Manfred Mann - Pretty Flamingo [Japanese Remastered Limited Edition SHM-CD] (1966/2014)

The final LP by Manfred Mann’s legendary original lineup, Pretty Flamingo is one of their most accomplished and adventurous efforts. Featuring the beguiling title hit plus covers of Ray Charles’ “Let’s Go Get Stoned” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put A Spell On You,” it embodies the mix of catchy pop songcraft, bluesy R&B punch and left-field experimentation that’s made Manfred Mann one of their era’s most beloved bands. Although many of the British Invasion’s most prominent bands were comprised of inexperienced rockers learning their craft as they went along, Manfred Mann was something different. The versatile British quintet, which took its collective name from that of its South African-born keyboardist, was comprised of four seasoned musicians with a solid grounding in jazz and blues, plus a charismatic frontman who was also one of England’s finest blue-eyed soul singers.

Together, the five members of Manfred Mann—or the Manfreds, as their fans called them—turned their diverse talents towards rock ’n’ roll, and came up with a series of albums and singles that are among the catchiest and most enduring of the period. Now, Sundazed reaches back to present Manfred Mann’s first five U.S. albums, out of print for decades and reissued for the first time in their original vinyl format, mastered from the original tapes and featuring complete cover art.