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On this day, 8 December 1971, rock group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band played Cardiff (venue unknown). The band featured on drums Chris Slade, who had previously played with Tom Jones and went on to hold down the drum seat for AC/DC.
Keyboardist Manfred Mann started in the 1960s with the self-titled band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn" and then moved on to jazz fusion-inspired Manfred Mann Chapter Three before forming the Earth Band in 1971.
The original line-up consisted of Mick Rogers (guitar and vocals), Manfred Mann (keyboards, Minimoog synthesizer and vocals), Colin Pattenden (bass guitar) and Chris Slade (drums and vocals).
In its very earliest stages, the band was sometimes billed as "Manfred Mann" and thus a continuation of the 1960s group, sometimes as "Manfred Mann Chapter Three" due to that being the most recent incarnation of Mann's career. The quartet released their first single, Bob Dylan's "Please, Mrs. Henry", in 1971, simply credited to "Manfred Mann".
A debut album "Stepping Sideways" was recorded but not released because the band's style was rapidly maturing, and the group felt it was not representative of their live act anymore. In September 1971, a new name was chosen. Manfred Mann suggested a title containing "band" (which almost rhymes with "Mann") and after considering the likes of "Arm Band", "Head Band" and "Elastic Band", Chris Slade suggested "Earth Band", a name both related to the band's originally straightforward musical style and the ecological movement ongoing at the time.
