Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser

Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser (born June 18, 1943) is a German writer and record producer. He is best known as the founder of the Ohr, Pilz, and Cosmic Couriers record labels. These labels released many of the earliest Krautrock albums in the early 1970s, and Kaiser is often cited as a pivotal figure in the development of the genre.

Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser's early interest focused on folk music, and he joined the staff of the magazine Song. In 1967 he published a book on the international folk scene featuring interviews with Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and others. He was among the organisers of the September 1968 Internationalen Essener Songtage, which showcased bands and musicians such as Amon Düül, Floh de Cologne, Guru Guru, Tangerine Dream, Franz Josef Degenhardt, The Fugs, Peter Brötzmann, Julie Felix, Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger and, for the first time in Germany, Frank Zappa. Kaiser published numerous books on rock music between 1968 and 1972 for the German market.

In 1969 Kaiser founded the Ohr ('Ear') record label, dedicated to the underground German rock scene, which became one of the most important labels for Krautrock and German progressive rock. Ohr released albums by Floh de Cologne, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Klaus Schulze, Guru Guru, Amon Düül, Embryo, Witthüser & Westrupp, Birth Control, Hölderlin and others. Due to his success, in 1971 BASF offered to fund another record label by Kaiser, which was named Pilz ('Mushroom'). Pilz released more 'cosmic folk' material by Popol Vuh, Grinder, Wallenstein and Witthüser & Westrupp.

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