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THE STORY OF THE BAND

Site Updated on 17th November 2002 by Terry Willson

In 1992 came the news fans had been waiting for, Man had entered Scarf Studio's to record their first studio album since 1976's Welsh Connection. The album that came from the Studio Sessions was called "The Twang Dynasty" and it was launched at a massive party on the 14th November 1992 at The Assembly Hall, Feltham. Called The Welsh Convention, it not only featured Man, but also had other Welsh musicians and bands taking part. Joining Man on stage were previous members - Terry Williams, Clive John, Tweke Lewis and Ray Williams.

The Twang Dynasty - The First Studio Album in 16 Years

The Twang Dynasty saw a departure for Man from their previous albums with a more rock orientated sound, however one track recaptured the West Coast sound, Wings Of Mercury. Dedicated to John Cipollina who had passed away in 1989 from a long standing chest illness, the lyrics and the sound paid a lasting tribute to spirit of the guitarist considered a hero by many including Deke Leonard.

Once again more gigs followed and the band toured consistently in the UK and Europe for the next three years. A second Welsh Convention was held in April 1994 and again Terry Williams and Clive John joined Man on stage. On June 25th 1994, the band played the UK's favourite mud bath, the Glastonbury Festival. The BBC has been resident at Glastonbury every year taped a storming set that was well received by the crowd. Each member of the band heard the tape and in March 1995 it was release on a limited basis by the TWC. The album eventually saw a full release via Point in the late 1990's.

Although "The Twang Dynasty" did not strike a chord with many fans the next album was a different matter. In November 1994, the band packed up and headed to Egg Studio's in Seattle and commenced recording of the second studio album of the 90's with their old friend Ron Sanchez in the producer’s chair. While they were there Ron also managed to organise a couple of gig's in Seattle, their first in America since 1976.

John "Pugwash" Weathers - Man's Longest Serving Drummer

Moon Calling

"Call Down The Moon" was released in March 1995 and presented a sound nearer to the "Man" sound, if such a thing can be defined. With yet another album to support, the band continued their touring schedule in support of the new release and a further Welsh Convention, number 3, took place on the 10th June 1995 at The Arnhem Room, Fairfield Hall, Croydon.

Early in 1996 the continual upheavals continued, despite Martin, Deke Micky and John setting a record for a stable line up. John Weathers quit the drumming seat permanently and Terry returned, much to the surprise of many, especially myself who saw the band at the time at The Shepherds Bush Empire, one of Terry's early gigs in this tenure. On 5th September 1996 a major tragedy struck the band. Deke, who in his own words, had participated in more than his fair share of the drug scene, had a stroke. "I was in bed at around one in the morning and I had a minute of double vision" said Deke in an article in the Western Mail in December 1999. "It cleared but I thought it was strange and the following morning I was staggering"

A leave of absence of at least six months was necessary for the bands second longest serving member, but it did leave another dilemma. They still had a commitment to live dates, including a European Tour and needed to cover the absent guitarist. As in 1975, when Martin temporarily returned to cover the missing bass slot, a temporary replacement for Deke was found in the shape of Phil Ryan. Once again, despite the tension that had existed in 1976, Phil returned to enable the band to complete their commitments.

After an extended leave to fully recover Deke returned to the band in 1997 playing at friend and fellow musician, Brian Breeze's surprise birthday party where they played Spunk Rock. At the end of the gig, Deke privately confessed to Micky that although he was pleased to be back, he was sorry that he couldn't play it that fast. "You never could" replied the caustic Jones - the camaraderie was back.

The next shock due in the 1990's came in early 1997, when in circumstances that have never been fully related in public, Terry, to many THE Man drummer was no longer in the band. His replacement was another Welshman - Bob Richards, whose pedigree includes Shogun, The Wild Family and the Adrian Smith Band(ex Iron Maiden) and a one off gig with Asia after joining Man.

There was also one other development, after losing all those members over the years, Phil, whose assignment was to cover Deke's absence, decided to stay. "He just would not leave" claimed Martin when asked about the situation. At last the band had a full time keyboard player in the line up, the first since 1976 and importantly it was Phil.

With Deke back to full health and the addition of Phil and Bob the band started touring in the UK and Europe. By now it was 1998 and the activity on the bands earlier recordings suddenly took an upsurge. BGO records, had released a few of their albums on CD in the early 1990's, but there were many recordings missing including some of the rarer material such as "Greasy Truckers" and Live At The Padget Rooms. Seeing the requirement the band did a deal with Point Records to release all the other albums which also gave them access to some of the rarer recordings, such as the aborted German recordings from 1984, some unfinished recordings of tracks that featured live in the set in the 1970's and Martin's rare sole single "Sad Party". The unfortunate part is that EMI, who owned the masters to the United Artists album, refused to release the masters, so the band just took a mix from the albums direct. Among the CD's that were not reissues were "Rare Man" , a collection of the material mentioned above and the Glastonbury gig from 1994. Although this now means all the bands albums are available to buy (with the exception The 1983 Reading Album) they were not able to digitally re-master the tapes.

