Manfred Mann

Manfred Sepse Lubowitz born 21 October 1940 known professionally as Manfred Mann is a South AfricanEnglish keyboardist arranger singer and songwriter He is best known as a founding member and eponym of the bands Manfred Mann Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Manns Earth Band Lubowitz was raised in a LithuanianJewish family in Johannesburg the son of David Lubowitz and Alma Cohen He studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand and worked as a jazz pianist at a number of clubs in Johannesburg Strongly opposed to the apartheid system in his native South Africa Lubowitz moved to the United Kingdom in 1961 and began to write for Jazz News under the pseudonym Manfred Manne after jazz drummer Shelly Manne which was soon shortened to Manfred Mann The next year he met drummer and keyboard player Mike Hugg at Clacton Butlins Holiday Camp together they formed a large bluesjazz band called the MannHugg Blues Brothers This eventually evolved into a fivepiece group and they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963 under the HMV label They changed their name to Manfred Mann at the suggestion of the labels record producer and from 1964 to 1969 they had a succession of hit records including Do Wah Diddy Diddy originally by The Exciters Sha La La originally by The Shirelles Pretty Flamingo and Mighty Quinn written by Bob Dylan The group split up in 1969 and Mann immediately formed another outfit with Mike Hugg Manfred Mann Chapter Three an experimental jazz rock band They disbanded after two albums but Mann formed a new outfit in 1971 Manfred Manns Earth Band which still records and performs to this day Their wellknown hits included three Springsteen covers Spirit in the Night For You and Blinded by the Light as well as a number of covers of other artists including Runner Ian Thomas Davys on the Road Again The Band You Angel You Bob Dylan Demolition Man The Police Lies Through the 80s and Joybringer based upon Jupiter the Bringer of Jollity from The Planets by Gustav Holst Manfred Mann also appeared as a jazz pianist in the 1969 Jesús Franco film Venus in Furs and performed the score for that film He has also released solo projects under Manfred Manns Plain Music and Manfred Mann 06 Mann has used various keyboard instruments through his career piano and organ in the early 1960s later also including mellotron but he is especially known for his distinctive solo performance on the Minimoog synthesizer which he personalized by extensive use of a filter His keyboard parts are often improvised and inspired by jazz One example as he explained in an interview with eclipsed magazine is his tendency to bend notes downwards on the synthesizer which he says he got from Miles Davis In the 2000s he has regularly used a Roland keytar on stage for two or three songs The instrument is visually striking for being decorated with zebra stripes In the early 1970s he played drums during the intro of the song Black and Blue Source Article Manfred Mann musician from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30