Editing Manfred Mann (section)

=== Early success (1964–1966) ===
In 1964, the group was asked to provide a new [[theme tune]] for the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] pop music television programme ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]''<ref name="Guinness Rockopedia"/> They responded with "[[5-4-3-2-1]]" which, with the help of weekly television exposure, rose to No. 5 in the [[UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=David |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |publisher=Guinness World Records Ltd. |location=London |edition=19th |year=2006 |pages=345–346 |isbn=1-904994-10-5}}</ref> Shortly after "5-4-3-2-1" was recorded, Richmond left the band,<ref>[http://www.daverichmond.co.uk/ Jazz4now – The Dave Richmond Home Page] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120801114744/http://www.daverichmond.co.uk/ |date=1 August 2012}} "'5-4-3-2-1' was recorded before I left the band, in fact I still receive [[Phonographic Performance Limited|PPL]] payments every time it is broadcast" – Dave Richmond</ref> though he would record with them occasionally later. He was replaced by Jones' friend [[Tom McGuinness (musician)|Tom McGuinness]]—the first of many changes. After a further self-penned hit, "Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble)", the band struck gold with "[[Do Wah Diddy Diddy]]", a cover version of [[the Exciters]]' No. 78 [[Hot 100]] hit earlier that year.<ref name="Guinness Rockopedia"/> The track reached the top of the UK, Canadian, and US charts.

[[File:Do Wah Diddy Diddy - Billboard ad 1964.jpg|thumb|''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' advertisement, August 29, 1964]]

With the success of "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" the sound of the group's singles moved away from the jazzy, blues-based music of their early years to a pop hybrid that continued to make hit singles from cover material. They hit No. 3 in the UK with another girl-group cover, "[[Sha La La]]"<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> (originally by [[the Shirelles]]), which also reached No. 12 in the US and Canada, and followed it with the sentimental "[[Come Tomorrow (Marie Knight song)|Come Tomorrow]]" (originally by [[Marie Knight]]) but both were of a noticeably lighter texture than their earliest output. Meanwhile, B-sides and four-song [[Extended play|EPs]] showcased original material and instrumental solos. The group also returned to [[jazz]] and R&B themes on their albums: their first, 1964's ''[[The Five Faces of Manfred Mann]]'', included [[Blues standard|standards]] such as "[[Smokestack Lightning]]"<ref name="Guinness Rockopedia"/> while the second and last with this line-up, ''[[Mann Made]]'', offered several self-composed instrumentals and a version of "[[Call It Stormy Monday (But Tuesday Is Just as Bad)|Stormy Monday Blues]]" alongside novelties and pop ballads. With a cover of [[Maxine Brown (soul singer)|Maxine Brown]]'s "[[Oh No Not My Baby]]" began a phase of new depth and sophistication in the arrangements of their singles. The group began its string of successes with [[Bob Dylan]] songs with a track on the best-selling EP ''[[The One in the Middle]]'', "[[With God on Our Side (song)|With God on Our Side]]", next reaching No. 2 in the UK with "[[If You Gotta Go, Go Now]]".<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> The EP's title track reached the British top ten singles, the last self-written song (by Jones) and the band's last R'n'B workout to do so. The run climaxed with a second UK No. 1 single, "[[Pretty Flamingo]]", produced by John Burgess.

The group had managed an initial jazz/rhythm-and-blues fusion, and then had taken chart music in their stride—but could not hope to cope with Paul Jones' projected solo career as singer and actor, and with Mike Vickers' orchestral and instrumental ambitions. Jones intended to go solo once a replacement could be found, but stayed with the band for another year, during which Vickers left. McGuinness moved to guitar, his original instrument, contributing the distinctive [[National String Instrument Corporation|National Steel Guitar]] to "If You Gotta Go, Go Now" and "Pretty Flamingo", and was replaced on bass by [[Jack Bruce]], who had been playing for the [[Graham Bond Organisation]]<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> for some time before a recent brief stint with [[John Mayall's Bluesbreakers]]. In his brief tenure before leaving to form [[Cream (band)|Cream]], Bruce played on "Pretty Flamingo" and on the EP ''[[Instrumental Asylum]]'' (for which he and wind instrumentalists [[Henry Lowther (musician)|Henry Lowther]] and [[Lyn Dobson]] were included in the sleeve photo of the group), which began the group's experiments with instrumental versions of chart songs. Bruce was replaced by [[Klaus Voormann]].<ref name="Guinness Rockopedia"/> The band changed record companies just afterward, although EMI quickly released an EP of earlier unissued 1963–66 era songs titled ''As Was'' (a play on the title of their then new 1966 album, ''[[As Is (album)|As Is]]''), a hits compilation titled ''Mann Made Hits'' (1966), an instrumental compilation that included one unissued track titled ''[[Soul of Mann]]'' (1967), and, most controversially, used session players to complete the unfinished track "You Gave Me Somebody To Love" (c/w 'Poison Ivy"—both sung by Paul Jones) which made No. 36 in the UK singles chart, upsetting the group—hence McGuinness's wry comment "Manfreds disown new single" on the sleeve of their next studio album for their new record label.