Deke Leaonard - Back After A Serious Illness

Back To Form

In 1998 the band did their usual spring tour of Germany and they were certainly back to form. Not only were they playing well, but also they were also debuting new material and Phil's keyboards giving them back a sound that was spacey and psychedelic. On the 27th March the band played the last gig of the tour, the Star Club, Oberhausen. In Deke's words "We were knackered and slightly demob happy. We were also match fit and playing like Banshees" The gig was recorded and made available, on a limited basis, to Man fans via TWC and at Gigs. Deke was not far wrong, probably one of the best live albums made by the band, it at last features the complete set with nothing missing, and music from throughout their career, plus two new songs. On the sleve notes Deke also says "Circumstances, damn circumstances, has made it impossible for us to do a new studio album at the moment."

Once again, prophetic words from the pen of the Dekemeister. Later in the year, as the band were starting preparations for a new album, Phil Ryan's wife Bolette was taken seriously ill with a brain tumour and Phil, naturally, stayed at home in Denmark, to help nurse her. This effectively put the band in limbo, and although they continued playing as a 4 piece, with Deke taking on some keyboard duties, and playing a revised set incorporating some crowd favourites such as "7171551", they could not progress any further. A further Welsh Convention, number 4, took place at Astoria 2 in London, and featured a reformed Flying Aces, The Archers, who include Richard Treece of Help Yourself and Ken Whaley of Help Yourself and Man, Crystal Blue Persuasion, the Daughters of Martin, Deke and Pete Williams, occasional roadie and brother of Terry, a reformed Alkatraz with Will Youatt and of course Man. The situation continued for a year until Bolette was well enough for Phil to return in the autumn of 1999 and start the work on the new studio album. Enduring Species

Although many attempts to record a new album had failed since 1996, in October 1999, Bolette had recovered sufficiently for Phil to join the band and commence recordings at the legendary Rockfield Studio's in Wales with ex Help Yourself drummer, Dave Charles, producing. The initial session lasted two weeks and was followed by a further two weeks in November, further sessions in January and February 2000 saw the final mixing of the album, everything was feeling good for the band and fans alike. The band debuted the new album, to be called"Endangered Species" at two gigs on the 31st March, at the Garn Valley Leisure Centre, Pontycymmer and on the 1st April 2000 Coal Exchange Cardiff respectively. I attended the Cardiff gig along with a further& 500-600 fans and I can say the new album’s songs, which were played in full, was well received. A German tour after the Cardiff gig had seen Phil at some of the show's but Bolette's condition, meant Phil could not join the band for long periods.

Endangered Species - Man's Most recent Studio Album

Ride, Ride, Ride, Ride, Ride - The Future

"Endangered Species" was finally released on 12th June 2000 - their 12th Studio Album, and something like their 28th appearance on a disc - not including compilations, guest appearances etc. The content has caused much debate amongst Man fans as to whether it is the "Man" Sound or not and the jury is still out on which tracks are good and which are not so good. A launch party was scheduled for Dingwalls on the 15th June, but a week before the gig Bolette Ryan was again taken ill, and the band made the decision to cancel the gig, such is the importance of Phil's contribution. The band played some festivals during the summer and with UK and German tours in the autumn they decided that they needed a stand in (not replacement) for Phil. Enter the 18th member to play in the ranks of the Manband - Gareth Thorrington. Making his debut at the Canterbury Sound Festival on the 31st July, Gareth played with the band on the UK Tour and looks like he will be around until Phil can resume.

21st Century Man - Bob, Deke, Martin, Micky and Phil

And so to the future, it has always been prudent never to predict the activities of Man, they have, to an extent, always followed their own agenda. The UK tour was followed by a German tour supporting former Animals front man Eric Burden, and then a Xmas party at the Coal Exchange in Cardiff takes the band to the end of 2000.

Their offspring are also following in the musical footsteps. As mentioned Jo Ace, Katie Leonard and Sadie Williams perform as Crystal Blue Persuasion, whose backing band consists of a couple of fathers and their various musical friends. And last, but certainly not least, Micky's son, George Jones, is also turning into an excellent guitar player and as performed with the band on many occasions. On one memorable performance was at the Coal Exchange on 1st April 2000, where all he wanted was a guitar with 6 strings but ended up with mostly 5. George also made his recording debut on a limited Live CD issued to coincide with the 2000 Spring Tour of Germany where he is credited with a special guest appearance "on a “CD only bonus track" (where’s the vinyl version).

However it does seem that they are not going to give up yet. Micky Jones, Deke Leonard, Martin Ace and Phil Ryan are all in their 50's but can still rock with the rest and Bob Richards, a youngster in his middle 30's, is a good addition to the above four. Let’s hope they can continue to rock and entertain as they have done for the past 32 years.