MISSUS BEASTLY – Nara Asst Incense (OPP World Wide – OPP 5-32 / LP-1970)

Label: OPP World Wide – OPP 5-32
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Partially Unofficial / Country :Germany / Released: 1970

Style: Blues Rock, Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock

Recorded at January 1970 by CPM Studio, Germany.

Design – Woody Maus Art Studio

Coverphoto's by – Umbo and From

Produced by – Henry From Group Int.

Matrix / Runout (A digits stamped, literals etched): OPP 5-32 A

Matrix / Runout (B digits stamped, literals etched): OPP 5-32 B

Note:

This is Unlicensed release of the initially private CPM release from the same year with different artwork and slighty different tracklisting. Laminated front cover. / Wrongly printed the name of bassist Petja Hofman. (writes Petj, the letter "a" is omitted).

Original released: CPM ‎– LP S 002

Reissue / Garden Of Delights ‎– LP 012 (Limited Edition of 1.000 copies)

A1 -  XOX .............................................................................................................. 1:26

A2 - Uncle Sam ..................................................................................................... 5:39

A3 - Mean Woman (Woody Mouse) ...................................................................... 7:57

A4 - Decision ......................................................................................................... 2:55

B1 - Aphrodisiakum ............................................................................................... 8:56

B2 - Shame On You ............................................................................................... 8:57

B3 - Chinese love Song ......................................................................................... 1:01

Line-up / Musicians:

Atzen Wehmeyer / guitar, vocals

Wolfgang Nickel / keyboards

Petja Hofman / bass, vocals

Lutz Oldemeier / drums, percussion

Guests:

Hansi Fischer / flute

Chris Karrer / guitar

John Weinzierl / guitar

Dieter Serfas / drums

The first two LPs of Missus Beastly did not have a title, a circumstance causing considerable confusion. The first one appeared on CPM in 1970, the second on Nova in 1974.
On September 2nd, 1974, shortly after putting out their second LP, Missus Beastly had a gig in the Bremen Post-Aula. The concert was broadcast by Radio Bremen in their program "Jazz live". Luckily, the master tape was kept by the station over the decades and was made available for the CD/LP release. The three long tracks are not to be heard on any Missus Beastly LP. Keyboarder Dieter Miekautsch had meanwhile left the group; instead, the great guitarist Eddy Marron – well-known for playing with Vita Nova and Dzyan and his long-standing co-operation with Peter Giger – had joined them.

"Missus Beastly" from Herford were among the most famous German psychedelic and jazz-rock bands, with the most confusing history of all of them.

Formed circa 1968 in Herford near Munich, the history of Missus Beastly is confused to the extreme! Apparently the reason for such confusion is three-fold: because of their manager, constant line-up changes, and that being born in the psychedelic era they were obviously all pretty spaced! The original band were among the most underground and psychedelic of German bands.

MISSUS BEASTLY 's/t' LP-1970

The re-issuance was made the same year, (Partially Unofficial) on the label OPP World Wide (OPP 5-32) under the name "Nara Asst Incense" with the same tracks in a different order and with a totally new cover artwork.

 Original released: CPM ‎– LP S 002

This is the (first) nameless album of MISSUS BEASTLY - a band from my little hometown Herford. When they produced it in 1970 I was 14 years old - a litte bit too young to follow up the first steps of the band. Later I had closer contact to guitarist Atzen Wehmeyer for some time - but not related to music primarily. We worked together in a social project for children and he had formed another band named EINHORN in the meanwhile after he left MISSUS BEASTLY. So to review this album is something special for me because reminding a lot of experiences from that time.

They had chosen a psychedelic painting for the cover which was absolutely reflecting the music they played at that time. Their gigs often worked like happenings though, differing to what normally would be considered as a concert. They simply played what came into their minds in an intensive stirring mood - breaking all rules - and that finally caused the band's special reputation and success. They had been invited to play at two important german music events - at Burg Waldeck Festival and the Essener Pop & Blues-Festival. It is also known that someday the audience catcalled the main group THE MOVE at the Herford Jaguar-Club because they wanted to hear more from their favourite band.

