Mighty Garvey!

The group's continued pop success with material by established songwriters such as Dylan and Hazzard made its handlers averse to the risk of releasing self-written singles, a state of affairs that had prevailed ever since the success of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", even though the group's first hits had been self-composed. At least one example of drummer Mike Hugg's new-found productivity had been seen as potentially chart-worthySleeve notes, What a Mann!, Fontana Records compilation, Fontana SFL 13003. Released 28 June 1968 and singer Mike d'Abo was able to provide other artists with hits such as "Build Me Up Buttercup" and "Handbags and Gladrags". The resultant pop image did not encourage album sales to "serious" listeners, particularly when trends were turning from baroque pop to hard rock. So, like contemporary releases by The Kinks and The Zombies, Mighty Garvey! became a record esteemed more in retrospectSee, for example, the critical review at http://starling.rinet.ru/music/mann.htm than at the time. It was re-issued in 2003, with bonus tracks.

The group's commercial compromises{{cite web |url=http://www.rateitall.com/Search.aspx?q=As+Is+(Manfred+Mann) |title=As Is (Manfred Mann) – Resources on RateItAll |publisher=Rateitall.com |accessdate=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223131519/http://www.rateitall.com/Search.aspx?q=As+Is+(Manfred+Mann) |archive-date=23 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} also led to "self-knocking",Sleeve note, As Is, Fontana TL/STL 5377. Released 21 October 1966 and its recordings developed an ironic distance that on Mighty Garvey sometimes invites comparison with The Kinks,{{cite web|url=http://starling.rinet.ru/music/mann.htm |title=Manfred Mann |publisher=Starling.rinet.ru |accessdate=1 March 2012}} Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, Frank Zappa or The Bonzo Dog Band. Even on Hugg's intricate and sentimental "Harry the One Man Band" the vocal track finally dissolves into schoolboy mirth and silly noises.{{Citation needed|reason=This sounds more like a review than a wiki article IMO|date=May 2021}} The three different versions of d'Abo's song "Happy Families", credited as; (Track 1) Performed by Eddie 'Fingers' Garvey, (Track 6) Performed by Ed Garvey and The Trio and (Track 14) Performed by Edwin O'Garvey and His Showband, are outright parodies of "the pompous big rock band style, the sleazy lounge jazz style, and then the semi-drunk family entertainment "country-shape Christmas" style" that appropriate and poke fun at the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band concept ("Edwin Garvey" being an invented character introduced on the similarly flippant flip side of "Mighty Quinn").

These three parodies and two hit singles take up over a third of a relatively short L.P. and of the remainder, d'Abo's "Country Dancing" and "The Vicar's Daughter" are likewise somewhat arch, besides strengthening an impression of "chameleonism" and lack of sincere direction. "Big Betty" is also non-original, a treatment of Huddie Ledbetter's song "Black Betty" in a manner reminiscent of The Spencer Davis Group's hits, providing the only real point of contact with the band's rhythm and blues past. Yet this still leaves a core of worthwhile, intelligent and melodic songs, also by Hugg and d'Abo apart from "Cubist Town", written by guitarist Tom McGuinness in a one-off collaboration. The group made full use of the new possibilities of multi-tracking, overlaying complex and inventive textures of flutes, keyboards and vibraphones, while the group's backing vocals, originally limited to a tribal unison, began to take on an almost Pet Sounds complexity, even if they're not quite as in tune.

