Pretty Flamingo

"Pretty Flamingo"
Norwegian picture sleeve
Single by Manfred Mann
B-side"You're Standing By"
Released15 April 1966 (1966-04-15)
Recorded18 March 1966
StudioEMI, London[1]
GenreSunshine pop
Length2:31
LabelHis Master's Voice POP 1523[2]
SongwriterMark Barkan[2]
ProducerJohn Burgess[2]
Manfred Mann singles chronology
"If You Gotta Go, Go Now"
(1965) 		"Pretty Flamingo"
(1966) 		"You Gave Me Somebody to Love"
(1966)

"Pretty Flamingo" is a song written by Mark Barkan, which became a hit in 1966 when Manfred Mann's recording of it was released as a single. This single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 5 May 1966,[3][2] and was a minor hit in the United States where it spent eight weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 29 during the week of 6 August 1966.[4] It was also successful in Ireland; it was number one there for four weeks, keeping the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" at number two.

Song profile

The narrator of the song describes a woman—whom "all of the guys call [...] 'Flamingo', 'cause her hair glows like the sun and her eyes can light the sky"—for whom the narrator has fallen, and his plans to win her affection. Songwriter Mark Barkan's daughter said that this was based on a girl who lived above a parking lot in his neighborhood: Barkan and his friends used to call out to her.[5]

The original demo of the song was recorded by New York City–based American vocalist Jimmy Radcliffe, stylized for the Drifters; but Barkan was dissatisfied with the overly produced results, and had Radcliffe recut the song with a pared-down arrangement.

The Manfred Mann recording featured future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965;[2] the flute solo was played by Lyn Dobson. The recording was engineered by Geoff Emerick – then only 20 years old – who eventually became well known for his work with the Beatles.

After Barkan's death in 2020, Paul Jones of Manfred Mann said: "I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that not only did I never meet him, but I never even got in touch with him and said thank you for the song.  But I would like to thank him posthumously."[6]

Cash Box described "Pretty Flamingo" as an "easy-going, teen-angled item about a rather fickle young gal".[7] In its review of Tommy Vann's contemporaneous single release, Cash Box described the song as a "romantic ode all about a fella who aspires to one day snare a real special gal".[8]

Charts

Chart (1966) Peak
position
Canada RPM 100[9] 2
Finland (Soumen Virallinen)[10] 28
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 1
West Germany (GfK)[12] 12
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 15
New Zealand (Listener)[14] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 3
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid Hits of the Week) 1
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[16] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 29

References

  1. ^ "Old Melodies ...: Manfred Mann – Down the Road Apiece: Their EMI Recordings 1963–1966". 5 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, UK: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. pp. 100–101. ISBN 0- 85112-250-7.
  3. ^ "Official Singles Chart UK Top 100". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  4. ^ "The Hot 100: August 06, 1966 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. ^ Barkan, Bridget. "Last Word". BBC Radio 4.
  6. ^ Jones, Paul. "Last Word". BBC Radio 4.
  7. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 11 June 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  8. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 4 June 1966. p. 8. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  9. ^ "100" (PHP). RPM. 5 (23). 1 August 1966. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
  10. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 201. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  11. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Manfred Mann". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name.
  13. ^ "Manfred Mann – Pretty Flamingo" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ^ http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=NZ%20listener%20charts&qyear=1966&qmonth=Aug&qweek=12-Aug-1966#n_view_location
  15. ^ "Topp 20 Single uke 22, 1966 – VG-lista. Offisielle hitlister fra og med 1958" (in Norwegian). VG-lista.
  16. ^ Hallberg, Eric (1993). Kvällstoppen i P3 (1st ed.). Sweden: Drift Musik. ISBN 91-630-2140-4.
  17. ^ "Official Singles Chart on 7/5/1966 – Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  18. ^ "Manfred Mann Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
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