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| PAUL JONES-It's Getting Better/Not Before Time US Bell B-805 1969 |
Former Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones ditched jazzy r&b for M.O.R. pop and became somewhat of a crooner in the U.K. Most of his U.K. 45's were issued in the States on the Capitol label but for his 5th US 45 he switched to the Bell label.
Issued in June 1969 (previously released in April in the UK as Columbia DB 8567) this Mann/Weil composition failed to chart (as did his previous US releases). Interestingly it was produced by Paul Jones and arranged and conducted by Tony Visconti! "It's Getting Better" is one of the biggest pieces of tripe I've heard despite it's dollybird backing vocals, regal harpsichord and flutes and strings.
The flip side "Not Before Time" (written and produced by Jones) is 100 times better. It's a funky little instrumental led by his wailing harp and some wiggy Gregorian chant vocals on top of tribal sounding percussion. Think of it as an updated version of the old Manfred's instro "Why Should We Not" meets Syd Barrett's "Rhamadan".
Both sides were collected on the RPM CD collection "Come Into My Music Box Vol 3".
Hear "It's Getting Better":
https://youtu.be/hcuKWq9_Id8
Hear "Not Before Time":
https://youtu.be/xn3V4mi-h1M
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