Amon Duul was a German political art commune formed out of the student movement of the 1960s that became well known for its free-form musical improvisations. This spawned two rock groups, Amon Duul (sometimes referred to as Amon Duul I) and the more famous Amon Duul II. After both groups disbanded in the 1970s, some of the original members reunited in the 1980s under the name Amon Duul again, though this incarnation is commonly referred to as Amon Duul (UK) to avoid confusion with the original one.
Amon Duul began in 1967 as a radical political art commune of Munich-based artists calling themselves, in part, after the Egyptian Sun God Amon. The word Duul originally had no intended meaning .
Led by Ulrich Leopold, Amon Duul included Ulrich's brother Peter Leopold (15 August 1945 - 8
November 2006), together with Austrian Rainer Bauer and Chris Karrer on guitars. Karrer has since claimed that, "the only original thing from that period which hasn't been released yet is a 1967 recording of the basic Amon Duul band." Later, the commune would add Bauer's sister Ella, Helge and Angelika Filanda,Amon Duul engaged in exuberant open-ended experimentation that at times equalled their psychedelic rock equivalents in countries such as the USA or Brazil , with a focus on political activities.
Yeti is a double LP by krautrock band Amon Duul II which was first released in 1970 on Liberty . The album was produced by Olaf Kubler and Amon Duul II, and engineered by Willy Schmidt, "with a little help of Siegfried E. Loch". Including both short songs and longer, improvisational tracks, British avant-garde music magazine The Wire describes Yeti as "one of the cornerstones of both Amon Duul's career and the entire Krautrock movement."
Then almost with the same musicians the band recorded the seminal "Yeti" (1970). An album in a similar vein than the previous but more accomplished (with a couple of structured songs always with numerous pieces of epic improvisations). "Yeti" will launch Amon Duul II career outside Germany. The same year the bass guitarist Dave Anderson leaves the band to join Hawkwind.
TRACKS
01. "Soap Shop Rock" – 13:47
01. a. "Burning Sisrer"
01. b. "Halluzination Guillotine"
01. c. "Gulp a Sonata"
01. d. "Flesh - Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm
02. "She Came Through the Chimney" – 3:01
03. "Archangels Thunderbird" (Amon Duul II, Sigfried Loch) – 3:33
04. "Cerberus" – 4:21
05. "The Return of Rubezahl" – 1:41
06. "Eye-Shaking King" – 5:40
07. a. "Pale Galery" Complete Version 5:08
07. b. "Pale galery" - 2:15
08. "Yeti (Improvisation)" – 18:12
09. "Yeti Talks to Yogi (Improvisation)" – 6:18
10. "Sandoz in the Rain (Improvisation)" – 9:00
Bonus Tracks
11. "Rattlesnakeplumsake" - 3:18
12. "Between the eyes" - 2:27
MEMBERS
Bass – Dave Anderson
Bongos, Vocals – Shrat
Composed By, Arranged By, Lyrics By – Amon Duul II
Composed By, Arranged By, Lyrics By [With A Little Help Of] – Siegfried E. Loch
Drums – Peter Leopold
Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Vocals – John Weinzierl
Liner Notes – H.J. Simon
Organ – Falk-Ulrich Rogner
Producer – Amon Duul II, Olaf Kubler
Violin, Guitar, Twelve-String Guitar, Vocals – Chris Karrer
Vocals, Tambourine – Renate (Aschauer-Knaup, Knaup, R. Knaup, R. Knaup-Krotenschwanz, R.Knaup, Reanate Knaup, Renate, Renate „Granate Knaup-Krotenschwanz”, Renate „Granate Rush-Hour” )
Flute – Thomas
Originally released in 1970.
1970 Liberty Records
© 1992 Repertoire Records
BURNING SISTER LYRICS
Down on the football place
I saw my sister burning
They tied her on a railroad track
And made her blue eyes burning
Her dog was sitting by her feet
The whole night he was howling
In dirty pants the judge came down
Slavering his golden gown
Yes, she was the one
Who turned the rain into black
The television vulture
They brought my sister to trial
Cutting her face from her smile
On the holy waterfront
The people stand there waiting
To see her blonde hair lighted
To see her blood drip on the floor
Halluzination Guillotine
On a telegraph pole
An assassin is training his soul
Locked up in a fancy room
Not very far from doom
Intoxicated kids
Are ready to quit
His desires they scatter
His nerves they shatter
No window to see
No door to flee
The heart-attack machine
Is out of gear
The mighty nightmare-employer
Professor of paranoia
Is stealing near
Seven miles from here
Smoke coming out of their eyes
Insanity-tigers are licking his hands
A short romance
A vaporised dance
ARCANGELS THUNDERBIRD LYRICS
When the everywhere eye
Asks you, "Who is the emperor"
Of the sky
Take the Archangel's Thunderbird
Go to Edgar Allen
In the tower of sleep
He'll tell you a story
Which makes you to creep
The echo of your cries
Is falling so deep
Rent a destroyer
And sail to Cape Cod
There lives a lion
They call him God
There is no elevator to Eden
But a hole in the sky
In shock corridors
People are standing
With their eyes in their hands
But they don't understand
Why their confessional
Folding chairs
Go into the narcotic
Flight of stairs
When the everywhere eye
Asks you, "Who is the emperor"
Of the sky
Take the Archangel's Thunderbird
Baiting soldiers are sleeping
In the melting House of Wax
Why is the audience not taking
The insurrection axe?
Thousands of windows burst open
And the alarm bells are broken
From their lyrics it seems that AD2 had an obsession with witches and the historical period of the persecution & burning of alleged witches in Europe. There was a rather gruesome horror movie called "Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält" (English title "Mark of the Devil") released earlier the same year, that sensationalized this topic and was a huge box office hit around the world. Its soundtrack features some very sinister violin riffing that sounds a lot like what Chris Karrer was doing here. I've often wondered if this particular film soundtrack may have influenced "Yeti".
ReplyDelete