Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Mannish Boy
(McKinley Morganfield / Ellas McDaniel / Mel London)

El Mocambo Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 4 & 5, 1977,
Sounds Interchange Recording Studios, Toronto, Canada, March 6 - 8, 1977 and
Atlantic Studios, New York City, New York, US, May 25 - June 20, 1977

Mick Jagger - lead vocals, harmonica
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Bill Wyman - bass
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Billy Preston - keyboards, harmony vocals
Ollie E. Brown - percussion

Oh yeah, oh yeah
Now, when I was a young boy at the age of five
My mother said I'll be the greatest man alive
And now I'm a man, I'm over twenty-one
You better believe me, baby and I'll say, we can have lots of fun
I'm a man, a man, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

The line I shoot will never miss
And when I make love to you, baby, you just can't resist
Oh, ain't that a man
Spelled M, A, child, N, no B, O, child, Y, that spell mannish boy
I'm a man, a man, a man, a man

Oh, I’m sittin' on the outside, just me and my mate
I made the move, come up two hours late
Ain't that a man, no B, O, child, Y, that spell mannish boy
I'm a man, a man, I'm a full grown man, baby
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah

All you pretty women stand in line
I make love with you, baby, in an hour's time
I'm a man, a man
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah…

Produced by The Glimmer Twins

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Love You Live” 2LP
(Rolling Stones Records COC 2-9001) US, September 16, 1977

Amazing raw blues. Electric, sublime and is one of their strongest blues covers they have done. The version on Love you Live SMOKES! It practically jumps off the vinyl to grab you by the throat and shake you to its voodoo beat. The cat calls, yelling, awesome harp, Mick's menacing vocals, great guitar interplay between Ron and Keith. Charlie and Bill locked in tight. A wonderful celebration of all things Stones and their roots and why they do what they do.

One of the best live recordings they ever did, imo.

I loved the rendition in Stockholm 2003 as well - such a treat to get this one live.

This version isn't half bad either (how could it be?) :





Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

I love muddy's little 'hipster' injections ..."I can dig that.....I hear ya..." just sounds so cool coming from him. I was watching this on my laptop on a city bus here in KC last week. A 30'ish black guy sat down beside me & I turned the screen so he could see it & unplugged my headphones so he could groove on the sounds. Pretty soon there were 4 or 5 people watching with me. I hated to turn it off when we got to my stop.

The Stones really got the tail between their legs for playing classic blues again at Knebworth in 76.

It was only a few months after the European tour ended but they started to play blues and r'n'b songs such as Little Red Rooster, Route 66 and Around And Around like they did in the early days. Mannish Boy as well as Crackin' Up came out of this new found joie de vivre for the blues.

Anybody know anything about rehearsals before Knebworth and the El Mocambo and what they might have played?

Anyway, Mannish Boy is a roof-raising concert classic and with this, almost before punk had got many rock bands to look back to their rock'n'roll roots, the Stones were ahead of the game in re-capturing their early, primal blues sound. How Brian would have loved to have been playing in the band that night!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-29 14:01 by Silver Dagger.

Quote
whitem8
Amazing raw blues. Electric, sublime and is one of their strongest blues covers they have done. The version on Love you Live SMOKES! It practically jumps off the vinyl to grab you by the throat and shake you to its voodoo beat. The cat calls, yelling, awesome harp, Mick's menacing vocals, great guitar interplay between Ron and Keith. Charlie and Bill locked in tight. A wonderful celebration of all things Stones and their roots and why they do what they do.

Awwwww yeaaahhhhh!!!!!! Great review, whitem8.

Truly amazing as you say. Awesome harp and guitar. So great to see them having so much fun, and it is truly infectious.

Drew

Ohhh yeah ohhhh yeah - everything gon' be all right!

I know that's the textbook opening to this number,
but when the Mick let those words loose, with all that feeling, in March 1977
the courage and faith and love in that brings me to my knees every time.
And then just listen to that handful of skinny English cats play!

I love the Rolling Stones

Anyone know if there were studio enhancements added to the El Mocambo version or are we hearing exactly what they played?

