 |
Return to:
[
Home Page] [German 60s / 70s Index]
EMERGENCYHanus Berka from Prague came to Germany for the first time in the mid-sixties. After an extended stay in Las Vegas, he settled in Munich and formed Emergency at the end of 1970, comprising four Czechoslovakians, one German and an Englishman! Their debut album proved them to be more related to the European jazz scene than the German one. For Entrance (1972), most of the band was changed, as jazz combos tend to be! Udo Lindenberg was replaced by John Redpath and sometimes the famous drummer Curt Cress also performed with the band. At the end of 1972, Emergency was re-organized again, and signed with Brain. Get Out Of The Country (1973) was recorded by (D). Bischof had a soul-ish voice, resulting in a merging of jazz, soul and funk rock, quite song oriented and mainstream. The best track was the 12 minute title track. No Compromise (1974) was recorded by (E). Arguably, this was their best album, due to larger doses of inspired instrumental work. After Emergency disbanded. Frank Diez and Peter Bischof recorded a similarly-styled album together for Atlantic in 1975.
EMTIDINB: Re-released on CD by Galaxis in 1988.
Emtidi were a duo comprising the German Maik Hirschfeldt and the Canadian Dolly Holmes. Their first album was a low budget production, released in a very limited quantity on the minor Thorofon label. The music presented here was a somewhat ordinary kind of acoustic folk. Far more interesting and completely different was Emtidi's classic second album Saat, made with a solid involvement from Dieter Dierks (engineer, bass, mellotron, percussion) in the Dierks Studio, Stommeln in February 1972. Here is a complete run-down of this absolutely essential album: "Walkin' The Park" started side one - the first half of it was a quiet, lush folk song with treated acoustic guitars and electric piano, this running into a furious acid guitar solo. "Traume" was a nonsensical interlude with wordless vocals, floating keyboards, vibes and jew harp, while the long track "Touch The Sun" finished side one. For several minutes an electronically treated organ created a cosmic atmosphere similar to vintage Klaus Schulze or Ash Ra Tempel. Then the track developed into a beautiful folk ballad, which Holmes sang in her most angelic voice. "Love Time Rain", opening side two, was a short folk-rock song recalling British groups like Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span. Tile title piece "Saat" was another acoustic showcase, but far more cosmic sounding than the previous track. The concluding track "Die Reise" was the only one with German lyrics, sung by Hirschfeldt. It could be argued that the energetic sections of this track ruined the relaxed atmosphere elsewhere on the album, but otherwise it was a great track. Luckily, this album is now available on CD on the Galaxis label. An original Pilz copy in decent condition will set you back at least 100 DEM.
EPITAPHNB: The sampler Handicap (Babylon 80.002) (2 LP) (1979)included 4 of the 5 tracks from their first album, the whole second album, the single A side "London Girl" and two previously unreleased tracks "I'm Trying" and "Changing World", presumablya lost single.
THere are many editions of 3: A promo edition of 1,000 copies on Billingsgate with
a white cover, Billingsgate inner sleeve and label logo in typed letters.
The 1974 re-issue on Membran 22-131-1 used the white cover. A second re-issue on Babylon
80.001 in 1979 again used the black and white cover, but had no fold-out!
British progressive heavy rock bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Uriah Keep and Led Zeppelin inspired many young bands in Germany. The Germans usually preferred to use English lyrics, and several bands, like Blackwater Park, 2066 & Then and Epitaph, had British vocalists! Epitaph were founded in Dortmund in 1969. The first sessions for their debut album, released 1971 on Polydor, were recorded in an Essex studio in England. For reasons unknown to me, it was however finished in Windrose Studios, Hamburg, where a fourth member was added to the group: Klaus Walz. The five resulting tracks sounded similar to the groups mentioned above, and particularly the earliest incarnation of Uriah Heep. Epitaph's Cliff Jackson didn't attempt to copy Byron's operatic vocal style, though. There were both fast rock'n'roll numbers and slow ballads with mellotron textures, usually in the 'heavy progressive standard song length' - from 5 to 7 minutes. In 1972, Epitaph recorded their second album Stop, Look And Listen in Audio Tonstudio, Berlin. This album also contained five tracks, stylistically similar to their first offering. Both albums are recommended for fans of the heavy progressive genre. In early 1973, Epitaph released two non-LP singles on the Polydor subsidiary Zebra: "Autumn '71" coupled with "Are You Ready" (2047 003) and "We Love You Alice" coupled with "Paradise For Sale" (2047 005). After this promising start, it seems as if the band was promised a bright future by the newly founded American record company Billingsgate, that they eventually signed to. The band invested much time and money into their third album Outside The Law (1974), and aimed at an international break-through. On this album, McGillivray was replaced with Achim Wielert. The music sounded more polished this time, as the band abandoned progressive elements for a more straight forward heavy rock style. Sadly all their dreams of success were brutally shattered, as Billingsgate soon went bankrupt and all their money was lost. Epitaph had laid out on an extensive (and expensive) USA promotional tour (with ex-Karthago member Norbert Lehmann on drums) in October 1974 - on their return they had to sell their gear to survive! Their new album was part of the bankrupt estate of Billingsgate, and Epitaph were forced to disband in 1975. The band secretly reformed later the same year, but didn't record any further albums until 1979.
EPSILONNB: Originals of 1 had the black and white Bacillus label and the 6494 001 catalogue number.
When Bellaphon took over the distribution in 1972 a new edition was issued with an identical
cover (except for the order number!) and the coloured Bacillus 'cell'-label, using the catalogue
number BLPS 19070. Possibly some of these still had the 6491 001 sleeves. A second re-issue
from the mid-70s (ca. 1977) had the catalogue number BAC 2002 and a third one (early 80's)
260-09017.
