My Little Red Book of Winners

by Matthew Greenwald One of Manfred Mann's finest early records, My Little Red Book of Winners was, aside from being a fine album that captured the band's early sensibility, a highly influential record. The hit song "My Little Red Book," an excellent arrangement of the Bacharah/David masterpiece, was included in the hit movie What's New Pussycat. It was there that Love's lead singer Arthur Lee first heard it, and then arranged it for his band. Lee also aped a sense of style and phrasing from Mann's lead singer Paul Jones, and did so to great effect. The rest of this record is equally brilliant in spots. "The One in the Middle," an excellent mid-tempo blues from Jones, proved what a fine and witty songwriter he was. Other covers on the album include "Oh No, Not My Baby" and "With God on Our Side," which illustrate how efffectively the band could capture any style and make it their own.