WITTHUSER AND WESTRUPP

Witthuser and Westrupp's sophomore LP was a concept album built around the notion that Christianity began as a magic mushroom cult, which is exactly the sort of crackpot idea that comes from too much of the stuff (drugs and/or religion, take your pick). Unlike their 1971 debut this one was more 'trip' than 'traume', showing all the visionary devotion and lysergic sloppiness of a hands-on psychedelic experience.

One can sense the guiding influence of R.U. Kaiser on these sessions. The WW duo had obviously become ardent acolytes of Kaiser's ongoing psy-fi revolution, and here they jumped head first onto his Cosmic Music bandwagon, dragging their plugged-in Folk Rock style behind them. The better tracks (the drifting "Schöpfung"; or the rolling minor-key acoustic guitars of "Besuch aus dem Kosmos") anticipated the loose Teutonic jamming and blissfully deadpan narrations of the Sergius Golowin and Walter Wegmüller albums, recorded around the same time with input from both Westrupp and Witthuser.

A guest appearance by Gille Lettmann (the Kaiser's own 'Starmaiden') further solidified the Kosmische Connection. Ditto the contributions of producer Dieter Dierks, who played the moody blue mellotron on the obvious album highlight, "Erleuchtung und Berufung": a psychedelic Baltic Sea shanty with a lively choir of small children (or are they Black Forest fairy folk? It's hard to tell...)

This one song was maybe the best example yet of the team's often uncanny acid-folk ethos, and is also one of the more tightly arranged selections here. Elsewhere on the album the slapdash lack of focus gives it more charm than was probably intended, and nowhere is this more obvious than during the ten-plus minutes of "Versammlung / Bekenntnis / Die Aussendung". The tripartite suite, accounting for almost one-third of an already brief album, has to be one of the most ramshackle mini-epics ever written, most of it devoted to a Witthuser clinic on how not to play the kazoo (memo to Bernd: you weren't supposed to smoke it).

All fun stuff to be sure, even if much of the album sounds like a gypsy caravan with mismatched wheels. I don't think the religious message was intended seriously (hard to tell, for a non-German speaker), but I'll take a tongue-in-cheek Krautrock gospel over the tormented soul-searching of born-again neo-proggers like Neal Morse any day of the week, including Sunday.

Krautrock has always had its great partnerships: Ralf and Florian; Moebius and Roedelius; Rother and Dinger...and while the duo of Bernd Witthuser and Walter Westrupp may not have the same brand-name recognition, they still opened a unique path across otherwise familiar territory, approaching the psy-fi mind warp of the era from a more accessible folk music direction.

"Trips und Traume" was the name of their first official LP together, and fortunately the music leaned more toward the 'traume' (see the album "Der Jesuspilz" for a trippier side of their alliance). The lysergic cover illustration describes only part of the band's hybrid style: a psychedelicized pagan Folk Rock, tapping into an almost atavistic undercurrent of older German cultures.

(On an unrelated side note, the artwork also recalls experiments made alongside my art- nerd classmates using the library Xerox machine in high school. Shift your face across the moving scanner and you'll get a similarly skewed self-portrait: see the CAN album 'Rite Time' for another example.)

Maybe the trips of the album title were more aesthetic than chemical (...yeah, right). Side One of the original vinyl follows what might have been an ongoing musical epiphany, beginning with the more traditional Teutonic folk melody of "Laßt uns auf die Reise Gehn", beautifully illuminated by the evocative shimmer of Walter Westrupp's bowed zither. The bluesy, dreamlike aura of "Trippo Nova" (daffy Latin for "New Trip") signals the beginning of a celestial journey, reaching its apogee in "Orienta", where the mandolin and recorder set up a cosmic chant that works like secondhand smoke to your psyche.

The pipe dream continues on Side Two with "Illusion 1", a tune later recycled for WALTER WEGMÜLLER on his epic 1972 album "Tarot", and concludes with the dumb fun of "Nimm Doch Einen Joint, Mein Freund". Dopey is the obvious adjective for this last bit of nonsense: simply listening to it can put you at risk of a contact high.

The language barrier is clearly a bonus; otherwise the team would be just another pair of counterculture folk singers with a weakness for soft drugs. But anyone tuned in (or turned on) to the same wavelength will discover a fabulous pathway to the milder edge of the always subversive Krautrock spectrum.

One time street buskers and very obvious drug fiends Witthuser and Westrupp released 'Trips and Traume' in '71. It's an atmospheric cosmic folk record which is very laid back and acoustic in sound. Unless my ears deceive me there's a fair amount of 12 string guitar being played here - so they can't have been too smashed!

Everything has a kind of cosy, lazy vibe going on and the Germanic vocals work wonders on what would have been a very ordinary album without them. I can't think of too many comparisons, although the folkier side of 'Current 93' would be an obvious one. After the rather straightforward opener things get strange pretty much for for the duration. 'Trippo Nova' - despite utilising only guitars and drums has a very trippy feel.

