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Amon Düül was a
West German West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republic after its capital c ...
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 Düül (sometimes referred to as Amon Düül I) and the more famous Amon Düül II. After both groups disbanded in the 1970s, some of the original members reunited in the 1980s under the name Amon Düül again, though this incarnation is commonly referred to as Amon Düül UK to avoid confusion with earlier versions of the band.


Origins

Amon Düül began in 1967 as a radical political art commune of
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
-based artists calling themselves, in part, after the Egyptian Sun God
Amon Amon may refer to: Mythology * Amun, an Ancient Egyptian deity, also known as Amon and Amon-Ra * Aamon, a Goetic demon People Mononym * Amon of Judah ( 664– 640 BC), king of Judah * Amon of Toul ( 375– 423 AD), second recorded Bishop of ...
. The word Düül originally had no intended meaning. Led by Ulrich Leopold, Amon Düül included Ulrich's brother Peter Leopold (15 August 1945 – 8 November 2006), together with Austrian Rainer Bauer and Chris Karrer on guitars. Later, the commune would add Bauer's sister Ella, Helge and Angelika Filanda, Uschi Obermaier, Wolfgang Krischke, Falk Rogner and Renate Knaup."Amon Düül II: Communing With Chaos"
by Edwin Pouncey, ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
'', no. 144 (February 1996)
The commune attained underground popularity for its free-form musical improvisations, performed around the
happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...
s and demonstrations of the youth movement at the time. The commune had a liberal attitude to artistic freedom, valuing enthusiasm and attitude over artistic ability, and as a result, band membership was fluid; anyone who was part of the commune could be part of the group. They issued a declaration: "We are eleven adults and two children which are gathered to make all kinds of expressions, also musical." A faction within the commune was more ambitious, conventional and musically structured than the commune society overall. This led to a split within the collective, and in September 1968 they performed at the —Germany's first underground festival—as two groups, "Amon Düül" and " Amon Düül II", at the suggestion of drummer Peter Leopold. Amon Düül engaged in exuberant open-ended experimentation that at times equalled their psychedelic rock equivalents in countries such as the USA or Brazil (e.g. Os Mutantes), with a focus on political activities. The members were close to Kommune 1 in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and boasted, for a time, a prominent member in the model and activist Uschi Obermaier. Amon Düül signed a contract with the firm Metronome Records, and continued for seven years with varying degrees of success and in various guises. They wound down in 1973 after releasing four official albums (and a posthumous fifth), though all except one were recorded at the 1968 sessions for their debut. Apparently, the man responsible was producer Peter Meisel, who released the albums without the band's approval in an attempt to capitalise on the success of Amon Düül II. The LPs are these days regarded as unique, if unessential, records in the history of German rock. In contrast, their '' Paradieswärts Düül'' album featured a pastoral, folk-influenced sound (produced by Julius Schittenhelm). The name Amon Düül was trademarked by Chris Karrer and Peter Leopold of Amon Düül II, meaning that re-issues of Amon Düül's albums had to license the name from them.


Band members

Four of the band's five album releases consist of
jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...
s recorded in late 1968 or early 1969. The musicians credited on these sessions are: *Rainer Bauer – guitar, vocals *Ulrich (Uli) Leopold – bass *Helge Filanda – congas, vocals, anvil, percussion *Wolfgang Krischke – percussion, piano *Eleonora Romana (Ella) Bauer – shaker, vocals, percussion *Angelika Filanda – percussion, vocals *Peter Leopold – drums * Uschi Obermaier – maracas, percussion Peter Leopold joined Amon Düül II in time for their 1969 debut album; Wolfgang Krischke died around 1969, freezing to death while under the influence of LSD;''Amon Düül'' – 'Mojo Magazine' #41 (April 1997) and Uschi Obermaier moved on to Munich's Highfisch-Kommune (scene of Peter Green's notorious LSD experience) and Berlin's Kommune 1. Guitarist Klaus Esser then joined the band line-up in time for the "Eternal Flow" / "Paramechanical World" single recorded in June 1970: *Ulrich Leopold – bass, vocals, guitar, trumpet, drums *Rainer Bauer – guitar, vocals, bass *Klaus Esser – guitar, vocals, bass, drums *Helge Filanda – drums, vocals, guitar *Angelika Filanda – flute, vocals *Ella Bauer – harp, vocals Rainer Bauer and Ulrich Leopold were guest musicians on one track on the Amon Düül II album ''
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'' released 1970, which also featured a photo of the deceased Wolfgang Krischke dressed as 'Der Schnitter' (The Harvester) or 'Der Sensenmann' ( The Grim Reaper) on the album cover. On the band's final recording, '' Paradieswärts Düül'' (recorded in November and December 1970), the band were: *Ella Bauer – harp, vocals, bongos *Lemur (Klaus Esser) – drums, vocals, rhythm and fuzz guitars *Ulrich Leopold – bass, vocals, piano, guitar *Dadam (Rainer Bauer) – guitar, vocals, lyrics, bass *Helge Filanda – drums *Noam (Angelika Filanda) – African drums with guests: *Hansi Fischer ''(from Xhol)'' – flute, bongos *John Weinzierl ''(from Amon Düül II)'' – guitar *Christian 'Shrat' Thiele ''(from Amon Düül II)'' – bongos


Amon Düül II and Amon Düül UK

Amon Düül II were formed by the more professionally and technically inclined members of the original collective, with core members Chris Karrer, Falk Rogner, Renate Knaup-Kroetenschwanz, John Weinzierl, and Peter Leopold. They signed to the
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label and released a string of highly regarded albums with strong psychedelic and progressive flourishes. After 1975, the band changed labels and moved towards more accessible music, before finally disbanding in the late 1970s. After a spell with
Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
, Amon Düül II's original bassist Dave Anderson formed a short-lived band called Amon Din with drummer John Lingwood, ex-Hawkwind guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton and John Butler in 1971–2. At the beginning of the 1980s, Amon Düül II's John Weinzierl, with Dave Anderson and various others, began releasing albums as Amon Düül, though this band is commonly called Amon Düül UK to differentiate it from the original one. Between 1982 and 1989, they released five albums. When the 1990s brought new exposure and audiences to the original krautrock groups, Chris, Renate, Falk and John reunited and continue to perform as Amon Düül II sporadically.


Legacy

Amon Düül and Amon Düül II influenced such bands in the late '70s as Hungarian psychedelic hardcore, ' shaman punk' band Galloping Coroners.


Discography


Amon Düül

*'' Psychedelic Underground'' (1969, re-issued as ''Minnelied'' in 1979) *''Collapsing/Singvögel Rückwärts & Co.'' (1969) *'' Paradieswärts Düül'' (1970) *''Disaster'' (Double LP) (1972) *''Experimente'' (Double LP) (1983)


See also

* Amon Düül II discography * Amon Düül UK discography


References


External links


1: The most hated Krautrock band"">"Amon Duul 1: The most hated Krautrock band"
by Chris Moon, 16 June 1996 *
"Amon Düül"
mainly focussed on their collaboration with
Robert Calvert Robert Newton Calvert (9 March 1945 – 14 August 1988) was a South African-United Kingdom, British writer, poet, and musician. He is principally known for his role as lyricist, performance poet and lead vocalist of the space rock band Hawkwind ...
of
Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amon Duul 1967 establishments in West Germany Acid rock music groups Brain Records artists Communes German experimental musical groups Hippie movement Krautrock musical groups Musical groups established in 1967 Ohr label artists Intentional communities in Germany