Amon Duul II

5-20-10 Amon Duul II

I think I am all finished buying ‘re-masters’ for the Amon Duul II catalogue on CD:

CD BBC RADIO 1 LIVE IN CONCERT WINDSONG UK WINCD 027

1973 8 TRKS Live

CD CARNIVAL IN BABYLON REPRETOIRE DE REP 4986

1971 10 TRKS (4 x bonus tracks) ('02 issue)

CD HIJACK SPV DE SPV 42332 CD

1974 9 TRKS ('08 issue)

CD MADE IN GERMANY REPERTOIRE DE REP 4631

1975 20 TRKS ('96 issue)

CD PHALLUS DEI REPERTOIRE DE REP 4872

1969 10 TRKS (5 x bonus tracks) ('01 issue)

CD TANZ DER LEMMINGE SPV DE SPV 304202 CD

1971 17 TRKS ('06 issue)

CD VIVA LA TRANCE SPV DE 305382

1973 15 TRKS (4 x bonus tracks) ('07 issue)

CD WOLF CITY SPV DE SPV 305372CD

1973 10 TRKS (3 x bonus tracks) ('07 issue)

CD YETI SPV DE 304192

1970 13 TRKS ('06 issue)

I read that SPV re-issue label in Germany recently went out of business, so I was happy to find re-masters of what I consider to be the important titles still floating around.

I bought Amon Duul II LP’s in the early-to-mid 70’s and have always been partial to their earlier efforts, notably:

1. Phallus Dei
2. Yeti
3. Tanz Der Lemminge ( = Dance of the Lemmings )
4. Carnival in Babylon
5. Wolf City
6. Viva La Trance
7. Hijack

Nice that the Repertoire issue of “Carnival in Babylon” now contains the several non-LP single tracks that appeared on their LP “Best Of” – “Lemmingmania”. I have more vinyl LP’s than the above mentioned titles, but the above 7 titles are what I consider to be “classic” ADII, with the “Live 1973” BBC disc being supplementary (effectively taking the place of their “Live In London” LP). #3 – #7 all had U.S. LP issues – but in most cases, I am lucky enough to have original German LP’s (and a few amusing variants, such as original Japanese 70’s pressings with posters).

I am also very fond of the 3 x solo albums by bassist Lothar Meid: “Mensch Dieser Klaus”, “Einbahnstrasse” and “Songstiges”. I must dig out and play the solo LP by Chris Karrer. I recently saw the BBC documentary about German 70’s music, and was delighted to see that the BBC crew went and found John Weinzerl and Renate Knaup-Krotenschwanz, both of whom are still alive and kickin’.