MANFRED MANN "As Is" 1966 UK FONTANA 1st *MONO* PRESS

	£		41
	$		54

  MANFRED MANN "As Is" 1966 UK FONTANA 1st *MONO* PRESS ALCOVE FLIPBACK SLEEVE, BARELY PLAYED, CLEAN EX++ AUDIO
MANFRED MANN
As Is


ORIGINAL UK FONTANA (TL 5377) FIRST *MONO* PRESSING (October 1966) OF MANFRED MANN'S CLASSIC THIRD LP "As Is" FINDING THE BAND MOVING AWAY FROM THEIR BLUES ROOTS INTO A MORE 'POP ORIENTATED 'CARNABY STREET' SOUND (though still firmly rooted in the blues with some forward-looking psych touches) - VERY 1966 - AND THIS COPY IS IN BEAUTIFUL, BARELY PLAYED CONDITION DELIVERING A WONDERFUL BRIGHT, CLEAN, SHARP AND FRESH SOUND - GREAT LP, LOVELY COPY

PRESSED ON QUALITY HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL (very thick and chunky) WITH THE FIRST ISSUE MATT, TEXTURED BLACK/SILVER FONTANA LABELS
FIRST *MONO* MATRIX: 687920 1L∇1 420 11 2 / 687920 2L∇1 420 11 4
THE LP IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL FRONT LAMINATED FLIP-BACK SLEEVE (WITH THE 'ALCOVE' PHOTO) WHICH, IN COMMON WITH MOST FONTANA RELEASES OF THE PERIOD, HAS NO PRINTERS CREDIT BUT HAS ALL THE HALLMARKS OF A GARROD AND LOFTHOUSE COVER
AND IT'S COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL PLAIN WHITE POLY-LINED INNER SLEEVE WITH 'MADE IN ENGLAND' AND BRITISH PATENT NUMBERS PRINTED IN PURPLE TEXT AND DATE CODED '086' (August, 1966)

The departure of frontman Paul Jones left Manfred Mann with a large void to fill in the summer of 1966. Not only was Jones a charismatic vocalist, he was also a writer and one of Manfred Mann's key selling points with the record buying public. The group's record company, HMV, realised this and hedged their bets by signing Jones for a new solo deal, but dropping the band from its roster.
In late 1966 while Jones was enjoying success with his first solo single, "High Time," a new version of Manfred Mann emerged with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" on Fontana. The new line up featured Mike D'Abo as vocalist (previously with A Band Of Angels) and was augmented by Klaus Voorman on bass, with Tom McGuiness switching to lead guitar. Despite the magnitude of this personnel change, the single was a top 10 hit and paved the way for this album, As Is.
Released in October 1966, As Is continued the pop sensibilities of their previous album, Mann Made, with the group firmly removed from its original R&B roots. In addition to "Just Like A Woman," highlights included a humorous tribute to a hangover entitled "Morning After The Party" and a slick vibes led rendition of the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves." Like many mid sixties albums, As Is seems to be a collection of songs, rather than a complete entity like Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper. Nevertheless there is some excellent playing, particularly from drummer Mike Hugg and Manfred Mann himself, whose jazz influenced style helped add a high brow dimension to the group.
The album was a top 20 hit in the UK charts and consolidated the group's reputation, on which they would continue to build over the next three years

Track Listing:
Side One: Trouble And Tea (2:12) / Now And Then Thing (2:44) / Each Other's Company (2:56) / Box Office Draw (2:13) / Dealer, Dealer (3:17) / Morning After The Party (2:34)
Side Two: Another Kind Of Music (2:32) / As Long As I Have Lovin' (2:44) / Autumn Leaves (1:56) / Superstitious Guy (2:46) / You're My Girl (2:48) / Just Like A Woman (2:54)

LABELS: The labels are clean and bright with little evidence of play - no unwanted marks/writing and no real spindle traces (just a little rubbing around the spindle hole) - barely played in my opinion
VINYL Visual: The vinyl surfaces still retain their deep glossy sheen with just some light pressing blemishes within the vinyl but barely any later marks - visually EXCELLENT
VINYL Audio: The MONO cut on this LP is very impressive with a warm, deep and rich sound - beautifully recorded (but there is that odd semi-fade in the middle of the slow, bluesy As Long As I Have Lovin', which a characteristic of this MONO mix). On playback at a loud volume (which is how I always listen to my LPs prior to listing) there are no scratches, sticks or jumps, just the occasional, isolated light click/pop - nothing major or intrusive and very infrequent. Otherwise, the pressing is very clean with practically silent run-ins and track divisions and the whole LP plays beautifully throughout to an extremely high standard with no distortion, no groove-wear, sounds great and is critically graded a very strong EXCELLENT++ for audio - great copy
SLEEVE: The original front laminated flipback sleeve is also in great condition. The laminate has a deep glossy sheen with very little rubbing and the back is pretty clean with no damage to any of the flipback section. The edges and spine are crisp and sharp with no wear to speak of and all spine text is clear and bold. Overall, a very, very fine example of this original sleeve - EXCELLENT+

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