'Karlchen' is probably the highlight and is also the longest track. A sexy sounding Renee Zucke waffles on in German as flutes, guitars and cymbals are used playfully, slowly and without urgency. Trumpets emerge half way through adding to the general strangeness before the unfathomable (to me) female vocals re-appear.

'Englischer Walzer' sounds like me and my pals trying to play music at 3.00am after a bucketload of booze. Sensibly they keep this one short, although it certainly contributes to the overall masterplan. The outro 'Nimm doch einen Joint, mein Freund' is reminiscent of German 70's superstar 'Heino' - that funny looking albino guy with the big glasses who sang lots of Christmas Carols.

An excellent and curious little album which sounds like it was recorded without a care in the world by two guys who were clearly away with the fairies.

German folk duo Bernd Witthuser and Walter Westrupp tried to convince a small minority of music lovers that the World existed from a mushroom, and that certain passages of the Bible were linked to drugs. Highly vivid imaginations, indeed. But then again, lysergic has the tendency to do that. Between the two musicians, they play almost 30 instruments, mostly acoustic guitars, banjos, percussive instruments, flutes, kazoos, and some organ and harmonium. Several helping hands have been invited to play, including Dieter Dierks contributing Bass and Mellotron. To be honest, the album has some shakey moments here and there, like the opening track, 'Liturgie' which features a jaw-harp, spoons and some drunken vocals. The melody is firmly folkish. Thankfully it's short, and the next piece is more involved. 'Schopfung' (8.25) has some inspired acoustic guitaring (here I am reminded of Canada's Bruce Cockburn, another highly creative folkie). The German narration is hypnotic. Some acidic wah-wah guitar and drums are added as the volume increases, all the while maintaining a very loose and jammy nature. 'Erleuchtung und Berufung' is laden with Dierks' mellotrons, a childrens choir and a catchy melody. It's all very nicely done. Flipside, the 10min+ 3 part 'epic' has some of those shakey moments, especially regarding the kazoo playing - yes it's an amusing instrument, however it's not played well, but still makes me laugh. I suppose I can forgive them. The 2nd part is based on some gorgeous harmonium themes and narration. Part 3 is again a reprise of the kazoo theme - perhaps that's the sound of kazoo when you blow dope-smoke through it...... !? 'Nehmet hin unf esset' features acoustic guitars and a splash of organ. This instrumental piece sounds rather sombre but very beautiful. The final track 'Besuch aus dem Kosmos' (9.45) is superb - combining rich acoustic instrumentation with spacey vocal manipulations. An incredible blend of flamenco/Spanish music, kraut sensibilities, folk-rock and Psych/Space elements. Granted, this is the only LP of theirs I've managed to obtain, and short-comings aside (they are minor), this is quite a unique form of Progressive Kraut-Folk and should be heard by more. 4 stars.

Witthuser & Westrupp made two ultimate progressive folk classics with "Trips & Traum" and "Der Jesuspilz" but don't reiterate their effort in this "Bauer Plath" wich is a vague collection of teutonic country folk music. The compositions don't lost their bucolic charm but the adventurous "acid" / "esoteric" dimensions of the band have gone. The introduction track is a nice dancing folk song for Harmonica & Banjo, very "rustic". "Vision 1" is a melancholic ballad with German narratives, banjo, choir and plaintive organ chords. "Der rat der Motten" is a refined, little "bucolic" ballad, always with this nostalgic feeling. A good traditional "teutonic" folk document, including a few proggy elements. A pleasant listening but only for fans!

After their ultimate acid folk classic "Trips & traum", the duo is back with an other surprising effort whose concept is to convince (within a satirical dimension) that the bible is all about drugs. However it doesn't matter for those who don't speak German, let's be focuse on the music with its one more time brilliant and gorgeously pastoral, delicate and trippy. The introduction part (Liturgie) is a humorous little composition written in a very folkish vibe. "Schöpfung" is among my favourite Witthuser & Westrupp"s pieces: it starts with acoustic, dreamy like, quasi magical guitar parts. It also features narratives in German and a very poetical, mystical sense of harmony. "Erleuchtung" is a luminous, druggy psych folk tune wich includes a variety of acoustic instruments (voluptuous flute lines, folk guitars, percussions), an effective, dancing chant in German and children choirs...a really intimate, beautiful song. "Beasuch aus dem Kosmos" is a ravishing spaced out folkish excursion for deep organic chords and acoustic guitars...it also include vocals in German. A lovely, living, dying soundscape with a magnificant classical (almost flamenco) introspective guitar melody. Among my favourite kraut-folk compositions. The instrumental sections are more achieved than on the previous recordings (notably the guitars). Really German-ish folk music with an evident taste for old, odd music, popular counts, mysteries and dark medieval age...at the top of 70's psychedelic folk music.

