Amon Düül II – if you aren’t familiar with them, stop what you’re doing right now and head straight to the player and turn this on. You have no time to waste. If you are familiar with Amon Düül II then you know they were one of the most influential bands of the Progrock era and have most likely skipped the formalities anyway.
Many have said Amon Düül II ushered in the era of Krautrock. I would at least split that distinction with Can who were around at the same time.
Suffice to say, they were game-changers and evidence the 70s were going to be a decade of wild musical adventures.
The thing though, is Amon Düül II (like Can) were bands that flew pretty much under the radar and absolutely did not have anything remotely resembling a mainstream or top-40 hit. I cannot imagine the music business if they actually did. But they did become one of those bands that, although they didn’t sell in massive numbers, had the faith and encouragement of their label (United Artists) to recognize the underground market as something valid and support them.
Come to think of it, United Artists was very much a forward thinking label at the time. Not forgetting, in addition to Amon Düül II there was also Can, Hawkwind and a whole host of bands which were definitely not mainstream airplay friendly but were instrumental in bringing about change by way of the underground.
Amon Düül II has had a formidable presence over the years. Still together as far as I know, even though founding member Chris Karrer passed away last year, leaving I believe, Renate as the only original member keeping the band going. They’ve had numerous personnel changes over the years but the core values haven’t changed. At one point (in 1981) the band broke up only to come back together in 1995 and remain on and off from 2010 onwards.
My advice is to press Play and dive into this vintage 1973 session for John Peel from May 8, 1973 which initially appeared on Top Of The Pops and rebroadcast later on in the month.
Crank it up – you have to.
