Mike Vickers

Mike Vickers gained his widest recognition as the versatile multi-instrumentalist at the core of the original Manfred Mann, yet his involvement reached far beyond that ensemble. He contributed substantially to the making of dozens of hit records—several of them major successes—by artists ranging from the Beatles to Gentle Giant, while also writing numerous film scores. His jazz training and command of several instruments placed his playing at the heart of Manfred Mann’s sound; guitar, saxophone, and flute lines from him defined both their concerts and the many tracks they cut between the band’s formation in 1963 and his own exit in October 1965. That departure effectively signaled the close of the group’s first chapter.

The split appears to have been reasonably cordial, since his former bandmates played prominent roles on his 1968 debut solo album, I Wish I Were a Group Again, a release that essentially stands as an unreleased Manfred Mann record. After leaving the band, Vickers turned to film composition, beginning with the 1966 comedy Press for Time, and simultaneously built a parallel career as composer, arranger, and conductor in rock, jazz, and orchestral idioms. In one high-profile assignment he led the 13-piece core ensemble that backed the Beatles on the June 25, 1967 live broadcast and recording of “All You Need Is Love”; he later added synthesizer to the group’s final album, Abbey Road.

His subsequent work encompassed the full range of English popular music. He served as arranger, orchestrator, or conductor for vocalists as varied as Cilla Black, Françoise Hardy, and Ella Fitzgerald, collaborated with ensembles as distinct as the Hollies, the Bee Gees, and Gentle Giant, and appeared on synthesizer for the original 1971 recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. In the 1970s he moved into film scoring with wider international reach, supplying music for Dracula AD 1972 and At the Earth’s Core. Since the late 1990s he has performed with the Manfreds, a touring reunion of original and principal second-lineup members of Manfred Mann (excluding co-founder and keyboardist Manfred Mann himself), an ensemble that has issued a live recording from the year 2000.