Ash Ra Tempel
| Ash Ra Tempel | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Berlin, Germany |
| Genres | Krautrock |
| Years active | 1970–1976, 2000–2001 |
| Labels | Ohr, Virgin, Komische, King, Cleopatra, Spalax |
| Associated acts | Ashra, Eruption, Klaus Schulze, Cosmic Jokers, Bettina Hohls, Timothy Leary, Agitation Free, Wallenstein |
| Website | Official site |
| Past members |
Manuel Göttsching Hartmut Enke Klaus Schulze Wolfgang Müller Timothy Leary Rosi Müller |
Ash Ra Tempel was a German krautrock group active from 1970 to 1976. It was Manuel Göttsching's first prominent musical output. Ash Ra Tempel featured revolving members, with only Göttsching remaining constant. Eventually, Göttsching retired the use of the Ash Ra Tempel name after he became the sole remaining member. His first solo album Inventions for Electric Guitar was the last album to bear the Ash Ra Tempel name. It was subtitled "Ash Ra Tempel VI" functioning as the sixth and final album. Göttsching later began using the name Ashra for his solo output as an homage to his former group. Ashra eventually evolved into a full band and continued along with Göttsching until 1998.
The group was founded by guitarist Manuel Göttsching, keyboardist/drummer Klaus Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke in 1971. All three founding members had previously played together as part of the short-lived group Eruption founded by Conrad Schnitzler. Prior to that Schnitzler and Schulze had worked together in Tangerine Dream.
A short-lived project Manuel Göttsching had in 1970 was the Steeple Chase Blues Band, which also included Hartmut Enke, Wolfgang Müller, and Volker Zibell.
Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in June 1971. This release is considered by critics to be a classic of the genre; Schulze temporarily departed for a solo career shortly after its release. Schwingungen (1972), Seven Up (with Timothy Leary) (1972), and Join Inn (1973) are all considered key works from the band. The pop-oriented 1973 album Starring Rosi was thus named because it featured lead vocals by Rosi Mueller.
Their music is widely characterized as cosmic and atmospheric. The early albums were more psychedelic-oriented and all had one lengthy track per side: one more powerful and dramatic, the other of a more atmospheric nature. Instead of writing English lyrics, since German language was not popular in rock music at the time, Ash Ra Tempel more or less decided not to have lyrics in their songs.
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