[8] He studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand, and worked as a jazz pianist at a number of clubs in Johannesburg.

[10] In 1962, he met drummer and keyboard player Mike Hugg at Clacton Butlins Holiday Camp; together they formed a large blues-jazz band called the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers.

This eventually evolved into a five-piece group named after him, and they signed a record deal with EMI in 1963, under the HMV label.

Prominent in the Swinging London scene of the 1960s, the group regularly appeared in the UK Singles Chart.

They had a chart topping hit in 1976 with a cover of the 1973 Bruce Springsteen song "Blinded by the Light;" their cover went to number one in Canada and the U.S.[16] Although the group never had the same success of "Blinded by the Light", as of 2024 the band is still active, and Mann still tours with the group along with founding member Mick Rogers.

[18] Manfred Mann played a Minimoog solo on the Uriah Heep song "July Morning".

Mann has used various keyboard instruments through his career (piano and organ in the early 1960s, later also including Mellotron), but he is especially known for his distinctive solo performance on the Minimoog synthesizer, which he personalized by extensive use of a filter.

[20] By the early 1970s Mann used a Hammond M3 organ which he had acquired from Alan Price and then modified to give it a grittier sound.

[21] This instrument was the basis for his live keyboard setup in Chapter Three as well as the classic Earth Band lineup until the late 1970s.