Herbert Dreilich (5 December 1942 – 12 December 2004) was a
German-language rock musician. He was an early pioneer in, and an important contributor to,
German-language
German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
Rock music. An accomplished singer, songwriter, and
acoustic guitarist, he was best known as lead singer for the group
Karat
The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...
.
Biography
Dreilich was born in 1942 in
Mauterndorf
Mauterndorf (Southern Bavarian: ''Mautndorf'') is a market town of the Tamsweg District in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The municipality also comprises the Katastralgemeinden ''Faningberg, Neuseß'' and ''Steindorf''.
Geography
It is located in ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, which at that time was a part of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. As a child he moved with his family to Great Britain, and then to
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
. He moved again in 1959 with his family to
Halle,
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
(the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**G ...
). There he completed school in 1961, and worked as a retail store decorato
Dreilich began to play
Steel-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar in 1960 at an amateur level with the group Jazz Youngsters in Halle. From 1962 to 1964, he played with
Reinhard Lakomy, and from 1967 to 1968 with The Music Stromers. These experiences led him to attend the Music School of
Berlin-Friedrichshain (in then
East Berlin) from 1967 to 1971. During this course of study, he played with the Henry-Kotowski-Quintett and
The Puhdys from 1968 to 1969, and with The Alexanders from 1969 to 1971. After graduating in 1971, he became a professional member of the
jazz-rock fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and keyb ...
group Panta Rhei, which he was with until it dissolved in 1975. At that time he and two other members left to found
Karat
The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hardne ...
, a group he remained with until his death in 2004. From 1977-on, he was the lead singer for Karat, always recording in the German language.
With Karat's distinctive style of
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
, in 1978 Dreilich and his bandmates won the Grand Prize of the International Schlager Festival in Dresden, and toured to
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
br>
Karat gained quickly in popularity, resulting in an audience across the border in West German
and even in many other countries of both
Eastern Europe, Eastern and Western Europe. Karat received two West German
gold records: one for ''Der blaue Planet'' (''The Blue Planet'') in 1982 and one for ''Albatros'' (''Albatross'') in 1984. That year, Karat was also awarded the
National Prize of the GDR for Arts and Literature, and appeared on the popular West German television show ''
Wetten, dass..?'
In 1986, Dreilich was also involved in the short-lived East German supergroup the
Gitarreros, where he performed together with
Tamara Danz of the band
Silly, Toni Krahl of the band
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, and
Mike Kilian of the band Rockhau
That year his band Karat received the ''Goldene Europa'', West German television's oldest awar
By the end of the 1980s, Karat had lost all of its other founding members, and also a degree of its popularity. It carried on after the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989 with Dreilich as bandleader, finding new inspiration in more western-oriented
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
style
To Dreilich's disappointment, over the following years Karat was regarded by many as a relic of the former
East Germany, GDR. Yet, as a foremost representative of ''
Ostrock'', the band did maintain a dedicated core fan base among eastern Germans.
Dreilich worked to broaden Karat's live tours to the former West German states of the
Federal Republic, as well as to
Switzerland and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, partly through touring and recording with artists from those areas. The band returned to its progressive rock roots in the mid-1990s, and was making something of a comeback, when in October 1997, Dreilich collapsed on-stage in
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...
of a stroke. He survived the event, but became largely incapacitated and afterward experienced a series of physical problem
In August 2003 he was diagnosed with
Hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cancer and ceased to tour. On the night of 11–12 December 2004 he died of cancer, at the age of 62. A burial was held on 15 December 2004 in Berlin-Biesdorf, attended by a large gathering, among them many prominent musical colleagues from Germany and other countries.
Herbert Dreilich was married three times, and had one son and one daughter. In 2005, his son Claudius Dreilich took his place as lead singer for Karat.
[ :de:Herbert Dreilich]
Discography
* 1973 ''Panta Rhei''
* 1978 ''Karat'' (''Carat'')
* 1979 ''Über sieben Brücken'' (''Across Seven Bridges'')
* 1979 ''Albatros'' (''Albatross'') — West German debut album, compiling first two East German albums
* 1980 ''Schwanenkönig'' (''Swan-King'')
* 1982 ''Der blaue Planet'' (''The Blue Planet'')
* 1983 ''Die sieben Wunder der Welt'' (''The Seven Wonders of the World'')
* 1985 ''10 Jahre Karat – Auf dem Weg zu Euch – Live'' (''10 Years of Karat – Coming at You – Live'') — Live album
* 1986 ''It's Only Rock´n´ Roll – Die Gitarreros live im Konzert'' (''It's Only Rock´n´ Roll – The Gitarreros Live in Conzert'')
* 1987 ''Fünfte Jahreszeit'' (''Fifth Season'')
* 1990 ''... im nächsten Frieden'' (''...in The Next Peace'')
* 1991 ''Karat'' (''Carat'')
* 1995 ''Die geschenkte Stunde'' (''The Given Hour'')
* 1997 ''Balance'' (''Balance'')
* 2000 ''Ich liebe jede Stunde'' (''I Love Every Hour'') —
Compilation album
* 2001 ''25 Jahre Karat – Das Konzert'' (''25 Years of Karat – The Concert'') — Live album
* 2003 ''Licht und Schatten'' (''Light and Shadow'')
* 2005 ''30 Jahre Karat'' (''30 Years of Karat'') —
Compilation album
* 2010 ''Ich liebe jede Stunde Jubiläums-Edition'' ("I Love Every Hour Jubilee Edition") — 14-CD
Box set containing all released albums remastered and a CD of rarities.
Literature
All titles are in German:
* ''Pop Nonstop'' – Caroline Gerlach, VEB Lied der Zeit, 1985
* ''Über sieben Brücken'' – Wolfgang Schumann, Henschel Verlag, 1995
* ''Meine Jahre mit Karat'' ("My Years with Karat") – Jens Fritzsche, 2005
References
External links
Description of Herbert Dreilich in EnglishKarat-authorized website (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreilich, Herbert
1942 births
2004 deaths
People from Tamsweg District
German male singers
Musicians from Berlin
Deaths from cancer in Germany
20th-century German male singers