands who appeared in Peel's playlists but never had major success. Man were also part of a "family" of bands associated with the underground scene (others included Hawkwind and Brinsley Schwarz) who recorded for the British branch of United Artists Records in the early 1970s. They recorded a couple of live albums at the Roundhouse, a venue described in the Wikipedia article on the group as "Man’s spiritual London home".
The group recorded three sessions for Peel's shows between 1972 and 1974. On his 19 December 1974 show, he described their session track 'Many Are Called But Few Get Up' as his 16th favourite record of the year. Individual members of Man also formed spin-off bands, and the best known of these was Deke Leonard's Iceberg. Leonard did three sessions for Peel's show between 1973 and 1978, while the Neutrons recorded a single session in 1974. The DJ stopped playing material by Man after the mid-1970s, but occasionally revisited their records in the 1990s and 2000s, most of the chosen tracks coming from their early '70s United Artists albums.
Sessions[]
Man - Peel Session 1974
1. Recorded: 1972-08-29. Broadcast: 12 September 1972. Repeated: 30 January 1973.
- Come On / Life On The Road
2. Recorded: 1973-09-18. Broadcast: 02 October 1973. Repeated: 11 December 1973.
- A Night In Dad's Bag / Ain't Their Fight
3. Recorded: 1974-10-31. Broadcast: 14 November 1974. Repeated: 19 December 1974, 13 July 1977.
- Many Are Called But Few Get Up / A Hard Way To Die / Day And Night
Live[]
(shows not presented by Peel)
- 1972 In Concert (29th January 1972)
- 1973 In Concert (27th October 1973)
Other Shows Played[]
- 02 February 1969: Sudden Life (single) Pye
- 1972
- 07 January 1972: Many Are Called But Few Get Up (LP – Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In?) United Artists
- 19 May 1972: Angel Easy (LP - Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In?) United Artists
- 05 September 1972: Daughter Of The Fireplace (LP - Live At The Padget Rooms, Penarth) United Artists
- Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 5: Spunk Rock (LP – Greasy Truckers Party) United Artists UDX 203/4 (released 28 April 1972)
- Radio Luxembourg Tracklistings 6: Spunk Box (LP – Greasy Truckers Party) United Artists UDX 203/4 (released 28 April 1972)
- 1973
- 17 May 1973: (with Dave Edmunds & Stan Phifer): Life On The Road (2x10” – Christmas At The Patti) United Artists
- 25 September 1973: A Night In Dad's Bag (album - Back into the Future) United Artists UAD 60053/4
- 23 October 1973: Back Into The Future (2xLP - Back Into The Future) United Artists
- 11 December 1973: A Night In Dad's Bag (album - Back into the Future) United Artists UAD 60053/4
- 1976
- 16 March 1976: Out Of Your Head (7") MCA
- 19 March 1976: Romain (album - Man 1970) Sunset SLS 50380
- 19 March 1976: (I'm A) Love Taker (7" - Out Of Your Head) MCA MCA 236
- 1977
- John Peel 70s Mixtape 1D: Hard Way To Die (LP - Slow Motion) United Artists
- 1990s
- 14 October 1994: Taking The Easy Way Out Again (LP: Rhinos Winos And Lunatic) United Artists
- 22 October 1994 (BFBS): Taking The Easy Way Out Again (album - Rhinos, Winos + Lunatics) BGO
- 2000s
- 15 May 2001: And Castles Rise In Childrens' Eyes (LP - Revelation) Pye
- 31 July 2003: Four Day Louise (LP- Rhinos, Winos And Lunatics) United Artists
- 28 August 2003 (Radio Eins): Four Day Louise (LP-Rhinos, Winos, And Lunatics) United Artists
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ A Pete Frame Family Tree, drawn in June 1974 and showing the first 7 line-ups of Man alongside bands such as Brinsley Schwarz, Help Yourself, Ducks Deluxe and Iceberg, appeared in issue 43 of Zigzag (July 1974)