Amon Düül
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| Amon Düül | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Munich, Germany |
| Genre(s) | Rock |
| Years active | 1967–1981 |
There have been three splinters of the German rock group Amon Düül, of which the most famous is Amon Düül II. The original group formed out of the student movement of the 1960s.
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[edit] Origins
Amon Düül began in 1967 as a radical political art commune of Munich based artists calling themselves, in part, after the Egyptian Sun God Amon; Düül has been cited as a character from Turkish fiction. [1]
The commune quickly attained cult status for its free form musical improvisations, usually performed around the happenings and demonstrations of the contemporary politicized youth movement. The orthodoxy within the commune had a highly liberal attitude to artistic freedom, valuing enthusiasm and attitude over artistic ability; membership was fluid; anyone who was part of the commune was part of the group. However a faction within was more ambitious, conventional and musically structured, leading to the inevitable split within the collective, which separated in 1969 into the components "Amon Düül I" and "Amon Düül II".
[edit] Amon Düül I
Though not as highly regarded as their successors, Amon Düül I celebrated in a joyfully open ended experimentation that at times equalled their more successful psychedelic rock equivalents in the USA and other countries (Ref. Os Mutantes). Such a loose methodology was unavoidably hit or miss and led to frequent disruptive personnel changes. The members were close to Kommune 1 in Berlin and boasted, for a time, a prominent member in Uschi Obermaier, a glamour girl of the day. Continuing for seven years, with varing degrees of success and in varying mutating guises, they wound down in 1973 after releasing four official albums (though most were recorded pre 1970 and the first three albums all came from one 1968 jam) which are these days regarded as esoteric if not necessary important records in the history of German rock.[1]
In contrast to the free-form nature of the bulk of their output, the final Amon Düül (I) album to be recorded, entitled Paradieswarts Düül, released in 1970, was a contemplative and pastoral affair that was compared to the gentler work of American bands Love and The Velvet Underground.
[edit] Amon Düül II
Amon Düül II were formed in 1968 by the aforementioned more professionally and technically inclined members of the original collective, with core members John Weinzierl, Chris Karrer, Peter Leopold, Falk Rogner, and Renate Knaup-Kroetenschwanz. They signed to the United Artists label and released a string of highly regarded albums with strong psychedelic and progressive flourishes. After 1975, the band changed labels and moved towards more accessible music, before finally disbanding in the late 70's.
[edit] Afterwards
At the beginning of the 1980s John Weinzeirl, with original bassist Dave Anderson and various others, began releasing albums as Amon Düül (UK). Between 1982 and 1989, they released five albums, but they generally failed to ignite the interest of most former fans.
When the 1990s brought new exposure and audiences to the original krautrock groups, Chris, Renate, Falk and John reunited, and continue to perform sporadically.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Amon Düül (I)
- Psychedelic Underground (1969)
- Collapsing/Singvögel Rückwärts & Co. (1970)
- Paradieswärts Düül (1970)
- Disaster (Double LP) (1972)
- Experimente (1983)
[edit] References
- Cope, Julian (1995). Krautrocksampler. London: Head Heritage. ISBN 0952671913.
[edit] External links
- Amon Düül 1 - Extensive bio @ Perfect Sound Forever
- dreamworker's Amon Düül page mainly focussed on their collaboration with Robert Calvert of Hawkwind
