Commentary
Liner Notes from the Point Reissue
When Man formed from the ashes of the Bystanders in I 96B, swapping harmony pop for progressive rock, they began a journey that's taken them all over the world and continues to do so in 1997. The substitution of guitarist Deke Leonard for 'stand-up' vocalist Vic Oakley was the crucial personnel change that accompanied the musical course-shift, and after two albums for Pye had failed to find more than cult success the band was to undergo a turbulent period of re-evaluation.
Leonard, in his autobiography Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics', explained that 'in Britain we were expected to play two hours but Germany expected five, so we stretched what we had.' Unlike Deke, Keyboard-player Clive John had been a Bystander, but having whole-heartedly embraced the hippie philosophy was convinced Man's progressive path was the right one. 'There was a tremendous feeling of musical freedom... you could get away with playing a flower pot in Germany in those days! We were listening to people like Stockhausen at the time. The band was spaced out, but the music was really interesting.'
The musicians whose faces didn't quite fit the new, drug-fuelled feeling of musical liberation were drummer Jeff Jones and bassist Ray Williams. Clive was sad to see his long-time colleagues go. 'I loved them both. Jeff was a brilliant drummer, but I suppose at the time we thought Terry (WillIams) was better.' Man's first producer John Schroeder reckoned Ray fitted the Bystanders mould of 'nice, harmonic, clean records: once things changed and the music got heavier and more unruly, I don't think Ray fitted the bill.' Nevertheless, the bassist remained part of the 'family' and nearly rejoined the band in 1975: he also got up to jam with Man in 1992, the year before his untimely death.
Back in 1970, the replacements were Terry Williams (drums) and Martin Ace (bass), though it wasn't quite as simple as that. Deke had briefly bowed out for personal reasons, and recommended Martin, late of his old group the Dream, as his replacement. On Leonard's return Man had gigged briefly as a six-piece, Ace beating any percussion Instrument that came to hand, before slipping back to the bass role he still enjoys today. Terry Williams, who'd most recently worked as Dave Edmunds' drummer, was also an ex-Dream man, leading to accusations of a 'takeover' from the ousted pair. Yet when the dust settled Clive rates this live album you're listening to as his all-time favourite Man recording.
The album, originally titled 'To Live For To Die' and released as a double vinyl album on the Violet Systems label, came about by a roundabout route explains Deke 'The gig in the Ernst-Merck-Halle in Hamburg was a corker. The promoter surreptitiously recorded it, and a week or two later a bootleg was released. Bootleggers, like drummers, are a necessary evil. It's a curious feeling, being flattered and ripped off at the same time.'
The release of 'Man' several months later on a new label, United Artists, marked a new beginning as its eponymous title suggested. It also featured just five tracks as opposed to their first album's eleven, indicating that the extended, improvisatory approach they favoured on stage was being carried through to the studio.
Three tracks the band previewed in their October (not May, as billed) 1970 performance were presented in definitive form: Deke's 'Daughter Of The Fireplace' (introduced with the words 'if you like 'Purple Haze" you'll know what it's all about'), 'Would The Christians,..' and 'Alchemist', here split into two tracks called 'Alchemist of The Mind' and 'Scholar Of Consciousness'. As guitarist Micky Jones, normally the most reticent Man member, says: 'If you listen to "To Live For To Die", It's very embryonic. Some tunes came out of that tour, like 'Many Are called": you can see the development of things. 'This, then, is work in progress... not only that, but amazingly the first ever gig of the Leonardiones-lohn- Ace-Williams line-up.
'To Live For To Die' reappeared in digttal form in 1992, retitled 'The Honest One' and with its sound re-EQ'd. The band have now bootlegged the bootleg, and why not? One final mystery remains, though: the gig was also filmed for an unknown German Kids' TV programme. If we could locate that historic footage, 'The Honest One' would be even more of a blast from the past. But even without the visuals, this is a prime piece of early-I 970s prog.
For further Man information, send SAF to P0 Box 49 (VP), Bordon, Hants, GU35 OAF, England
CommentaryThe Point Records reissue is not an improvement over the original bootleg, actually the sound is much more muddy and the vocals even harder to decipher. This was probably mastered from a LP copy of the original boot without the re-EQ'd mix of the Italian CD.
