Manoeuvres Explained

Manoeuvres
Type:studio
Artist:Greg Lake
Cover:Manoeuvres.jpg
Border:yes
Released:July 1983
Genre:Progressive rock
Label:Chrysalis
Producer:Greg Lake
Prev Title:Greg Lake
Prev Year:1981
Next Title:King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Greg Lake in Concert
Next Year:1995

Manoeuvres is the second and final solo studio album by English musician Greg Lake. It was released in July 1983 by Chrysalis Records and featured his 1981 to 1983 lineup (with guitarist Gary Moore, longtime friend bassist Tris Margetts, drummer Ted McKenna (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band; Rory Gallagher), and session keyboardist Tommy Eyre).[1]

Like his debut solo album, Greg Lake (1981), Manoeuvres was created in close collaboration with Northern Irish guitarist and singer-songwriter Gary Moore. It includes a song "Haunted" written with friend and bassist Tris Margetts and rock cartoonist-artist Tony Benyon.[2]

The album features a pop-flavoured progressive rock sound resembling that of Asia, the group Lake would join briefly in the end of 1983. Manoeuvres received mainly negative reviews at the time and failed to match the sales of its predecessor.[3]

In his autobiography Lake says that "there was no tour and virtually no promotion", and that he recognised that the public did not want guitar-oriented music from him. He parted company with Chrysalis. The album would be Lake's last studio album as a solo artist.

Later work by Greg Lake

His "Songs of a Lifetime" tour in 2012 produced a 2013 live album of the same name, and his 2012 solo concert live in Piacenza, Italy (where he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Piacenza) also produced a live album "Live In Piacenza" released in 2017.

His other work consisted of collaborations and concerts with artists including Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band;[4] The Who;[5] [6] Ian Anderson;[7] [8] The RD Crusaders[9] and Roger Daltrey (benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust); his solo projects supporting the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center,[10] the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and other organizations,[11] [12] and periodic reunions with Emerson, Lake & Palmer.[13]

Personnel

Technical personnel

Notes and References

  1. [Greg Lake]
  2. Web site: Greg Lake–Manoeuvres . . Discogs. 1983 . 16 March 2020 .
  3. Manoeuvres . . November 2010 . Dome . Malcolm . Malcolm Dome . 8 . booklet . Rock Candy Records (CANDY092) . London.
  4. Personnel and concert dates of the 2001, seventh edition of Ringo Starr's All Starr Band. "Ringo Lines Up All Starr Band Itinerary" (12 July 2001). No author byline. Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/79143/ringo-lines-up-all-starr-band-itinerary . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. [Greg Lake]
  6. Video: Greg Lake in the studio with The Who, recording "Real Good Looking Boy" in 2004. "The Who - Real Good Lookin' Boy Recording Session, Part 2" (2004). YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W2KGd3SnJ5Q . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. Video: "I Believe in Father Christmas" - Greg Lake and Ian Anderson performing live in St. Bride's Church, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Christmas 2011. YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U6-PAKOt7sM . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  8. Cheal, David (8 December 2016). "The Life of a Song: ‘I Believe in Father Christmas’". Financial Times. https://amp.ft.com/content/6464a160-bd53-11e6-8b45-b8b81dd5d080 . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. [Greg Lake]
  10. Video: The Greg Lake Band (1990s line-up) performing "Daddy" live, 17 December 1994 (David Arch - keyboards; Trevor Barry - bass; Greg Lake - guitar, lead vocals; Brett Morgan - drums; Florian Opahle - lead guitar). "A Benefit for the Sara Anne Wood Rescue Center". ABC News television station WTEN TV-10 Studios, Albany, New York, U.S.A. YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-kTT5bcv6qc . Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  11. [Greg Lake]
  12. [Greg Lake]
  13. [Emerson, Lake & Palmer]