Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You", "Blinded by the Light," and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a short hiatus in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Earth Band continues to perform and tour.

The Earth Band combines the stylistic approach of progressive rock with Mann's jazz-influenced Moog synthesizer playing and keen ear for melody. Besides producing their material, a staple of the band's music and live performances from the beginning has also been relying on covers of songs by other modern pop/rock artists, notably Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, in their progressive rock style.

Mann's interest in English 20th-century classical music saw him adapt Gustav Holst's Planets Suite and turn a version of the "Jupiter" movement into a UK hit entitled "Joybringer" (perhaps surprisingly excluded from the 1973 album Solar Fire).[1] Other classical music adaptations include "Questions" from the 1976 album The Roaring Silence (which is based on the main theme of Franz Schubert's Impromptu in G flat Major), "Solar Fire is in Earth, the Circle, Pt. 1" (which uses the melody from Claude Debussy's "Jimbo's Lullaby") and "Starbird" also from 1976's The Roaring Silence (which is based upon Igor Stravinski's ballet The Firebird).