# Messin'

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A− |
| Creem | unrated |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Melody Maker | favourable |
| Only Solitaire | |
| Rolling Stone | favourable |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Sounds | |
Messin' is a rock album released in 1973 by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
"Buddah" also appeared on the Vertigo budget sampler double album Suck It and See, along with tracks by then-labelmates Kraftwerk, Jade Warrior and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, amongst others.
The album was produced by Manfred Mann and engineered by John Edwards at Maximum Sound Studios, London in 1973.
For the United States release, the album was re-titled Get Your Rocks Off and the track "Pretty Good" was included in place of "Black and Blue", seemingly because the latter was about slavery and deemed unsuitable for the US market. Both tracks were included on the 1998 re-mastered re-issue. Under this title, the album just barely made the US Billboard 200, spending only two weeks on the charts and peaking at number 196 on June 30, 1973.

## UK track listing
### Messin'
#### Side one

* "Messin'" (Mike Hugg) – 9:54
* "Buddah" (Manfred Mann, Mick Rogers) – 7:01
* "Cloudy Eyes" (Mann) – 5:32

#### Side two

* "Get Your Rocks Off" (Bob Dylan) – 2:51
* "Sadjoy" (Mann) – 5:20
* "Black and Blue" (Chain: Barry Sullivan, Matt Taylor, Phil Manning, Barry Harvey) – 7:21 (6:44 on the 1998 re-issue)
* "Mardi Gras Day" (Dr John Creaux) – 3:02

#### Bonus Tracks (1998 re-issue)

* "Pretty Good" (John Prine) – 4:11
* "Cloudy Eyes" (single edit) (Mann) – 3:31

## US track listing
### Get Your Rocks Off
#### Side one

* "Messin'" (Mike Hugg) – 10:00
* "Pretty Good" (John Prine) – 4:00
* "Sadjoy" (Manfred Mann) – 4:30

#### Side two

* "Get Your Rocks Off" (Bob Dylan) – 3:00
* "Buddah" (Mann, Mick Rogers) – 7:00
* "Cloudy Eyes" (Mann) – 5:30
* "Mardi Gras Day" (Dr John Creaux) – 3:00

## Personnel
### The Earth Band

* Manfred Mann – organ, Minimoog synthesiser
* Mick Rogers – electric guitar, lead vocals
* Colin Pattenden – bass guitar
* Chris Slade – drums

### Additional musicians

* Laurie Baker – Machines and Zoo on "Messin' "
* Liza Strike – backing vocals
* Vicki Brown – backing vocals
* Judith Powell – backing vocals
* Ruby James – backing vocals

### Technical

* Manfred Mann – producer
* John Edwards – engineer
* Laurence Latham – engineer ("Sadjoy")
* Peter Hignett – sleeve concept
* Peter Goodfellow – illustration
* Re-mastered by: Robert M Corich and Mike Brown

## Charts

| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
| US Billboard 200 | 196 |

## Sources

* ↑ "Great Rock Discography". p. 514.
* ↑ Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Messin´ (1973) album review by Bruce Eder, credits & releases at AllMusic
* ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
* ↑ Robins, Wayne (August 1973). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Get Your Rocks Off". Creem. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
* ↑ Larkin, Colin (1998). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Groves Dictionaries. pp. 3438–39. ISBN 1-561-59237-4.
* ↑ C.W. (14 July 1973). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Messin'". Melody Maker. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
* ↑ Starostin, George. "Manfred Mann's Earth Band". Only Solitaire.
* ↑ Holden, Stephen (2 August 1973). "Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Get Your Rocks Off". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
* ↑ Marsh, Dave (1983). "Manfred Mann". In Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John (eds.). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2th ed.). Random House. pp. 313–314. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
* ↑ Fielder, Hugh (1978). "And he means it, Mann". Sounds. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
* ↑ Robert M Corich, Sleeve notes, Messin' album, 1998
* ↑ "Billboard 200 - June 30, 1973". Billboard. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
* ↑ this piece is based on the track "Messin' Up the Land", recorded by Manfred Mann's previous line-up Manfred Mann Chapter Three in 1971. The album was shelved before release. So, this track was first released in 2005 as a part of the box set Odds & Sods – Mis-takes & Out-takes. It furthermore quotes from the Chapter Three track "Konekuf", released in 1969 on the debut album of the group.
* ↑ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 April 2023.