Manfred Mann - Cubist Town (1968)

In 1966, during the recording of what was to become the 'As Is' album, Mike Hugg turned up clutching a copy of the new Beach Boys album 'Pet Sounds'. He'd grown increasingly tired of the rut that the band had fallen into, of recording a collection of singles and b-sides, adding in a few fillers and releasing it as an album, and he wanted the band to move more in the direction that the Beach Boys had with their latest record. The rest of the group were up for it, but felt that it was too late to change what they'd already recorded for 'As is', so they decided to compete the album and then go away and digest 'Pet Sounds', and then see what new songs they could come up with. Mike D'Abo presented 'No Better No Worse', Hugg contributed 'Harry The One Man Band', 'It's So Easy Falling' and 'Too Many People', and Tom McGuinness wrote 'There Is A Man', and what was to become the title track of the album 'Cubist Town'. Recording began in early 1967, with the band adding harpsicord and mellotron to their usual instruments, and filling any gaps there were left with harmony vocals. During the sessions Gerry Bron took a call from film director Peter Collinson, who wanted the band to provide the soundtrack to his new movie, and after much deliberation the band eventually agreed. One of the songs they'd written, 'Floating In A Dream', was renamed 'Up The Junction' in preparation for the  recording of the soundtrack, and another couple of completed songs were put to one side to be used in the film. However, because of this extra workload 'Cubist Town' ground to a halt, and when Hugg heard that the Zombies were also recording an album in a similar vein, he gave up his quest for this elusive masterpiece, and the band took some of the songs they'd recorded, added a few more in their old style, such as 'Ha Ha Said The Clown', and released the 'Mighty Garvey' album. 'Cubist Town' was never to be, and was consigned to the vaults.

Unfortunately none of the above is true, as this back story was put together by Joe Wiltshire, to go with this collection of Manfred Mann tracks that he'd compiled into an album that he'd like to have seen come out in 1968. It's apparently something of a hobby of his, with him also designing the cover and coming up with the track listing, but it all sounds so believable that you wonder if it isn't that far from the truth. Listen to the album and decide for yourself.


Track listing

01 No Better No Worse
02 It's So Easy Falling
03 Cubist Town
04 Harry The One Man Band
05 Up The Junction
06 Every Day Another Hair Turns Grey
07 The Funniest Gig
08 Budgie
09 Too Many People
10 There Is A Man
11 Just For Me
12 Eastern Street
13 Sleepy Hollow

I added the last two songs to make the album up to 36 minutes, and I've tried to segue them in the same style as the rest of the album, so I hope you don't spot the joins When I first heard this album I didn't know if I liked the segues, with each track running into the next, so I split them out and faded them, but now I understand the concept It's grown on me. Rather than waste my efforts, I've included both versions in the download for you to make your own choice.