It’s been a while since I did a Blog post and as I have been doing a lot of music listening and rediscovery this is about one of the groups I have been enjoying recently.

Amon Düül II (or Amon Düül 2) is a German rock band. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene originating in the late 1960s.. Their 1970 album Yeti was described by British magazine The Wire as “one of the cornerstones of […] the entire Krautrock movement.”

The band emerged from the radical West German commune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including some of the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl, and Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz (b. Renate Aschauer-Knaup,.

The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül ‘art commune’ in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability. The commune split when they were offered an opportunity to record, which was boycotted by the more musically proficient members of the commune (who went on to form Amon Düül II). Recordings were made by the other members but were of very poor quality and were only released later (under the name Amon Düül) to capitalise on the success of Amon Düül II’s albums. As Amon Düül II grew and personnel changed, they still remained a commune, living together as a band.

Their first album Phallus Dei (‘God’s Phallus’), released in 1969, consisted of pieces drawn from the group’s live set at the time. By this time the line-up was built around a core of Karrer (mainly violin and guitar), Weinzierl (guitar, bass, piano), Rogner on keyboards, bass player Dave Anderson, and two drummers (Peter Leopold, who had joined the group from Berlin, and Dieter Serfas. Renate Knaup at this point was only contributing minimal vocals but was very much part of the group.

By this time, according to Weinzierl , “The band played almost every day. We played universities, academies, underground clubs, and every hall with a power socket and an audience”. Releasing an album brought the group greater prominence and they began to tour more widely in Germany and abroad, playing alongside groups such as Tangerine Dream, and in Germany staying in other communes including the pioneering Kommune 1 in Berlin.

Their second album Yeti (1970) saw them introducing arranged compositions along with the bluesy violin and guitar jams such as the long improvised title track. The next album Tanz der Lemminge (released as Dance of The Lemmings in the UK) (1971) was based on four extended progressive rock suites. By this time bassist Anderson had returned to England and joined Hawkwind, to be replaced by Lothar Meid, and the group was augmented by synthesiser player Karl-Heinz Hausmann (Karrer had formed a short-lived group in 1966 – supposedly named ‘Amon Düül O’ – with future Embryo founders Lothar Meid and drummer Christian Burchard).

Still touring widely, they recorded their Live in London album in late 1972 and in 1975 signed with Atlantic Records in the US, and United Artists Records Germany and initially disbanded in 1981.

As well as their albums and live shows Amon Düül II received offers to write music for films, winning a German film award, the Deutscher Filmpreis, for their contribution to the film San Domingo.

Amon Düül II’s drummer, Peter Leopold, died on 8 November 2006. A memorial service was held for Leopold in Munich, where the remaining members of Amon Düül II sang a song for him. Leopold was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Daniel Fichelscher, for many years guitarist and drummer of Krautrock group Popol Vuh. Fichelscher was not new to the group, and in fact had a long affiliation with Amon Düül II, having played with them as early as 1972 on Carnival in Babylon.

Bass player Lothar Meid died on 3 November 2015.

To my ears the first three albums are the most interesting but I feel that I might just revisit their other albums and see where it takes me.

Here is a little info about those first three releases.

PHALLUS DEI released in 1969 is avant-garde space-rock in the mould of Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead and Can. This radical album unleashed home-produced, psychedelic improvisation to a wider audience. Highlighting a sprawling side-long, 20-minute title track, the Oriental jazz-rock of `Kanaan’, the hypnotically-haunting `Dem Guten, Schonen, Wahren’, and the cheeky-pre-“Hocus Pocus”-esque `Luzifers Ghilom’, the “God’s Penis” was a devil of an album.

1970’s follow-up, YETI, was a more structured and free-flowing double-set featuring some excellent acid-rock suites (`Soap Shop Rock’ interpolating `Burning Sister’ to the deranged `Flesh-Colored Anti-Aircraft Alarm’), plus the weird but wonderful single, `Archangel Thunderbird’; Renate’s witchy screech paving the way for Diamanda Galas, Licorice McKecknie and er… Johnny Rotten. On a lighter note, the dulcet, folky, Vu overtones of `She Came Through The Chimney’, was often overlooked, while a Zeppelin-esque `Cerberus’, showcased the twin-guitar talents of Karrer and Weinzierl. The second disc was down to a triumvirate of imrovs in the style of Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd, bookended nicely by the delicate and mantra-like `Sandoz In The Rain’, featuring, Amon Düül chums, Ulrich Leopold and Rainer Bauer.

When Dave Anderson left to join Hawkwind, in came bassist Lothar Meid (ex-Embryo), while Shrat was also missing on album three. “Tanz Der Lemminge” or DANCE OF THE LEMMINGS was released in 1971 and concentrated more on lengthy, segued collages, including the outrageously brilliant, `Syntelman’s March Of The Roaring Seventies’. The 4-part `Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child’ is a thing of beauty, from its spacey hoedown `Landing In A Ditch’ to the appropriately-titled `Race From Here To Your Ears’. If these side-long tapestries of delight didn’t whet one’s prog-rock appetite, the equally lengthy improvisation `The Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church’, was of soundtrack-esque savour-faire. On the song front – and note there were all-round guest spots from Jimmy Jackson (mellotron), Al Gromer (sitar), Rolf Zacher (vocals) and Henriette Krotenschwanz (vocals) – one would have been advised to keep the lights on for `Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight’ and the wigged-out closing piece, `Toxicological Whispering’.

Phallus Dei (1969)

Tracklist :

1 Kanaan (0:01)

2 Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren (4:01)

3 Luzifers Ghilom (10:13)

4 Henriette Krötenschwanz (18:48)

5 Phallus Die (20:50)

Yeti (1970)

Tracklist taken from an original 1970 UK first pressing:

Side 1

In ”Burning Shop Rock” :

– Burning Sister 0:00

– Halluzination Guillotine 3:50

– Gulp a Sonata 6:57

– Flesh-Coloured Anti-Aircraft Alarm 7:48

– She Came Through The Chimney 13:53

Side 2

– Archangels Thunderbird 16:57

– Cerberus 20:20

– The Return Of Ruebezahl 24:29

– Eye-Shaking King 26:05

– Pale Gallery 31:31

Side 3

– Yeti (Improvisation) 36:30

Side 4

– Yeti Talks To Yogi (Improvisation) 53:48

– Sandoz In The Rain (Improvisation) 59:50

The Dance Of The Lemmings (1971)

Tracklist:

Syntelman’s March Of The Roaring Seventies 0:00–15:48

01. In The Glass Garden 0:00–1:39

02. Pull Down Your Mask 1:40–6:18

03. Prayer To The Silence 6:19–7:22

04. Telephonecomplex 7:23–15:48

Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child 15:49 – 35:20

05. Landing In A Ditch 15:49–17:01

06. Dehypnotized Toothpaste 17:02–17:53

07. A Short Stop At The Transylvanian Brain-Surgery 17:54–22:53

08. Race From Here To Your Ears I – Little Tornadoes 22:54–25:02

09. Race From Here To Your Ears II – Overheated Tiara 25:03–26:48

10. Race From Here To Your Ears III – The Flyweighted Five 26:49–28:13

11. Riding On A Cloud 28:14–30:47

12. Paralyzed Paradise 30:48–33:53

13. H.G. Wells’ Take Off 33:54–35:20

Chamsin Soundtrack I 35:21 – 53:26

14. The Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church 35:21–53:26

Chamsin Soundtrack II 53:27–1:09:48

15. Chewing Gum Telegram 53:27–56:15

16. Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight 56:16–1:00:54

17. Toxicological Whispering 1:00:55–1:09:48

Happy listening……..