I wrote a letter after recruiting Eric Clapton – we didn’t have a phone

If there was a family tree illustrating a who’s who of British R’n’B, The Manfreds would be at the heart of it all.

Between Tom McGuinness, Paul Jones, Mike Hugg and Rob Townsend – these days accompanied by Marcus Cliffe and Simon Currie – there’s so much history.

They were at the centre of a movement that broke in the UK more than 50 years ago, one that remains strongly influential today.

The Manfreds are set to dock at Morecambe Platform tomorrow (March 21) and Fleetwood Marine Hall on Saturday (March 22). And Tom, now 72, promises a wealth of great hits.

The Manfreds are the most recent line-up of a band that had 13 top 10 hits and three number ones in the 1960s, revolving around their eponymous South 
African keyboard player, and fronted by vocalist/harmonica player Paul Jones.

Paul, also an accomplished actor, is best known these days for his blues show on Radio 2, but he’s also lauded for his work with Manfred Mann and The Blues Band.

Tom also featured in those bands and early ’70s hit-makers McGuinness Flint. So how did Paul and him survive those heady days and keep their friendship intact?

“We’ve never really not been mates. I first met Paul in 1962 through an advert in the Melody Maker from a piano player looking to join an R’n’B band.

“You could count the amount of musicians in the UK playing R’n’B on two hands then, so I wrote back and said I’d like to be in that band if he found it!

“That was Ben Palmer, a wonderful piano player, and he invited me over to Oxford to meet him.

“Later he featured in Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse (also including Paul Jones, Jack Bruce and Steve Winwood), immediately before Cream, and was Cream’s roadie throughout, looking after the band – not an easy task, keeping those three on a safe and steady road!”

Ben introduced Tom and Paul, and when Paul joined Manfred Mann, Tom joined Eric in The Roosters, who opened a couple of times for Manfred Mann.

“There was always this interplay. Then Eric joined The Yardbirds, and I joined Manfred Mann. In time, Paul left, but we stayed in touch, and would get together occasionally to do benefits, while I produced a few of his solo tracks.”

How did The Roosters project with Eric Clapton (then aged 18) come about?

“I went to an audition with my girlfriend, Jennifer, later my wife. I knew after one number The Dave Hunt R’n’B Band wasn’t for me. Funnily enough, Ray Davies took the job, staying a short while before The Kinks.

“But I came off stage from this audition, and Jennifer asked how it went. I said ‘terrible’ and she said, ‘never mind, this is Eric – he likes the blues’.

“We got chatting, him saying ‘Elmore James’, me saying ‘Howling Wolf’, him saying ‘Muddy Waters’, me saying ‘Sonny Boy Williamson’. That kind of conversation!

“We decided we’d get a band together. I wrote Ben Palmer a letter, as none of us had a phone, saying I’ve found this other guitarist, and we got The Roosters 
together.”