Drew

Quote
drewmaster
Anyone know if there were studio enhancements added to the El Mocambo version or are we hearing exactly what they played?

Drew

El Mocambo Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 4 & 5, 1977,
Sounds Interchange Recording Studios, Toronto, Canada, March 6 - 8, 1977 and
Atlantic Studios, New York City, New York, US, May 25 - June 20, 1977

Quote
drewmaster
Anyone know if there were studio enhancements added to the El Mocambo version or are we hearing exactly what they played?

Drew

The harp was overdubbed. I don't know if there were more overdubs. The El Mocambo-version sounds more similar to the LYL-version than Little Red Rooster and especially Crackin' Up, which became overloaded with guitars in the overdub process.

Quote
marcovandereijk
This version isn't half bad either (how could it be?) :

If I were asked by anyone why I love this band I would refer that person to this video. It is selfexplanatory. If this person kept not knowing why...I would not make any effort to explain. It would be useless.

Quote
DandelionPowderman

The harp was overdubbed.

Awww man, that's disappointing. I had pictured Mick playing this incredible harp-line to the rapt amazement of everyone in the smoky club.

Drew

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones really got the tail between their legs for playing classic blues again at Knebworth in 76.

It was only a few months after the European tour ended but they started to play blues and r'n'b songs such as Little Red ooster, Route 66 and Around And Around like they did in the early days. Mannish Boy as well as Crackin' Up came out of this new found joie de vivre for the blues.

Anybody know anything about rehearsals before Knebworth and the El Mocambo and what they might have played?

Anyway, Mannish Boy is a roof-raising concert classic and with this, almost before punk had got many rock bands to look back to their rock'n'roll roots, the Stones were ahead of the game in re-capturing their early, primal blues sound. How Brian would have loved to have been playing in the band that night!

Excellent points. This brief 'back to roots' moment in 1976/77 in their history is not much discussed, or even seen. I would claim that the spirit they achieved in SOME GIRLS was alraedy planted here - they were mentally repairing themselves for a re-invention and they did it by going back to the beginning playing material that once insipred them. One thing that wonders me is if the British pub rock, and especially Dr. Feelgood, has any role there. Never seen any straight reference, but the timing - the classic dirty blues rock making a come-back, and The Stones doing such material as well - can't be a total co-incidence.

- Doxa

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
DandelionPowderman

The harp was overdubbed.

Awww man, that's disappointing. I had pictured Mick playing this incredible harp-line to the rapt amazement of everyone in the smoky club.

Drew

He was busy singing

Quote
Doxa

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones really got the tail between their legs for playing classic blues again at Knebworth in 76.

It was only a few months after the European tour ended but they started to play blues and r'n'b songs such as Little Red ooster, Route 66 and Around And Around like they did in the early days. Mannish Boy as well as Crackin' Up came out of this new found joie de vivre for the blues.

Anybody know anything about rehearsals before Knebworth and the El Mocambo and what they might have played?

Anyway, Mannish Boy is a roof-raising concert classic and with this, almost before punk had got many rock bands to look back to their rock'n'roll roots, the Stones were ahead of the game in re-capturing their early, primal blues sound. How Brian would have loved to have been playing in the band that night!

Excellent points. This brief 'back to roots' moment in 1976/77 in their history is not much discussed, or even seen. I would claim that the spirit they achieved in SOME GIRLS was alraedy planted here - they were mentally repairing themselves for a re-invention and they did it by going back to the beginning playing material that once insipred them. One thing that wonders me is if the British pub rock, and especially Dr. Feelgood, has any role there. Never seen any straight reference, but the timing - the classic dirty blues rock making a come-back, and The Stones doing such material as well - can't be a total co-incidence.

- Doxa

Some of it was always there, like the fantastic You Gotta Move on the 75/76 tours

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Some of it was always there, like the fantastic You Gotta Move on the 75/76 tours

Yep, but to me "You Gotta Move" is part of their story, almost like their 'own' song (as essential as that of playing "Midnight Rambler"). And there is so much blues in their whole sound from BEGGARS BANQUET to BLACK AND BLUE, and I think those albums pretty much nail anything and any horizons that can be developed from a blues-based rock. Of which SOME GIRLS, funnily, breaks out of free. In that album there is less 'black music' and blues than any since SATANIC MAJESTIES.

