Search - Man :: Man Alive

Mott's Man Alive

Kim Fletcher | Pattaya, Chonburi Thailand | 09/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Supposedly part one revolves around the recently released live greatest hits album sensibly titled 'Man Alive'. Yes, both parts of the review get a glorious 5 Stars. (Big hint, part two next week)



A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away...... well, Swansea, Wales actually. In 1968 there was a very popular little beat combo called "The Bystanders", who were doing very nicely thanks to the scampi and chips night club circuit in their native country and North England. Deciding to take themselves seriously (well, somebody had to) they turned professional and invited a certain Deke Leonard to expand the existing foursome.



Deke was amazed to find out that by the time he joined his compatriots, they had decided to change their collective name to Man. Originally that did not sit well with their new lead singer and guitarist, but it was satisfactorily explained to him by fellow singer/guitarist Mick Jones. Man was a wonderful moniker, easy to spell, could fit in a very short space, or, if necessary, fill up a very large space with a few big letters. But best of all, everybody at the end of the sixties, who was hip or more likely thought they were hip, said the name of the band at least once in each sentence - sometimes twice, like "Hey Man, where you going Man?" The band figured they would get free publicity every time somebody opened his or her mouth. With this unbeatable logic Man began their path down the long and winding road of rock `n' roll fame and glory. Anyhow, that is what they want us mere mortals to believe.



Man is still going strong today, but the path has been strewn with rocks as well as boulders. In over thirty-five years they have released more than 30 original albums (if you add compilations, greatest hits, etc, it runs into hundreds), but no consecutive album has ever had the same lineup. They have done over nine thousand gigs and played in eighteen different countries. The amount of alcohol and cigarettes they consumed over this time is mind boggling. Then there were the T.V. shows. Man was always huge in Germany, where they actually lived for two years. It would have been more inconvenient exchanging the Welsh valleys for those of the Rhine each time they were due to do their lengthy German tours, often playing to over 20,000 people at one show. They essentially split up for good in December 1976, only to reform again on April Fool's day in 1983.



Then of course there is the personnel of the band themselves, the actual people who play the music not just the music that surrounds them. In over thirty-five years, twenty five people have been featured as official recording members of Man. If you count the ones who have just appeared live with them, again it would run into hundreds. Some like Martin Ace (Ace the Bass) have joined and left the band on a regular basis. All but two of them have been Welsh. The tiniest in stature, but biggest in heart, lead guitarist Mick Jones, is the only permanent feature of every lineup, except when some nasty brain tumor surgery laid him low for a year when his place in the band was taken by his son George.



Deke Leonard is another steadier member of the band, but yet this year he left again, this time of his own accord, not by the boot. Phil Ryan is the keyboard sound of Man, but occasionally some poor soul has to be dragged in to do a copy job. If you are lucky, Ace Martin is there, even if it's not at the time as a permanent member, or even on Bass. Terry Williams was there on the drums for a long time before getting delusions of grandeur and joining Rockpile and then final world domination in Dire Straits.



For one glorious tour and album the great American John Cipollina ex-Quicksilver Messenger Service joined them, giving Man a three pronged lead guitar assault. Man never came top of the bill stars internationally, although there were pockets of areas solely inhabited by Man-fans, especially in their homeland, Germany, and the East Coast of the United States of America. They never gave less then 100%, whether in the studio or their natural environment, the live stage. What of the music I hear you ask. Well, for that you will have to wait for next week. But if you fancy doing a bit of your own research, try bending an ear to any of the following Man albums:



Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day

Back Into The Future

Welsh Connection

Twang

2oz Of Plastic With A Hole In The Middle



Or read Deke Leonard's wonderfully frank and funny Autobiography "Rhinos Winos and Lunatics".



Pawed by Mott The Dog

Put into order by Ella Crew



"

Not Just Another Pile of Songs

Michael O. Brown | PEORIA, AZ | 03/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even though this double CD is a compilation from half a dozen albums (and not exactly the easiest ones to find) Man Alive definitely has it's own identity; thanks to the selection, quality and order of songs in it's lineup. It starts off with a cool 24 min slice of Spunk Rock, slides into a very smooth 14 1/2 min cut of C'Mon and then onto 13 other songs MAN fans know & like, but with some excellent live versions.

I really enjoyed Hard Way to Die & Many Are Called... haven't heard these particular versions, and they made my day. Have always loved the live version of Kerosene, a nice twist on the studio version (which is my favorite MAN song). Today I listened to both CDS for the third time and liked them better than the last time. I keep finding more to appreciate with this collection each time I put it on, which I think is a very good barometer for an album. And there's also some gravy - Man Alive has great sound quality, is a 125 min long and goes for $14, a smokin' deal for these days and for MAN fans in particular."