Amon Düül II is a Germanrock band. The group is generally considered to be one of the pioneers of the West German krautrock scene. Their 1970 album Yeti was described by British magazine The Wire as "one of the cornerstones of the entire Krautrock movement."
History
The band emerged from the radical West Germancommune scene of the late 1960s, with others in the same commune including some of the future founders of the Red Army Faction. Founding members are Chris Karrer, Dieter Serfas, Falk Rogner, John Weinzierl, and Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz. The band was founded after Weinzierl and the others met at the Amon Düül 'art commune' in Munich. The commune consisted mainly of university students, who formed a music group initially to fund the commune, with everyone who lived there joining in to play music whether or not they had any experience or ability. The commune split when they were offered an opportunity to record, which was boycotted by the more musically proficient members of the commune. Recordings were made by the other members but were of very poor quality and were only released later to capitalise on the success of Amon Düül II's albums. As Amon Düül II grew and personnel changed, they still remained a commune, living together as a band. Their first album Phallus Dei, released in 1969, consisted of pieces drawn from the group's live set at the time. By this time the line-up was built around a core of Karrer, Weinzierl, Rogner on keyboards, bass playerDave Anderson, and two drummers. Renate Knaup at this point was only contributing minimal vocals but was very much part of the group. According to Weinzierl by this time "The band played almost every day. We played universities, academies, underground clubs, and every hall with a power socket and an audience". Releasing an album brought the group greater prominence and they began to tour more widely in Germany and abroad, playing alongside groups such as Tangerine Dream, and in Germany staying in other communes including the pioneering Kommune 1 in Berlin. Their second albumYeti saw them introducing arranged compositions along with the bluesy violin and guitar jams such as the long improvised title track. The next album Tanz der Lemminge was based on four extended progressive rock suites. By this time bassist Anderson had returned to England and joined Hawkwind, to be replaced by Lothar Meid, and the group was augmented by synthman Karl-Heinz Hausmann. Still touring widely, they recorded their Live in London album in late 1972 and in 1975 signed with Atlantic Records in the US, and United Artists Records Germany and initially disbanded in 1981. As well as their albums and live shows ADII received offers to write music for films, winning a German film award, the Deutscher Filmpreis, for their contribution to the film San Domingo. Amon Düül II's drummer, Peter Leopold, died on 8 November 2006. A memorial service was held for Leopold in Munich, where the remaining members of Amon Düül II sang a song for him. Leopold was replaced by multi-instrumentalistDaniel Fichelscher, for many years guitarist and drummer of Krautrock group Popol Vuh. Fichelscher is not new to the group, and in fact has had a long affiliation with Amon Düül II, having played with them as early as 1972 on Carnival in Babylon. Bass player Lothar Meid died on 3 November 2015.
Band members
Chris Karrer – violin, guitars, saxophone, vocals
John Weinzierl – guitar, bass, vocals
Falk Rogner – organ, synthesizer, electronics
Renate Knaup – vocals, tambourine
Dieter Serfas – drums
Peter Leopold – drums, percussion
Christian "Schrat" Thierfeld – bongos, vocals, violin
