Gérard Manset - "Rien À Raconter" Vinyl, LP, Album, France, 1976 (EMI)

There is a thrill of discovering an artist that no one in the English language talks or knows about, and I suspect that Gérard Manset is such a songwriter/arranger/singer.   I can find very little information on Manset in English, and according to Discogs, he has at least 23 albums under his name.  From 1968 to this year, 2018.  I have heard his music I think through a drunk period on the Internet, and going through YouTube for music discoveries.   In my collection, I have two albums by Manset, including "Rein À Raconter" (Nothing to Tell).  

Generally speaking, and what I have heard, Manset's songs are all in French (duh!) and feature massive orchestrations, but usually with a loud electric guitar in the mix.  There's nothing pastoral about his sound, both his voice and instrumentation is forceful and not knowing what the songs are about, makes me (or the listener) get an emotional reaction.  I sense anger, and a typical album by him is at the very least eight songs.   So, there's room for the music to build up to tension or a release of some sort. In other words, his music is sexy.  

What impressed me the most is his melody writing, but also his arrangements which is masterful, and more intuned to classical than somewhat a 'wall of sound.'   Manset shares an intensity with Jack Nitzsche, but he doesn't work on a big canvas like Nitzsche.  The music or album sounds like a man alone dealing with a demon or two.  Manset does the production as well as the writing and arrangements, so he's very much a solo artist in that sense.   The sounds that stand out is his vocal delivery which reminds me a bit of Jacques Brel in its intensity, and the sound of his electric guitar against the grain of the lush strings.   A remarkable artist, who I gather is popular in France, due that his releases are on large record labels, and for sure needs to get more attention from the English speaking world.  

Gérard Manset - "Le Train du Soir" Vinyl, LP, Album, France, 1981 (EMI)

I know almost nothing about Gérard Manset, except that he's French, songwriter, artist/photographer and made some remarkable music.   I discovered him during the heights of music being on the Internet, and one could download songs/albums on various collector's websites.  I made a note to myself that I should find myself a hard copy of Manset's "Le Train du Soir" as soon as possible. It took me five years, but I found a used vinyl copy in Paris, and I think it's a remarkable album. 

People find it hard to believe, but I don't know the French language except for specific words and a general over-all menu in a cafe.  Still, I have a life-long fascination with anything French, especially literature and cinema.  French pop music was a recent discovery, perhaps 20 years ago when I came upon Serge Gainsbourg. That opened up a whole avenue of artists for me to explore and purchase for the next decade or so.  Still, even in those terms, Gérard Manset is an unknown figure outside of the French-speaking world. 

I get the impression that he's very independent minded, and is skilled as an arranger and musician.  I know he has worked with massive orchestrations on previous and future albums from "Le Train du Soir."  What makes this record so good are the songs, and although they were recorded in 1981, it sounds very 70s to me.  It also reminds me of studio minded artists like Emit Rhoades or Nillson in that there's a great deal of songcraft that goes in his work.  This is without a doubt a rock album, but it is such an album that has music history attached to its presence. 

Not knowing the language thoroughly, I'm sure there is the context within the music that is beyond my knowledge, still, on a listening experience, it's an excellent way of spending 40 minutes or so. There are six songs, including the 12-minute length of "Marchand de Rêves (Dream Merchant)," which is a series of melodies that fit in the song itself.  My favorite cut on the album is "Les Loups (Wolves)" which is a perfect build-up of melody and passion.   I'm frustrated that there seems to be no information in English about this unique artist, but alas, give me time. 

Holger Czukay - "Movies" Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, 1982/1979 (EMI)

My first introduction to the world of Can is Holger Czukay's first solo album "Movies."  It took me a decade before I heard my first proper Can album, but that is another tale.  I purchased "Movies," which came out in 1979, and I immediately compared it to the more well-known album by David Byrne and Brian Eno, "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts."  Both albums used found sound, such as the Byrne/Eno recordings all used vocals from other recorded sources.  It's a nifty slightly experimental album, but hearing "Movies" seems to me to be the real deal.   Recorded around the same time, I feel Czukay's approach was more light-hearted, with great swaps of humor, compared to the Byrne/Eno, which had a sinister quality.   Both were natural groove orientated music, but I find beauty in such pieces by Czukay such as "Persian Love" that I don't find in "Bush of Ghosts."

