By NOEL MURPHY
FEW Aussie musicians have been able to eke out a rock music career like blues legend Phil Manning.
The evergreen guitarist, who’s been carving up Fender Stratocasters and Guild acoustics since the 1960s while playing alongside all sorts of greats, will play Corio’s Gateway Hotel this Saturday with blues legand Matt Taylor and Chain.
The iconic rock outfit is as tight as ever, probably tighter, Manning told the Independent this week.
The band was also enjoying touring despite its members’, let’s be truthful about it, advanced years.
But the Gateway audiences wouldn’t notice it, Manning said, although Chain had made one or two concessions to the ear-shattering job of journeymen rockers along the way.
“We actually play really quietly on stage these days,” he confided.
“Matt wears earplugs and when he plays harmonica, if we play loud, then he turns up his foldback. Full-blast harmonica takes the top of your head off but I have this gorgeous little Fender amp and we all keep our levels down onstage.
“It’s still loud out front but when it’s loud on stage it’s like you’re fighting physics. When it’s softer it’s a bit more like playing jazz.
“But everyone’s comfortable and now we play with a lot more energy and the sound guys love it – they can actually mix it.”
Manning’s guitar skills are more than considerable. In an age of virtuoso technicians and shredders he’s a faithful practitioner of the instrument’s capacity to deliver raw emotion, rhythm and melody.
In short, it’s all about feel; about the blues.
His thumb-picking slide technique on acoustics is diverse, drawing on a spectrum of influences across blues, rock, country, Celtic, even bluegrass. Manning said that had he been exposed to bluegrass at early age he might be playing banjo these days.
But country’s loss is rock’s gain. Manning, cutting across various tunings – drop-Ds, open chords, standard – is a warm and wonderful player. A musician schooled on the riffs of Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, BB King and Buddy Guy, Robert Johnson and Blind Willie Johnson, he’s owner of a deep kit of licks, tricks and resources.
Manning plays plenty of solo gigs, with the Chain jobs fewer and further between for good reason.
“We really only play a few times a year, for festivals and the likes. Matt Taylor hasn’t been at all well but he’s good at the moment,” Manning said.
“The trouble with Chain is our drummer lives in Adelaide, Matt’s in Perth, our bass player’s in northern New South Wales and I’m in Melbourne. But we’ve still very much got the energy, the vibe is very much there.
“When we get together, we’re much better than we used to be I think. We’ve played together so long we just slot right into it.”
