Amon Düül II for a Tuesday lunch, from a small, intimate concert in Dillingen Germany on January 18, 1975 and broadcast via NDR.
Considered one of the pioneers of the German Prog movement (labeled Krautrock here), Amon Düül II (there was, believe it or not, an Amon Düül I , but apparently they never recorded) initially began life as part of a Munich Commune very much involved in free-form Psychedelia in the late 1960s. Their first four albums have much more in common with Gong, than with Can. But by the time they recorded Utopia in 1973, personnel changes also brought about a smoothing out of their sound and a more accessible direction, but still maintaining a safe distance from anything really commercial. Even so, they lost a few of the hardcore fans in the process, but like Genesis after Peter Gabriel, the smoothing out had career benefits, even though Amon Düül haven’t achieve household name status yet. Not sure that’s going to happen, but the way the world is going, you can never tell.
Still, Amon Düül II has managed to keep a loyal following and also has been grabbing new fans along the way. At present they are still together, but only three of the original lineup have remained. The others have either gone on to other groups and endeavors or have left the Earth plane altogether.
Sadly, this is a somewhat abbreviated concert but you still have the opportunity to hear what one of the legendary figures in the World of Prog were all about.
If this has stimulated your appetite for more, the good news is just about their entire output is available reissued in all formats (including vinyl), so wander over and do some exploring. Good stuff, seriously – https://amzn.to/49wupPY
