MANFRED MANN/MANN MADE HITS CLP 3559 (-66) UK MONO

Another highly recommended compilation. After they changed label to Fontana 1966 and singer Paul Jones left the group for a solo career, replaced by Mike D'Abo, HMV hurried to release a collection of '45 tracks from the three previous years. As Jones stayed with HMV the group here is named "Manfred Mann with Paul Jones" both on back and front cover to promote his further work with the label. Manfred Mann was early a part of the "British invasion", but while most of the groups and hits part of that relied on the blues, Mann came from a jazz background wich made their songs slightly different from ordinary pop. Even though some of the songs here on the surface sounds like blues or pop, the backing shows a skill and a groove that's way beyond most contemporary English hit groups. Up to -66 they had two #1 in UK and four more top 10, in US "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" at #1 became their only high charter. This UK issue came in mono only, with all prime single mixes and perfect audio. Released in US as "Manfred Mann's Greatest Hits" (United Artists UAL 3549/UAS 6549) with different cover and partly other tracking. 1:st UK with label as shown here and laminated flip/back cover. (MÄNÄ*)