Week of June 4, 2006
Album:
Listen To The Music (Long Hair CD LHC 00041)
Personnel:
Rainer Pietsch - piano, organ, bass, vocals, acoustic guitars
Alf Gardener (Wolfgang Emperhoff) - vocals, percussion
Herbert Ihle - vocal, harmonica, rhythm guitar
Günther Lückerath - vocal, lead guitar
Rolf Lammers - keyboards
Dieter Geis - drums
+ Peter Lahn & his orchestra
Originally released in the beginning of 1971 this extremely rare and terrific album is now available for the first time on CD. The six lads from Cologne/Germany played a fine sort of pop music with psychedelic freak-beat influences similar to the groups on the 'Great British Psychedelic Trip', Vol. 1-3 compilations. Gentle melodies, excellent harmony vocals and rich instrumentation (including fuzz-guitar, flute, organ and occasionally orchestrations) show the musicians' great talent and remind the listener of the wonderful late sixties. After The Singing End called it a day, a few members founded Tanned Leather and recorded two albums and a few 7" on the famous Harvest Label. In the late seventies, band leader and composer Rainer Pietsch did arrangements for Queen and ELO. The CD contains tracks from the first non-LP 7" as bonuses and comes with a comprehensive booklet. A very interesting album with sounds from the pre-Krautrock era drifting partly into it.