Manfred Mann Chapter Three: Volume 1

Months of badgering the Record Store Guy at Rebound Records in York paid off this weekend as I finally landed myself a very battered, but perfectly listenable copy of this top-drawer jazz / prog rock LP from 1969, Manfred Mann Chapter 3: Volume 1, the third release on Vertigo. Consistently funky (the opening bars of Snakeskin Garter - for my dollar the stand-out track -are pure hip-hop), packin' a ton of flute, Chicago Transit Authority-style brass, thudding fuzz-bass, hammond organ, and the stoned, rasping vocals of Mike Hugg, the LP has been high on my wish-list for a couple of years. Fans of modern drone / stoner rock like Black Mountain or Dead Meadow would be sure to dig it. Alotta late 60s / early 70s prog stuff I pick up is for the sake of one drum break, and the rest of the album I can pretty much take-or-leave - but this is a solid listen from beginning to end, save for occasional explosions of skronking free-jazz, which I can't even be bothered to pretend to like anymore.