''Instrumental Assassination'' is a 1966

jazz-rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

EP by

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

, produced by

Shel Talmy Sheldon Talmy (August 11, 1937 – November 13, 2024) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger, best known for his work in England in the 1960s with the Who, the Kinks, and many other artists. Talmy arranged and produced hits ...

and released by

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

(TE17483). Mann reported that the group "loved it" and the producer was "particularly pleased": Fontana's Jack Baverstock found it full of ideas, humour and new thinking,EP rear cover at http://www.soundstation.dk/images/products/large/93/113393-b.jpg but the EP sold poorly and was re-released in its entirety on the 1968 Fontana compilation album ''What A Mann''.

Background

Like the earlier '' Instrumental Asylum'' the record offered four free-wheeling and light-hearted improvisatory arrangements of current pop songs,

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire, in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", al ...

' " Wild Thing" and "

With a Girl like You "With a Girl Like You" is a song by English rock band the Troggs, released as a single in July 1966. On the back of the success of " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" topped the charts in the UK, and was similarly a success across Europe, bu ...

" and

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

's " Sunny" and " Getaway".

and

Mike Hugg Michael John Hugg (born 11 August 1940) is a British musician who was a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann, and co-founder of the psychedelic jazz-fusion group, Manfred Mann Chapter Three. He is known for his creativity in his mus ...

continued their practice, established at their earliest sessions, of dubbing jazzy solos, on

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

and

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

respectively, over their own

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm ...

tracks, with Mann on piano and Hugg on drums, in this case with their former double bassist

Dave Richmond __NOTOC__ David Henry Richmond (born 29 March 1938 in Brighton, Sussex, England) is a British professional bass player, best known as a founder member of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann. During his short tenure with the group, he played bass o ...

. Their current electric bass player,

Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German graphic artist, artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, includ ...

appeared on only

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

. Tom McGuinness played guitar. "Sunny" begins with bowed bass and lazy vibes introducing a powerful organ solo, accompanied by frenzied screaming (it was, said Mann "a pretty wild session"), dissolving into a fast ''

cadenza In music, a cadenza, (from , meaning cadence; plural, ''cadenze'' ) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist(s), usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing virtuosic display ...

'' and recapitulation. "Wild Thing" sets a piano-driven soul riff over which the melody features tone-bending tricks on Mann's

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

brass. "Getaway" has the song's short theme on bowed bass, filled out by vibraphone and organ, leading to an organ and then a bowed bass solo with uncredited scat unison vocal. "With a Girl like You" has a solo guitar, a military waltzing snare and more spontaneous vocals.

Track listing

;Side 1 # " Sunny" (

Bobby Hebb Robert Alvin Von Hebb (July 26, 1938 – August 3, 2010) was an American R&B and soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording and performing artist, best known for his 1966 hit " Sunny". Biography Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His par ...

) # " Wild Thing" (

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". He is the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven. He is the ...

) ;Side 2 # " Getaway" (

Clive Powell Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only ...

) # "

With a Girl Like You "With a Girl Like You" is a song by English rock band the Troggs, released as a single in July 1966. On the back of the success of " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" topped the charts in the UK, and was similarly a success across Europe, bu ...

" (

Reg Presley Reginald Maurice Ball (12 June 1941 – 4 February 2013), known professionally as Reg Presley, was an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer with the 1960s rock and roll band the Troggs, whose hits included "Wild Thing (The Troggs ...

)

Personnel

- piano, Hammond organ, Mellotron * Tom McGuinness - guitar *

- drums and vibraphone *

- double bass *

- recorder

References

{{Manfred Mann Manfred Mann EPs Albums produced by Shel Talmy Fontana Records EPs 1966 EPs Instrumental EPs