2 followed the same pattern: 1st re-issue on Bacillus BAC 2004, 2nd Re-issue on Bacillus
260-09-012.
Epsilon is a group well-known to most collectors of German progressive rock. They started up in 1969 as a Nice-influenced trio. Ortel had previously played in an early incarnation of Jeronimo. They adopted the name Epsilon in October 1970, when Michael Winzkowski joined.
They were able to record their first album in January 1971, for the freshly established Bacillus label. This was an early Peter Hauke production in co-operation with engineer Dieter Clerks in the Dierks Studio, Stommeln. The Epsilon sound was dominated by Ortel's prominent organ work, often adapting themes from classical music, very much in the heavier Emerson Lake & Palmer tradition. Ortel and Winzkowski wrote all the tracks, except for a cover version of "Paint It Black". Indeed, Epsilon were the second German progressive band to record this Rolling Stones composition, as Virus already had included a version of it on their Revelation album! The best moments of Epsilon's debut album were "Two-2-11", the strangely entitled opening piece, and "Every Day's Pain". Other parts of the album were a bit easy-going and too close to conventional pop rock at that time. Winzkowski's vocals were sometimes dangerously close to soul, but not as bad as on the Dull Knife album. In general, a good album, but Murphy Blend would be a better choice for those keen to listen to classical influenced, organ dominated rock.
Epsilon's music improved considerably on their second offering Move On (1972). It was another Hauke & Clerks production, adding the guests Curt Cress (drums), Rainer Marz (backing vocals, guitar, ex-Jeronimo), Pete Bender (backing vocals, aka Wyoming) and Christian Felke (flute, ex-Nosferatu). Instrumentally, this album had more guitars. The nine compositions were an improvement on their debut, resulting in Epsilon's best album. At this stage, they could be seen as a German parallel to Traffic, with their soulish vocals, instrumentation of organ, guitars and flute and their slightly jazzy mood - just listen to the tracks "Feelings" and "Move On".
At the time of Move On's release in December 1971, both Ortel and Ertl had already quit. Epsilon virtually moved on! This revamped group warmed up for the British band If, during their German tour of 1972. Peter Koch (ex-Jeronimo) was temporarily added as a fifth member during this year. Epsilon's third and last album was recorded at Europa Sound Studios in Offenbach-Bieber (engineered by Manfred Screier). Off, released on Phillips in 1974, proved to be their most straight forward album, sometimes bordering on ordinary pop rock. 1975 brought another change of record company, resulting in two commercially unsuccessful singles for Ariola. Epsilon disbanded shortly thereafter. Winzkowski adopted his artist name Michael Wynn, and formed Michael Wynn Band that also Daansen eventually joined.
ERLKONIGErlkonig's album was one of the better private pressings of the early seventies. The group used German lyrics, but their album was mainly instrumental. It was characteristic early seventies 'progressive' rock in every respect, featuring lots of guitars and organ.
EROC
EULENSPYGELWhen it comes to outrageous German sleeve designs, it's impossible not to mention the first Eulenspygel album. It presents a half-burned chicken lying in a frying pan. This really disgusting design (by Wolfgang M. Schmidt) upset so many people that the cover was withdrawn. If you have wondered why Eulenspygel named their first album 2, it was because they also counted the album issued under their previous name Royal Servants! Their first album was recorded at Studio Maschen, Hamburg, July 1971, and produced by Wolfgang Schmidt and Peter Springer. It offered a typical German progressive blend, drawing equally from heavy rock, folk, jazz and classical. The six tracks were cleverly arranged, with rich instrumentation and sudden shifts of tempo. All lyrics, containing anti-war messages and other critical political views on different aspects of society, were in German. Inside the fold-out cover there was a Black Sabbath like shot of the band at a graveyard, burying a chicken! Since the burnt chicken sleeve had caused controversy, Ausschuss (1972) was issued in a plain corrugated paper sleeve! It was recorded at the Apple Studios, London, in April 1972 with the same production team. Musically this was quite similar in style to their first album, but in my ears not as good as this. Mellotron and moog were used as well as organ and piano. The magnum opus was the 22 minute "Abfall", which went through innumerable changes in mood and melody. For some reason, the band then disappeared from the scene.
EXCALIBURAccording to the cover of First Album, this trio was discovered by Dicky Tarrach, drummer in The Rattles, Propeller, Wonderland and Brave New World. The album was recorded at Windrose Dumont Time Studio in Hamburg with Tarrach as producer and additional help from Achim Reichel (bass) and Hans Lampe (percussion, later member of La Dusseldorf and Neu). The resulting product was in many ways similar to Propeller or British band Family in their heaviest mood. As a whole, it is somewhat easy-going. The hard rock material (nine tracks in all) was lacking in both originality and catchy tunes. A single ("Get Me, If You Want" coupled with "Hollywood Dreams") was lifted from the album, another one ("Why Do People Cry" coupled with "Run Through The Past") featured original songs, possibly scheduled for a second Reprise album (which never appeared). Three more Excalibur songs were. included on the obscure Hells Angels In Rock sampler, released on Jaguar 1974: "Danger Zone", "Join The Club" and "Love Circle" These were the last traces of Excalibur.
EXMAGMAA jazz-rock trio whose music was comparable to mid-seventies Soft Machine and Kraan. Braceful was formerly a member of the Wolfgang Dauner Band from 1970 to 1973. Balluff later became a member of the 1982 Guru Guru line-up while Goldner resurfaced on solo albums by the Kraan members Helmut Hattler (Bassball) and "Alto" Pappert (Alto). Exmagma are only recommended for enthusiastic admirers of jazz-rock!