Manzanera - Just a perfect fit
Roxy Music's guitar hero just what the band needed
It was 1971 and the small classified ad in England’s Melody Maker explained that a new band, Roxy Music, was looking for a guitarist. And, as we’ve come to know and love about Roxy’s lead singer, songwriter, fashion plate, would-be Dirk Bogarde-lookalike Bryan Ferry, he was uh, very particular.
You see, the ad said the successful applicant would be “fast, slow, elegant, witty, scary, stable, tricky.”
Think for a moment, what famous rock guitarist might have fit that bill in 1971. Eric Clapton? He was fast and maybe elegant but witty? Jeff Beck certainly could be scary and tricky but definitely not stable. Jimmy Page might have been all of those at varying times but surrendering his vision for the band to someone else, which he would have had to do with Ferry, wasn’t going to work.
Fortunately for Ferry, for the band and for lovers of avant-garde rock and roll music, the young daring guitarist who applied wound up being a perfect fit. Phil Manzanera not only had already absorbed a generous sampling of world music - born in Cuba, his mother taught him guitar and growing up, he lived in Colombia, Venezuela, Hawaii and attended boarding school in London - he also had the exquisite taste to find a way to romp and rock within the exotic collage of sounds that Ferry, Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson (and a revolving bass player) churned out in successive ground-breaking Roxy Music studio concoctions. There simply was no band that sounded like them. Manzanera was an important part of that.
From “Roxy Music,” to “For Your Pleasure” to “Stranded” to “Country Life,” to “Siren” to “Manifesto” to ‘Flesh And Blood” to the stunning “Avalon,” Manzanera always seemed to find the perfect guitar figures to accompany Ferry’s visions/obsessions. Ferry was always working with a wide palette of sound, Manzanera seemed to have just the right touch every single time. That takes musical taste and intelligence, particularly with such unusual instrumentation. Is that an oboe?
Whether roaring untrammeled through the devastating closing section of “In Every Dream Home A Heartache” or the raising-the-roof kick-ass “Amazona” or the brilliant “Out Of The Blue” - a co-composition with Ferry, Manzanera’s guitar work was, well, fast, slow, elegant, witty, scary, tricky and, yes, stable.
He was jagged and tender, fuzzy and crystal clear, raw and polished to a sheen. His style was so distinctive, clever, uniquely him, Ferry even used him on his solo albums.
Manzanera also did some solo albums, “Diamond Head” might be the best. He also recorded a killer live art-rock album “801 Live” - and if you’re wondering about the “witty” phrase, Phil, Eno and company chose to conclude this live show (I read it was just their third gig) by rumbling first into The Kinks’ garage-rock classic “You Really Got Me” closing with the stunning guitar showcase “Third Uncle,” an Eno composition.
At 75, he’s on a bit of a talk and play world tour. He recently self-published a memoir “Revolucion To Roxy,” has been doing shows where he’ll do an interview and play a few favorite tunes and is always warm and generous with his audience.
He was thrilled that Roxy Music was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a while back and says that he actually earned more money from his music being sampled by Jay-Z and Kanye West than he did from his time with Roxy.
In an interview with The Guardian a couple years ago, promoting a box set of his 50 years in music, he recalled Roxy’s beginnings as “an art collective experiment, by two different branches of the art world – Brian Eno’s art education, Bryan Ferry’s art education. And I was just a puppet in this sort of art project, which I’m very proud to have been.”
Phil Manzanera was the perfect fit for Roxy Music and he didn’t seem to mind Bryan Ferry pulling the strings. He had his own signature way of handling his six-strings with style, imagination, sass and personality. He might not have been Ferry’s first choice as Roxy Music guitarist but he was the best.
Listen to Manzanera rave on Roxy Music’s classic “Amazona”
Here’s my Substack on 801 Live - a great live album
I liked Manzanera even when I didn't like what Roxy was up to. He's that interesting and that sound is rock guitar heaven.