Recording dates taken from Greg Russo's book Mannerisms: The Five Phases Of Manfred Mann.{{Cite book |last=Russo |first=Greg |title=Mannerisms: The Five Phases of Manfred Mann |publisher=Crossfire Publications |year=2011 |isbn=9780979184529 |pp=258–262}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Recording date

| title1 = Happy Families

| writer1 = Mike d'Abo

| note1 = Eddie "Fingers" Garvey

| length1 = 2:18

| extra1 = 19 December 1966 & 5 March 1968

| title2 = No Better, No Worse

| writer2 = d'Abo

| length2 = 3:02

| extra2 = Spring 1968

| title3 = Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey

| writer3 = Mike Hugg

| length3 = 2:54

| extra3 = 18 & 22 May 1967

| title4 = Country Dancing

| writer4 = d'Abo

| length4 = 2:53

| extra4 = 16 January 1967

| title5 = It's So Easy Falling

| writer5 = Hugg

| length5 = 3:20

| extra5 = Spring 1968

| title6 = Happy Families

| writer6 = d'Abo

| note6 = Eddie Garvey and the Trio

| length6 = 2:09

| extra6 = 12 March 1968

| title7 = Mighty Quinn

| writer7 = Bob Dylan

| length7 = 2:52

| extra7 = 26 October, 2 November & December 1967

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Recording date

| title8 = Big Betty

| writer8 = Huddie Ledbetter

| length8 = 3:06

| extra8 = 20 January 1967

| title9 = The Vicar's Daughter

| writer9 = d'Abo

| length9 = 2:18

| extra9 = 22 August 1966

| title10 = Each and Every Day

| writer10 = Hugg

| length10 = 2:47

| extra10 = 22 August 1966

| title11 = Cubist Town

| writer11 = Tom McGuinness, Charles Perrot

| length11 = 3:21

| extra11 = 2 January 1968

| title12 = Ha! Ha! Said the Clown

| writer12 = Tony Hazzard

| length12 = 2:27

| extra12 = 10 February 1967

| title13 = Harry the One-Man Band

| writer13 = Hugg

| length13 = 3:11

| extra13 = 19 December 1966 & 5 March 1968

| title14 = Happy Families

| writer14 = d'Abo

| note14 = Edwin O'Garvey and his Showband

| length14 = 2:16

| extra14 = 19 December 1966

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Recording date

| title1 = The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)

| writer1 = Dylan

| length1 = 2:51

| extra1 = 26 October, 2 November & December 1967

| title2 = Ha! Ha! Said the Clown

| writer2 = Hazzard

| length2 = 2:25

| extra2 = 10 February 1967

| title3 = Everyday Another Hair Turns Grey

| writer3 = Hugg

| length3 = 2:56

| extra3 = 18 & 22 May 1967

| title4 = It's So Easy Falling

| writer4 = Hugg

| length4 = 3:23

| extra4 = Spring 1968

| title5 = Big Betty

| writer5 = Ledbetter

| length5 = 3:06

| extra5 = 20 January 1967

| title6 = Cubist Town

| writer6 = McGuinness, Perrot

| length6 = 3:19

| extra6 = 2 January 1968

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Recording date

| title7 = Country Dancing

| writer7 = d'Abo

| length7 = 2:56

| extra7 = 16 January 1967

| title8 = Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James

| writer8 = Geoff Stephens, John Carter

| length8 = 2:37

| extra8 = 22 August 1966

| title9 = The Vicar's Daughter

| writer9 = d'Abo

| length9 = 2:17

| extra9 = 22 August 1966

| title10 = Each and Every Day

| writer10 = Hugg

| length10 = 2:47

| extra10 = 22 August 1966

| title11 = No Better, No Worse

| writer11 = d'Abo

| length11 = 2:26

| extra11 = Spring 1968

}}

• Manfred Mann – keyboards, backing vocals
• Tom McGuinness – guitar, backing vocals
• Mike d'Abo – lead vocals
• Mike Hugg – drums and percussion
• Klaus Voormann – bass, woodwind, backing vocals
• Colin Richardson - acoustic bass on "Happy Families" - The Eddie Garvey Trio.
• Derek Wadsworth – trombone on "Each and Every Day"

• Manfred Mann – producer
• Keith Altham – liner notes

{{Reflist}}

• {{discogs master|226482|type=album}}

{{Manfred Mann}}

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Category:1968 albums

Category:Manfred Mann albums

Category:Fontana Records albums