Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James

Manfred Mann in 1966

1966 was a tumultuous and relatively difficult year for Manfred Mann, due to several changes in their lineup.[4] Their lead singer, Paul Jones had left the group shortly after their single "Pretty Flamingo" had reached number one on the Record Retailer chart.[5] Jones was shortly followed by the departure of bassist Jack Bruce,[6] after which Manfred Mann hired Mike d'Abo as a vocalist and Klaus Voormann as a bassist.[4][7] After signing with Fontana Records, the band collaborated with Shel Talmy, an old acquaintance of theirs, which produced "Just Like a Woman".[8] It reached number 10 on Record Retailer,[5] which proved that Manfred Mann were able to keep their momentum and relevance following the departure of Jones and according to AllMusic's Bruce Eder, also established their "commercial credibility".[9][10]

In search for new material to follow up "Just Like a Woman", the band initially had planned on covering another song by Bob Dylan, which generated some friction between band members, a number of which thought it would have been generic and formulaic.[11][nb 2] Instead, Talmy presented Manfred Mann with tapes from the Denmark Street publishing offices, where Geoff Stephens and John Carter wrote their music.[8] Both Stephens and Carter were part of a niche group of English songwriters that "compared very favorably" to their American counterparts.[1] For the song, the duo had embraced the conservative nature of Denmark Street rather than the youth subculture that was growing in London, meaning that it was more straightforward.[1] Greg Russo states that the composition was rather unorthodox coming from them, as it was not primarily a love song which they'd previously written about.[13]

"Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" was the second of three singles that were produced by Shel Talmy,[8] influential for his previous work with the Who and the Kinks, which Manfred Mann would gain experience from.[14] In an interview for New Musical Express, lead vocalist d'Abo stated Talmy taught them "new and innovative techniques" in the studio, something that "our previous producer (John Burgess) [sic] didn't".[14] He further said that the sessions were "a whole heap of fun".[14] During the summer of 1966, Fontana Records had bought studio time at the Philips Studio in Marble Arch, which would further produce the album As Is (1966).[11] "Semi-Detached" was recorded during a session held on 22 August 1966, which had also produced the bulk of the tracks which would make up As Is (1966).[15]

A Mellotron Mark II, the model keyboardist Manfred Mann plays on the recording.[13]

The song is also noted in that it is one of the first pop recordings to use the Mellotron, an instrumental that would later become prevalent in the fledging progressive rock scene.[16][17][18] On the instrument, keyboardist Manfred Mann plays loops using the flute setting during the intro, which then prevails in the composition after each chorus.[17] The model of the instrument was the second iteration, the Mark II, which Mann himself owned.[13] It was introduced to him by Mike Vickers, who previously was Manfred Mann's guitarist, and who would later similarly introduce the instrument to the Beatles.[19] Mann claims that he took the inspiration to purchase one from his curiosity of instruments that were "new and exotic".[19] The band would record another single using the instrument, the follow-up "Ha! Ha! Said the Clown" in 1967.[18]

Lyrically, the track has become one of Stephens and Carters most discussed and analyzed songs.[20][21] For the song, the duo drew inspiration from a recent trend in which social issues were brought up in pop song lyrics, inspired by Dylan.[13][22] It tells the tale of British suburbia and a "wedding story" which Bob Stanley claims comes from "a jilted lover",[22][23] which according to François Penz "didn't bring much hope to the suburban man either".[24] However, some identify the song as satirical and dismissive of middle class life.[20] This criticism is "couched up" when the narrator finds out that the lover has married.[1] Russo states that the lyrics were, unlike previously more conventional love songs, rather "disturbing" from the perspective of the narrator.[13] Roger Webster calls Manfred Mann's performance of the lyrics as "ironic".[23]

Musically, "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" was largely written in the key of D major, which wasn't "unlike the writing of Stephens", who tended to write his songs in the major key.[13] The single, largely based on the inclusion of the Mellotron, gave the song a relatively "baroque pop-fueled sound".[13] Russo also believes that it was Manfred Mann's most straightforward pop rock due to the steel guitar played by group guitarist Tom McGuinness, whom he feels "makes an interesting and pleasant" contrast to the Mellotron backing.[13] However, Kieron Tyler of The Arts Desk considered it "straight pop".[25] Eder described it as a song that "marked a major departure for the group".[10]

In the United Kingdom, "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" would be released on 21 October 1966 by Fontana Records as Manfred Mann's second single on that label.[1][nb 3] The release date coincided with the release of their third studio album, As Is, along with an unauthorized EP of older material by His Master's Voice, As Was.[13] The single was backed by a group original, "Morning After The Party", which was written by drummer Mike Hugg.[1] The song, featuring "strong Lovin' Spoonful-overtones" through the "cheesy, clinky piano",[26] followed the standard by Manfred Mann of having an outside writer composing the A-side, while the group themselves would write the B-side.[27] Unusually for a British invasion band at the time, the song was never released as an A-side in the United States nor Canada.[2] The reason behind this was that another band, Herbie's People, had quickly recorded the song and were planning on releasing it as an A-side in the US.[3][2] Instead, a then unreleased song by the band, "Each And Every Day", was released as a single in the US with "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" as the B-side.[28][nb 4]

The song entered the Record Retailer chart on the week after it was released at number 32, before peaking at number two on 23 November 1966.[32] The song was kept from the number-one spot by the Beach Boys "Good Vibrations", and exited the chart on 18 January 1967 at a position of number 42 after lasting for 12 weeks.[32] In charts published by other British music publications it also charted high, reaching number two on the chart compiled by Melody Maker,[33] while peaking at number three on both Disc and Music Echo's and New Musical Express charts.[34][35] Across Europe, the single also reached the top ten in Denmark, where it peaked at number seven,[36] and Sweden, where it reached number five on Tio i Topp and number ten on Kvällstoppen.[37][38] The song also reached the top-10 in both Africa and Oceania.[39][40]

Although released simultaneously with As Is, "Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" was ultimately not included on it, even though the B-side "Morning After The Party" was.[41] The song would not get an album release in the UK for almost four years until 1971, when it was released on the compilation album This Is... Manfred Mann.[30] In Europe, the song would first get an album release on the compilation album One Way in 1967.[42] Almost two years after release, the song would be issued on the group's final studio album in the US and Canada, The Mighty Quinn on 6 May 1968.[43] According to author Greg Russo, the inclusion of "Semi-Detached" along with several other early tracks by the band "cements the album as a compilation" rather than a studio album.[44]

Personnel taken from the book Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out, unless noted.[52]

Notes

References