One of the first active Krautrock units, Amon Düül grew out of a commune in Munich that mixed radical political criticism with a unique vision of free-form improvisation tied to American psychedelic rock. Such open-ended and non-musical origins made the later activity of the group quite confusing, as a quartet of (slightly) more musically inclined members branched out in 1969 as Amon Düül II. Meanwhile, the original Amon Düül continued releasing albums, most of which had actually been recorded during a single jam session by the entire conglomeration in 1969. Though Amon Düül ceased recording material by 1972, frequent reissues during the decade -- and the resumption of the Amon Düül name by several Amon Düül II alumni in the 1980s -- resulted in still more confusion. Listeners unfamiliar with the lineup of every Amon Düül-related release can content themselves with the fact that the main line of the group began with Amon Düül in the late '60s and moved to Amon Düül II for the 1970s recordings.
When originally founded in 1968 however, the group was more of an alternative-living commune project than actual recording artists. Wishing to bring their vision of hippie living to a worldwide audience, the collective named themselves Amon Düül (Amon being an Egyptian sun god, Düül a character from Turkish fiction) and recorded hours of material during what is reportedly one mammoth recording session from early 1969. Even before the release of the self-titled Amon Düül debut that year, several members -- led by vocalist Renate Knaup-Kroaetenschwanz (aka Renate Knaup), guitarist Chris Karrer, bassist John (Johannes) Weinzierl, drummer Peter Leopold and organist Falk U. Rogner -- had broken away from the original group to form Amon Düül II. That group released its own debut album Phallus Dei in 1969. While three additional albums credited to Amon Düül appeared in 1970 and 1971 (Collapsing/Singvögel Rückwärts & Co., Paradieswärts Düül and Disaster), they were actually comprised of additional recordings from 1969 sessions.
Recorded: live on March 16, 2003 at the Beta Lounge in San Francisco
In 1967, San Francisco’s Fifty Foot Hose were certainly one of the
innovators of a sound that took Psychedelia to new heights and was
captured on the band’s one record, Cauldron. They are a totally
unique hybrid—on one hand pulsating bay area acid rock, on the other,
fractured electronic freakery, becoming one whole cohesive being. The
sci-fi-ish video game-like artwork hinted at the sounds within, as did
the Limelight label’s pedigree for truly progressive sounds. Band
leader, Cork Marcheschi, used homemade electronic devices to create
crude and experimental soundscapes and instrumental compositions that
were sprinkled throughout the album.
Often starting shows with a swelling rumble that exploded into the
first song, they soon developed a rabid following on the SF scene,
though there was the occasional totally wrong gig, like when a
very-pregnant Nancy had to perform at a Catholic Girls’ school! Still,
the group wowed the crowds, performing with greats like Chuck Berry and
Fairport Convention.
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