So I think going back to playing the old standard covers - which was nostalgic for them - is somehow a missing link between the eras, between BLACK AND BLUE and SOME GIRLS. Be it intentional or not.

- Doxa

Quote
Doxa

Quote
DandelionPowderman

Some of it was always there, like the fantastic You Gotta Move on the 75/76 tours

Yep, but to me "You Gotta Move" is part of their story, almost like their 'own' song (as essential as that of playing "Midnight Rambler"). And there is so much blues in their whole sound from BEGGARS BANQUET to BLACK AND BLUE, and I think those albums pretty much nail anything and any horizons that can be developed from a blues-based rock. Of which SOME GIRLS, funnily, breaks out of free. In that album there is less 'black music' and blues than any since SATANIC MAJESTIES.

So I think going back to playing the old standard covers - which was nostalgic for them - is somehow a missing link between the eras, between BLACK AND BLUE and SOME GIRLS. Be it intentional or not.

- Doxa

Yep, I agree. Although there is black music on Some Girls, too. The funky Miss You, the soul in Imagination, the blues in the title track as well as the modern r&b-tricks (not rhythm and blues) in Beast Of Burden (learned from Curtis Mayfield). However it didn't dominate the album.

Quote
Doxa

Quote
Silver Dagger
The Stones really got the tail between their legs for playing classic blues again at Knebworth in 76.

It was only a few months after the European tour ended but they started to play blues and r'n'b songs such as Little Red ooster, Route 66 and Around And Around like they did in the early days. Mannish Boy as well as Crackin' Up came out of this new found joie de vivre for the blues.

Anybody know anything about rehearsals before Knebworth and the El Mocambo and what they might have played?

Anyway, Mannish Boy is a roof-raising concert classic and with this, almost before punk had got many rock bands to look back to their rock'n'roll roots, the Stones were ahead of the game in re-capturing their early, primal blues sound. How Brian would have loved to have been playing in the band that night!

Excellent points. This brief 'back to roots' moment in 1976/77 in their history is not much discussed, or even seen. I would claim that the spirit they achieved in SOME GIRLS was alraedy planted here - they were mentally repairing themselves for a re-invention and they did it by going back to the beginning playing material that once insipred them. One thing that wonders me is if the British pub rock, and especially Dr. Feelgood, has any role there. Never seen any straight reference, but the timing - the classic dirty blues rock making a come-back, and The Stones doing such material as well - can't be a total co-incidence.

- Doxa

Totally agree Doxa. In 76 Keith and Mick were both living back in sleepy London town and must have heard what was going on in the developing back to the roots movement in their hometown.

Dr Feelgood were causing a real stir in the UK from 74 onwards, not only at live level but also on the TV and could not have gone unnoticed by the Glimmers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-10-29 16:20 by Silver Dagger.

Nice to see Jagger/Wood/Richards/ joining Muddy Waters singing the blues. They seem to respect that by backing it up as good as they can.

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
DandelionPowderman

The harp was overdubbed.

Awww man, that's disappointing. I had pictured Mick playing this incredible harp-line to the rapt amazement of everyone in the smoky club.

Drew

Yeah, I think I hear two harps on the LYL version. I believe Ollie Brown played it live and Jagger did some overdubs.

Thanks for the compliment Drew!

Quote
whitem8

Quote
drewmaster

Quote
DandelionPowderman

The harp was overdubbed.

Awww man, that's disappointing. I had pictured Mick playing this incredible harp-line to the rapt amazement of everyone in the smoky club.

Drew

Yeah, I think I hear two harps on the LYL version. I believe Ollie Brown played it live and Jagger did some overdubs.

If there are two harps in there, I'm quite sure Mick played one of them live (while he wasn't singing) and recorded the other one during the overdub-sessions.

As far as I know, Ollie Brown never played harp on stage with the Stones.

Ok, well one definitely sounds live, I think the distorted one but there is another harp on there that seems to slightly run into his vocals...I thought I had read somewhere Ollie played harp on it...but my memory has been hazy lately Sometimers creeping in...