3,5 stars, actually...

W&W, even though a German folk band, can take pride that they mix psychedelic and kraut along with their apparent folkish style. The result is really good. Due to the fact that they took their first steps in the 60's, all three of their albums were more or less influenced by the psychedelic scene of the decade and like all German bands at that time kraut elements are more than obvious... Der Jesuspilz - Musik Vom Evangelium is a blasphemous in an ironic way concept that associates the bible to drugs!!! an odd conception but rather opportune one for the band to develop their acoustical songs to long rhapsodies with either "arcane" vocals or declamations of poetry in German which makes the mood even more mystic in a way that serves the concept... But the real beauty of this effort are the traditional instruments in use like banjo and ukelele stating that no matter what W&W is a folk band... Overall, a very good and special album but not a top one, somehow a difficult album to introduce someone to the genre but an excellent addition for the folk fans...

This is an excellent sounding post-"Blauer Plath" Witthuser and Westrupp live show featuring songs from various albums..

I really enjoy this record since it features one of the greatest german folk bands at their peak, Witthuser and Westrupp were great artists and composers, they used to make lots of light, melodic and catchy folk songs sometimes mixed with kraut and trippy elements. Witthuser and Westrupp knew what they were playing and what they always wanted to play since this album does not only sound very nice for any folk amateur, but one may precisely hear the bands maturity. I can deeply feel these two guys having real fun here playing sincere songs very confidently and joking with the small crowd.

The tracklist is diverse, most of the songs are taken from their first two LP and their last-released "Blauer Plath" record. "Lass Uns Auf Die Reise Gehen" and "Karlchen" from their "Trips und Traume" record are real highlights, the selection from their first "Lieder von vampiren, nonen und toten" record is excellent and they really chose the best: Dracula (here called "Wenn Hoch Die Sonne") is extremely well interpreted and "Liebeslied" is my favourite song here since I really love the way Witthuser and Westrupp use to sing together resulting in a slightly Gypsy-style vocal harmonies.

A must for Witthuser und Westrupp fans, but not the best starting point for the others (I recommend "Tripas un Traume" for those starting with this band).

3/5: [very] Good, but non-essential

Very great psychedelic folk delight, Witthuser And Westrupp used to play some excellent acoustic melodic tunes in their german mother tongue language, while Witthuser concentrated on his acoustic guitar, his very creative friend westrupp is a terrific multi-instrumentist playing banjo, flute, xylophon, and sometimes bonga..

This album is a great improvement following their previous work, (the " Lieder von Vampiren, Nonnen & Toten" album) wich altought containing nice melodic moments (Liebeslied, Dracula, Hinüber walln ich), is very restrained and repetitive in comparison to this masterpiece, the whole atmosphere is quite floating and peacefull in here, in almost all track there is a back organ wich add a real nice dimension to their folky sympatic tunes..

The album starts with "lasst uns auf die reise gehen", very nice folk music with some xylophone and a hint of the traditional "merry night" melody. The second track "Tripo nova" is one of my favourite of this band, a kind of small acoustic jam from Withuser and great singing from Westrupp in an overall trippy atmosphere. The five following tracks contain some nice instrumental moments ("englisher" walzer, "Illusion") and a conceptual song "Karlchen" featuring some speeches that unfortunately can't understand but appreciate.

Recommended album, give it a few listen it will grow in you, still an underrated gem!

4.5 stars really!!!

This German folk duo is almost by itself the inventor of Cosmic folk, but were also so typically "kraut-folk" (if you'll allow this genre invention of mine), being fairly close to Ougenweide, Emtidi and Parzival. And this second album (although the debut is attributed to only Witthuser, this was a duo effort) is of the calibre of the albums I mentioned just above. The duo will have the honour of having released albums on two of the most collectable labels of their country: the early Ohr label for their first two and then the really rare Pilz label.

Although it is not that easy to categorize this album because the styles oscillate between medieval, more traditional German folk, cosmic ambiances and a singer-songwriter approach. The cosmic ambiances mixed in with some slow acoustic blues of Trippo Nova are counterbalanced by the music-hall-like opening track, the medieval ambiances and the hippy feel of Orienta are giving an excellent, bizarre twist to the album (not that far from the Incredible String Band), while the superb Lord-like organs (reminiscent of the Purple's suite April) of Illusion I and the lengthy haunting flut lines underlining the German spoken monologue of Karlchen brings such a special atmosphere that no other albums even comes close (to my knowledge anyway). The last two shorter track are close to Baroque music and if that was not weird enough already, the last one veers into a weird barroom sing- along: Nimm Eine Joint is rolling a doobie and somehow resembles Fraternity Of Man's Don't Bogart Me track.

Even if the genre cosmic folk is a bit doubtful, this album is one hell of a UFO , coming from outer space. I'd love to have smoked what these guys did back then.