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Mike Vickers | |
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| Birth name | Michael Graham Vickers |
| Born | 18 April 1940 Staines-upon-Thames, England |
| Occupations | Musician |
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Michael Graham Vickers (born 18 April 1940) is an English musician who came to prominence as the guitarist, flautist, and saxophonist with the 1960s band Manfred Mann.
Vickers was born in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey. At the age of seven, his family moved to Scotland, and when he was eleven, to Southampton, where he attended King Edward VI school. [1]
Vickers originally played flute and saxophone, but with the increasing popularity of guitars in bands, it was decided that Manfred Mann should have a guitarist in their lineup. Vickers volunteered for this role, though he always preferred playing woodwind.[ citation needed ] His tough flute soloing on hard blues tracks, such as "Without You", prefigured the work of Ian Anderson with Jethro Tull five years later.[ citation needed ] As the group were all multi-instrumentalists, multi-tracking was used to allow Vickers to perform on guitar and woodwind on the same recordings, while drummer Mike Hugg similarly doubled on vibraphone.[ citation needed ]
He was credited as a co-writer on Manfred Mann's early hit singles[ clarification needed ] and contributed a few tracks to albums, including "The Abominable Snowmann" and "You're for Me".[ citation needed ] In 1965, his bandmate Tom McGuinness described him as "the nicest one of the group…nice nearly all the time. But when he's nasty he just can't be nice about it." McGuinness added: "He collects saxophones – which we buy for him." [2]
By 1965, according to McGuinness, Vickers was already "recording with his own orchestra and looks like becoming a definite threat to Semprini". [3]
At the end of 1965, Vickers quit Manfred Mann, although his first solo album, I Wish I Were a Group Again, did not appear until 1968. [4] In June 1967, Vickers conducted the orchestra for the live recording of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", which was shown on live TV across the world when communications satellite technology was celebrated by a worldwide linkup.
Vickers continued as a composer and arranger for records, television shows, and films. He composed "Pegasus", the theme from the cult ITV series The Adventures of Don Quick in 1970.[ citation needed ] One of his most familiar TV compositions is "Jet Set", which was used as the theme music for the NBC game show Jackpot in 1974–75,[ citation needed ] and as opening music for the sports series This Week in Baseball from 1977, until the programme's end in 2011. However, he did not write TWIB's iconic closing theme, "Gathering Crowds"; that was written by John Scott. [5] His film work includes the scores to The Sandwich Man (1966), Press for Time (1966), My Lover, My Son (1970), Please Sir! (1971), Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972), The Sex Thief (1973), and the fantasy films At the Earth's Core (1976) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978).[ citation needed ]
Vickers was an early user of the Moog synthesizer and found work outside his usual composing and arranging jobs as a programmer and performer of Moog equipment in the late 1960s, including teaching the Beatles how to use the Moog during recording sessions for the Abbey Road album. [6]
He also founded the Baker Street Philharmonic, releasing singles, EPs, and four albums between 1969 and 1972. [7] His instrumental piece "Visitation", composed and recorded in 1971, was used in the Polish television science series Sonda , broadcast between 1977 and 1989.[ citation needed ]
From 1992 to 1999, Vickers was a member of the Manfreds, an amalgamation of 1960s Manfred Mann members and associates that featured both Paul Jones and his successor, Mike d'Abo, on vocals, the latter also playing keyboards. Vickers played only woodwind instruments—alto saxophone, flute, and occasionally recorder—in this ensemble. In some of the later hits, such as "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James", he reproduced woodwind parts that had been performed on the original studio versions by his successor in Manfred Mann, Klaus Voormann.[ citation needed ]
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two different lead vocalists, Paul Jones from 1962 to 1966 and Mike d'Abo from 1966 to 1969.
Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann is a German artist, musician, and record producer.
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency.
Michael William Sammes was an English musician and vocal session arranger, performing backing vocals on pop music recorded in the UK from 1955 to the 1970s.
John Scott, also known as Johnny Scott and Patrick John Scott, is an English film composer and music conductor. Scott has collaborated with well-known directors and producers, including Mark Damon, Richard Donner, Charlton Heston, Mike Hodges, Hugh Hudson, Norman Jewison, Irvin Kershner, Ilaiyaraaja, Daniel Petrie, Roger Spottiswoode, and Norman J. Warren.
Manfred Sepse Lubowitz, known professionally as Manfred Mann, is a South African-born musician, resident in the UK since 1961. He is best known as a founding member of the bands Manfred Mann, Manfred Mann Chapter Three and Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Michael John Hugg is a British musician who was a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann.
