LIVE 69-71

ERNA SCHMIDT was finally situated in Wintrup at a mansion nearby my hometown. I can't remember being aware of them since I stumbled over this album some months ago. Probably I was too young and only had noticed that KRAAN lived there later. The full truth is that ERNA SCHMIDT searched for a new bass player and in the wake of that the circle around Helmut Hattler decided to enter Wintrup. Whereas ERNA SCHMIDT disbanded soon KRAAN started its successful career at this place from now on.

The band name ERNA SCHMIDT was a funny joke used by the members to express their transition from conventional beat and rock music to krautrock. The same as for many others this was the result of typical conflicts about the musical direction whereas musicians left and came in reflecting a continously process. It was the time for experiments, so ERNA SCHMIDT saw a lot of instruments contributing inclusively hammond, piano, a brass section and vibraphone. During the band's lifetime they couldn't manage to produce an album even though they had an offer from the Ohr label. But nearly 20 hours of live recordings survived and this album is a first essence of them practically.

The completely instrumental songs are from 1970 in the majority - representing a more conventional line-up with bass, drums, guitar and flute/saxophone - progressive rock with folk, psych and jazz elements. Despite they have been a very demanded live band, known for endless improvisations, the selected recordings are compact (only one song nearly reaches the ten minute mark), well-composed and presenting them on a high level. The style is not very unique on the other hand, influenced by wellknown bands and artists in fact but also combined with meditative jamming parts. The excellent groover Woischwiemoin for example remembers me at Jimi Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys and is one of the songs faded out after some minutes.

Erna Schmidt as the band song per se contains a great part by bass player Laibel sometimes playing like John Wetton in his early years - a powerful and haunting track. Pass - Weites Luftmeer folksy/jazzy Tull drenched with great flute work, La Folie D' Espagne in a more classical Focus mood and the psychedelic Rulaman are showing other facets of the band. It only remains for me to add that Hubert Stütz (also named Stytz) is heading the recordings with his excellent varied guitar contributions stylistically oriented at Jimi Hendrix in parts.

Hopefully there are also recordings existing from ERNA SCHMIDT's earlier respectively more experimental phase and the former members decide to publish the rest of the recorded stuff sometime. Nevertheless this album, released by the Garden Of Delights label in 2000, is a very good document of their musical abilities and I recommend to check it out - 3.5 stars.

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