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XHOL (CARAVAN)/SOUL CARAVAN
This important group began life as a soul-rock combo named Soul Caravan in the mid sixties. They managed to get an album of such music out in 1967 and if you can't get it you will hear short extracts from it in the opening radio tuning of the Motherfuckers-album. In a mysterious way they became Xhol Caravan. Under this name they recorded Electrip in 1969, it was one of the first German progressive albums. It was released on Hansa and is now very rare, clean copies costing about 200 DEM. The cover artwork was very colourful and psychedelic, after all it was a 1969-release and it has many psychedelic (and even jazz and beat) influences in the music. The album started with a toilet flush, which gave way to three Zappa-esque fusion instrumentals. Side two opened with the long "Raise Up High", an energetic mayhem of aggressive playing (a kind of jazz-soul blues-psychedelia) with wild and gutsy vocals. This was the album that sort of kicked the unique German jazz-rock fusion into life, and inspired bands as different as Out Of Focus, Ardo Dombec, Ikarus, Kraan, Release Music Orchestra and Thirsty Moon, just to name a few.
The band signed up with the sacred underground label Ohr. Two long live improvisations, recorded in July 1970, were released as Hau-Ruk (1971). The album showcased a couple of changes: Hansi Fischer had quit for Embryo, and their name had been shortened into Xhol. Musically it was arguably a "progressive" development on Electrip, offering even more time for instrumental work, particularly the wah-wah manipulated sax and organ of Belbe and Breuern respectively. "Breit" was a lazy fusion piece, which gradually built in intensity. Actually this wasn't too far removed from the live tracks on Soft Machine's third album. By contrast, "Schaukel" turned into an obscene rocking monster. Xhol apparently disbanded around this time, as their final album Motherfuckers GmbH & Co KG (1972) consisted of studio recordings made two years earlier - in fact it's even written 'two years old' in big letters on the handmade front cover, picturing the sleeve of a reel tape. This was another essential album, including a stunning 10-minute organ solo and a fine version of "Love Potion 25" (yep, the old standard, but here quaintly renumbered!). I don't know why this album wasn't released back in 1970, perhaps it was due to contractual difficulties with Hansa? It's a classic typical of the jazzy German underground. If you are searching for more of the same, check out the first Missus Beastly album (1970). This album also featured the ex-Xhol member Hansi Fischer. It's a shame that Xhol failed to make the big masterpiece album that they really were capable of making. Their three albums hinted at marvellous innovation, who knows what they could have created, for example with Dieter Dierks producing them in 1971?