Helmut Köllen (2 March 1950 – 3 May 1977) was a West German bass and guitar player as well as a singer for the band Triumvirat.

Career

Early years

Early in his musical career, Helmut Köllen gained experience in various local bands in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, West Germany."Helmut...played part-time in various Cologne bands." – H. Bathelt. → In the seventies, he became the bassist and vocalist for the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

band Triumvirat, after replacing Hans-Georg Pape (who had just got married) the band's previous bass player, who left the group before the completion of one of their most successful albums, '' Illusions on a Double Dimple. ''After the release of that album in 1974, Triumvirat with Helmut Köllen then embarked on a tour around the United States supporting

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

. In 1975, Köllen got back to the studio along with his fellow musicians to record the concept album ''

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

'', and soon after the album, a tour in the United States. During that year, Triumvirat also did a tour of Europe supporting

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved pea ...

. At the end of 1975, Köllen left Triumvirat to pursue a solo career, once his own musical inclinations began to drift away from that of the rest of the band.Russ, Schenewerk (2001)
The Triumvirat Biography
at The Triumvirat Homepage In 1976, the German group Jail released their only album ''You Can Help Me'', which featured Helmut Köllen as a guest musician on some of the songs (vocals and guitar), including the A-side of the band's single, "Julie". Köllen briefly returned to Triumvirat, but nothing really came out from that reunion.

Solo album

In late 1976, Köllen began recording what would be his only solo album ''You Won't See Me'', named after one of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' songs that he liked the most. The album featured Helmut Köllen on vocals and guitar (bass, acoustic and electric), and also fellow Triumvirat musician and cousin Jürgen Fritz,"Helmut was Jurgen's cousin." – H. Bathelt. who played keyboards, and helped to engineer and produce the album along with then famous German engineer and record producer

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involv ...

at "Conny's Studio", Wolperath,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. Other musicians included Dieter Petereit of

Passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

on bass guitar,Passport is a German jazz ensemble led by saxophonist

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

Mathias Holtmann playing drums, and among various backing vocalists like Brigitte Witt and The Horn and String Section, Köllen's sister Elke Köllen.Today Elke Schlimbach, born Köllen, is an accomplished singer,

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, and actress Helmut Köllen continued to record music until his death on 3 May 1977.

Television

In January 1975, Helmut Köllen appeared with Triumvirat on ''In Concert'', a television show broadcast by ABC, playing music from the ''Illusions on a Double Dimple'' album. The host of the show, Don E. Branker, stated that the video from that performance no longer exists.Doug, Doug (2008)
"German prog – Helmut Kollen"
at The 27s.com

Other important interests

Köllen was also an experienced auto mechanic and race driver,"He was a mechanic." – H. Bathelt. and had plans to continue in this area in the future as well."Helmut...would have returned to motor racing, which is what he did before he joined Triumvirat." → Jürgen Fritz

Death

On 3 May 1977, Köllen died from

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

at the age of 27 while listening to some of the studio tracks in his car's cassette player while running the engine in his garage.Simmonds, Jeremy (2008)
''The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches''
pg. 92, Chicago Review Press. A little while after his death, German group

Birth Control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

wrote and recorded a song as a tribute to Helmut Köllen entitled "We All Thought We Knew You", which was featured on their 1977 album ''Increase''."Birth Control's Guestbook" – 2 March 2010 His debut solo album ''You Won't See Me'' was issued posthumously by

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

in Germany in October 1977."The Musicians – Helmut Köllen." It is dedicated to Köllen's parents.

Discography

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kollen, Helmut 1950 births 1977 deaths Progressive rock musicians German rock bass guitarists German male bass guitarists German rock singers Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning 20th-century German male singers 20th-century bass guitarists 20th-century German male musicians