Man

Man are a psychedelic rock band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, active from 1968 to the present. They begin as the second version of Welsh harmony group The Bystanders, before a change in personnel in 1968 leads them away from pop harmony and into West Coast-influenced psychedelia and hard, improvisational rock. Their sound develops across the years into progressive rock, with later classifications also placing them within blues rock, jam band, pop rock and rock.

Origins and early years

The Bystanders have been a 1960s pop harmony group signed to Pye Records and based in London, with limited chart success from their singles. After singer Vic Oakley leaves and guitarist Deke Leonard joins, the group changes direction completely. The line-up at that point includes Leonard, Micky Jones, Ray Williams, Clive John and Jeff Jones. The new style draws on American groups such as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention.

From 1968 to 1976, Man tour the UK, the United States and Germany. Their reputation rests on a rough, extended live approach and on a long, changing history marked by shifting line-ups. Their story also includes repeated arrests in Belgium, a confrontation with an Icelandic audience, and meetings with figures including Tommy Cooper and Bill Graham. The band also has links with the Neutrons, Gentle Giant, Badfinger, Status Quo and Iceberg, the latter being Deke Leonard’s band while he is away from the main group.

1970s recordings

Among the songs associated with this period are Spunk Rock, Bananas, Many Are Called But Few Get Up, C'Mon, Daughter of the Fireplace and Romain. In 1974, Rhinos, Winos & Lunatics is the album most strongly associated with their commercial peak and is noted for capturing their improvisational live style in the studio. They later record Maximum Darkness with John Cipollina, the guitarist from Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the album includes versions of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Codeine and Led Zeppelin’s Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.

The band splits in 1976 after choosing not to reform simply to revisit earlier success.

Reformations and later line-ups

Man reform in 1983 with a line-up built around Micky Jones and Deke Leonard on guitars, Martin Ace on bass and John Weathers on drums. This period produces songs including Feather on the Scales of Justice, Mad On Her, Wings of Mercury, Call Down The Moon and Heaven and Hell. Weathers leaves in 1996 and Terry Williams returns on drums before leaving in 1997. Bob Richards then takes over drums, and the band later restores Phil Ryan on keyboards in 1998, returning to a classic five-piece arrangement.

Phil Ryan plays a major role on Endangered Species, issued in 2000. He later leaves and Gareth Thorrington joins until 2006. Man then release Undrugged, an acoustic-leaning album that includes covers of Brian Wilson’s Sail On Sailor and Ray Charles’s Georgia On My Mind, both sung by Micky Jones. During this period, Jones has major health problems and his son George joins temporarily; when Jones recovers, George remains in the group. In 2005, after Jones’s condition worsens again, he is replaced by Martin Ace’s son Josh.

Diamonds And Coal follows in 2006, after which the band continues as a four-piece. Phil Ryan returns for a 40th anniversary tour in 2008. Over the course of their career, Man also gain award-winning radio coverage and become the subject of books by Deke Leonard on the history of the band and his earlier life.