The Czukay narrative is that he records all the jams from Can recordings, and never turns off the tape machine.  He then cuts, slices, and like a film, edits the aural aspect of the work.  Here he adds outside sounds/voices to the overall mix.  It must be time-consuming work, because the music doesn't sound disjointed or crazed, but structured in a manner that is, of course, listenable, but also catchy.  It was pop music with strong melodies but filtered through Czukay's knowledge of 20th century contemporary classical music.  Stockhausen is a significant influence on Czukay, and he even studied under the great composer.  A remarkable album that never sounds dated.  A joy from the first cut to the last.

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - "The Best of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Mono (EMI)

Frederick Heath, better known as Johnny Kidd, is one of the first rock n' roll figures in England.  Him and his band of various players throughout the early years of the 1960s, The Pirates, were RnR authentic, but still British to the very core of their existence.  "Please Don't Touch" is the ultimate horny theme song, that to describe in one word,  is marvelous.    Although their one major hit is obviously "Shakin' All Over."  Canadian band 'Guess Who?' had a hit recording in America, and it was a song covered by The Who, and Pete Townshend is/was without a doubt a huge Peter Green of The Pirates fan.  Like another British rocker of the same period, one can trace the British accent of Johnny Kidd, which to my ears, makes the recordings unusual. 

As far as I know, Johnny Kidd never made an album.  All his recordings were 45 rpm singles, so this compilation is those singles, plus the b-sides.  A lot of the songs were written by Kidd, but also by a Gordon Mills, who became a powerhouse manager of Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Gilbert O'Sullivan.  Johnny & The Pirates were half show-biz of the Music Hall world and one foot in the prototype of early rock.   Kidd/Heath was very much a product of his time and place.  Of course, we now think of Adam Ant and His Ants as being the sons of Johnny Kidd, due to the Pirate motif in his stage shows and publicity photos.   

There are many compilations of Johnny's hits or non-hits, but I think this "Best of..."  is an incredible collection of music by Kidd, and it is like peeking into a keyhole of the British world at the time of the early 60s before the Fab Four hit the scene.   In a field of teenage pop stars, Kidd and Billy Fury were the real deals.   It's rock n' roll, but clearly, it's BRITISH rock n' roll.  

Manfred Mann - "The Very Best of Manfred Mann 1963-1966" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 1984 (Music For Pleasure/EMI)

As of now, one of the most underrated bands of the British Invasion is Manfred Mann.  They had hits in the United States (Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy) but made a more significant presence in the U.K. and Europe during the years 1963 to 1966.  The original line-up of Manfred Mann was great, due to certain aspects of the band.  For one, the musicianship is top-notch, and besides being blues-based, they also had a strong jazz orientation to Manfred Mann's (the individual) skills with the keyboard, specifically the organ. Mike Hugg, their drummer, is very jazz orientated in his playing, and there is a lightness in this touch on the percussion instruments that make their sound unique at the time.  The other source of their greatness is their frontman and vocalist Paul Jones.  He's exceptional.  Jones could sing the blues (in a British manner) but also a superb pop ballad vocalist as well as a good songwriter.  The fact for a brief second he was the lead singer of The Rolling Stones, is no joke.  Still, the strength of all musicians is that they are schooled in the roots of modern blues and jazz, but was a pop band as well. 

If one takes the long approach, there are three chapters in the Manfred Mann's (the band) narrative.  The Paul Jones era then came a different singer and writer Mike D'Abo (who sort of looked like Paul Jones, but more pop orientated), and then Manfred Mann Chapter 3, which turned into Manfred Mann's Earth Band.  All bands including Mike Hugg, their drummer, and a songwriter as well. 

This album focuses on the Paul Jones era, and there are many delights on this greatest hits collection.  Of course, the fantastic "Do-Wah-Diddy-Diddy" which is so thrilling and happy sounding, that its simplicity is almost zen-like happiness wrapped in a song. "Pretty Flamingo" is the other classic pop single by the Manns, and that I believe features the talents of Jack Bruce on bass.  The other element that is part of the puzzle of this band is Mann's instrumentals, which their very first single "Why Should We Not" is very noir sounding, and there is that Manfred Mann's world perhaps in Soho London.  I can easily imagine Francis Bacon hearing this song on some jukebox in a Soho bar sometime in the early 1960s.   

Manfred Mann did a lot of covers, but one thing that they had a strong focus on is Bob Dylan. I think Manfred Mann shared the same song publisher, so he was able to hear Dylan demos or music sheets before anyone else, and therefore I think they were one of the great interpreters of Dylan's music at the time.  Paul Jones to me was the perfect singer for Dylan's early material.   And if not mistaken, Dylan was a fan of the band.  Nevertheless, this is a super enjoyable collection.