The Earth Band might appear to have flown under the radar, but they are a solid band with an even more solid worldwide following.
09 January 2023 | James Porteous | Clipper Media News
Rockpalast, Live Music Hall Köln, 10.04.2000
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen‘s “For You“, “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night“. After forming in 1971 and with a short hiatus in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Earth Band continues to perform and tour.
The Earth Band combines the stylistic approach of progressive rock with Mann’s jazz-influenced Moog synthesizer playing and keen ear for melody. Beside producing their own material, a staple of the band’s music and live performances from the beginning has been also relying on covers of songs by other modern pop/rock artists, notably Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, in their progressive rock style. (wikipedia)
Mick Rogers (born Michael Oldroyd, 20 September 1946, Dovercourt, Essex, England) is an English rock guitarist, singer and songwriter, chiefly known for his time with Manfred Mann’s Earth Band from 1971 to 1975 and again since 1984.
He left the Earth Band because he wanted to steer the band more in the direction of Frank Zappa, which created friction with Mann.[6]
Photo: Mick Rogers in Gelsenkirchen (2010)
I had an offer to [play with] Zappa and got to know him fairly well and played with him. I became too much for the band and, I think, I had to go. It was like I was being destructive in as much that I wanted to play other things, you know? It was probably a midlife muso crisis. I worked through that. Earlier in my career I had lived in Australia and I went back through there, hooked up with some friends of mine, who are fusion players. We used to do some crazy stuff, like Ornette Coleman stuff. One moment we would be playing Ornette Coleman and the next I would be doing something from the 1950s. I’d be doing a couple of Elvis things. Even with the Earth Band, now, I do ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ on my own. I went to Los Angeles for a while, too, and got the muso stuff out of my system and rejoined the Earth Band in 1986 and I’ve been there since.
— Mick Rogers, Prog Rock FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Rock’s Most Progressive Music[7]