Thomas John Patrick McGuinness is a guitarist, songwriter, author, record and TV producer, who played bass and later guitar with popular 60s rock band, Manfred Mann.
The Manfreds is a British pop group, formed in 1991 as a reunion of former members of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann, however without their eponymous founder Manfred Mann.
Mighty Garvey! is the fifth and final studio album by Manfred Mann, released on 28 June 1968 by Fontana Records. It was the last recorded by the band after the change of direction and personnel of their 1966 album As Is. It continued a transition away from jazz and blues towards self-composed art-pop. Despite including two UK top 5 hit singles, the album did not chart and the band split up the year after. In the US and Canada, it was released as The Mighty Quinn by Mercury Records.
Mann Made is the second British and fourth American studio album by Manfred Mann, released in October 1965 on His Master's Voice in the United Kingdom, and November 1965 on Ascot Records in the United States. It was the group's final recording project with original members Mike Vickers and Paul Jones, as well as their last to be recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, before switching to Fontana Records.
Instrumental Asylum is an EP by Manfred Mann, released in 1966. The EP is a 7-inch vinyl record and released in mono with the catalogue number His Master's Voice-EMI 7EG 8949.
Groovin' with Manfred Mann is an EP by Manfred Mann, released in 1964. The EP is a 7-inch vinyl record and released in mono with the catalogue number His Master's Voice-EMI 7EG 8876.
As Is is the third British studio album by Manfred Mann, released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 1966 through Fontana Records. It was their fourth overall but their first to feature new members Mike d'Abo and Klaus Voormann.
Soul of Mann is a 1967 compilation album of mostly instrumental recordings by Manfred Mann, released by HMV Records shortly after the company dropped the group from its roster. It was not well publicised and did not sell strongly.
"My Little Red Book" (occasionally subtitled "(All I Do Is Talk About You)") is a song composed by American songwriter Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Hal David. The duo was enlisted by Charles K. Feldman to compose the music to Woody Allen's film What's New Pussycat? following a chance meeting between Feldman and Bacharach's fiancée Angie Dickinson in London. "My Little Red Book" was composed in three weeks together with several other songs intended for the movie. Musically, the song was initially composed in the key of C major, largely based on a reiterating piano riff performed. David's lyrics tells the tale of a distraught lover, who after getting dumped by his girlfriend browses through his "little red book" and taking out several girls to dance in a vain effort to get over her.
As Was is an EP by Manfred Mann, released in 1966. The EP is a 7-inch vinyl record and released in mono with the catalogue number His Master's Voice-EMI 7EG 8962.
"Come Tomorrow" is a song written by American songwriters Bob Elgin, Dolores Phillips and Frank Augustus for rhythm and blues singer Marie Knight, who issued it as a single in October 1961 through Okeh Records, a release which received good reviews, though failed to chart. The best known version of the song was recorded by British pop band Manfred Mann, who took it to the top-ten in the United Kingdom in 1965.
The Five Faces of Manfred Mann is the debut British and second American studio album by Manfred Mann. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 11 September 1964 by His Master's Voice. In late October/early November, the album was released in Canada by Capitol Records. The Canadian track listing was almost the same as the UK version, except it included the hit "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" instead of "I've Got My Mojo Working". The record has been called "one of the great blues-based British invasion albums; it's a hot, rocking record that benefits from some virtuoso playing as well".
"Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" is a song written by songwriters Geoff Stephens and John Carter, recorded by English pop group Manfred Mann in 1966. Previous to this, it was recorded by the band Herbie's People who were signed to CBS and had recorded other John Carter songs. The original title was ....Mr Jones and was recorded that way by Herbie's People. Their version was pulled by CBS when Manfred Mann said they'd record it. It was subsequently issued but only in the USA on the Okeh label. Stephens and Carter, who were writers for a publishing company on Denmark Street, London, wrote the song in a style different from their usual compositions, as love was not the prevalent theme. Introduced to the song by producer Shel Talmy, Manfred Mann recorded it at Philips Studio in August 1966. Released by Fontana Records on 21 October 1966, the song was backed by drummer Mike Hugg's composition "Morning After The Party" as the group's second single on the label. Keyboardist Manfred Mann plays the Mellotron on the recording; it was one of the earliest recordings featuring the instrument. Following a trend set by Bob Dylan, the song tackles the subject of life in British middle class suburbia from the perspective of a narrator, who laments the loss of a lover after her marriage to another man.
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