Manfred Mann - "Mighty Garvey!" - Quick Review

I sent an email a couple of days ago that I wanted to mildy re-write and capture here. Like the James Brown review I did before, this is the kind of stuff that I find really hard to find on the 'net.

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I bought Manfred Mann's Mighty Garvey over the weekend in a mild CD shopping frenzy with Solid Goldstein. Although I'm fairly familiar with Manfred Mann, especially the Earth Band stuff, I'd never heard this record before.

It is, in a word, spectacular.

It's hauntingly close to XTC's pscyhedelic crypto-homage, The Dukes of the Stratosphear (sic). And it's very clear they've used several moments, at least in concept, piecemeal from this record. Mighty Garvey! is essentially the British version of the American album The Mighty Quinn, with three extra tracks:
Happy Families (by, "Ed Garvey and the Trio")
Harry the One Man Band
Happy Families ("Edwin O'garvey and His Showband")

But lacking the Yank track: Semi-Detached Suburban Mr. James (which I find *very* funny because the average American has no idea what the phrase "semi-detached" refers to.)

If you're a fan of mid-60's music, especially white bands influenced by the sould and psychedelic movements of the time (ala the Strawberry Alarm Clock), you'll love this stuff.