It is fairly applicable to say that this is krautrock. MISSUS BEASTLY offers a blend of different music styles based on the blues - sometimes psychedelic coloured, sometimes jazz influenced and decorated with some weird insertions. The song material was worked out by accident in the same way as the gigs happened. It didn't match with what the band played live. Some of the songs never were presented on a stage. Hansi Fischer, the flute player of XHOL CARAVAN, appears on one song and the sessions were additionally supported by the AMON DÜÜL II members Dieter Serfas, Chris Karrer und John Weinzierl...

...The short opener XOX is presented in a weird krautrocked mood - a short jam with distorted organ and guitar later fading into a backward spoken word part contributed by Atzen Wehmeyer. The textual content is harsh as it was usual at that time and defends the hippie subculture. Uncle Sam follows as a more blues inspired song - composed by Petja Hofman when the soundman was justifying the microphones! Vocals are rare and then the band jams once more in free form returning back to the main theme at the end.

Shame On You comes much more hippiesque first with acoustic guitar, percussion and flute. And then the band suddenly switches to a jazzy atmosphere whereas Wolfgang Nickel and Atzen Wehmeyer are swirling around nicely with their instruments. Another song which was composed spontaneously during the recordings was Decision - heavy rocking this time and one of the most accessible songs of the album. Chinese Love Song belongs to the highlights by all means because very weird - the vocals are a pun somewhat with rhyming words in german and this could be used at Halloween for eample - to frighten a lot of people without any problem. The deep bluesy Mean Woman and the instrumental and more grooving Aphrodisiakum are finally usual proper played songs with some improvised portions here and there.

Generally MISSUS BEASTLY is associated with jazz rock/fusion. And considering the whole discography this suits by the way. But this band has an eventful history with some changes and a lot of musicians. And they started with a krautrock album as many other german bands did in the same way. Definitely recommendable if you are searching for early german output reflecting the transition from the 60s to the 70s with a special spirit of optimism and pleasure to experimentalize.

(Review by Rivertree / Prog Reviewer)

If you find it, buy this album!

XHOL Caravan - Motherfuckers Live (1968-69, 2002)

Label: STREAMLINE 1022
Xhol Caravan Motherfuckers Live / WDR Radio Live
Free Jazz, Krautrock, Experimental
1968 - 1969 / Streamline 2002
Artworks by Babs Santini; Additional images and Layout: cg graphix and Christoph Heemann


Note:

Originally reissued on the United Dairies label as a double cd and sinlge cdep, motherfuckers live contains the first recordings to be released by krautrock pioneers Xhol Caravan since 1970. This double lp contains two entire concert performances from 1968 and 1969. The first lp features the only existing recording of the Xhol Caravan “ Freedom Opera ” , which was planned as an album release but never realized in the studio. The second lp, recorded for german radio in Cologne, shows a different side of the line up.

The short-lived Xhol Caravan was one of the earliest underground Krautrock groups, and their unique fusion of jazz and rock was a precursor to the direction that Embryo, Out of Focus, Missus Beastly, Thirst Moon, Ikarus, Kraan, Vita Nova, Manju and countless other German groups would take in the 1970s. Formed by saxophonists Tim Belbe and Hansi Fischer, the group started out in 1967 under the name "Soul Caravan". With a Motown- influenced bassist as well as two African-American vocalists, James Rhodes and Ronny Swinton, the group made competent but conventional R&B and soul music, even doing covers of Sam & Dave. Later that same year they released the record Get in High on CBS. By 1968, after several lineup changes, their sound began to develop into a more distinct blend of psychedelic and progressive rock and free jazz, with a wide range of influences, including the Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Vanilla Fudge, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann. Eventually the group coalesced with Belbe, Fischer, Rhodes, Klaus Briest on bass, Skip Vanwych on drums, and Ocki Brevert on organ. At a performance of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" guitarist Werner Funk joined the group on-stage and stayed with them until the next year. Their live shows often consisted of long free-form jams, with a lot of experimentation and improvisation and a heavily drug-influenced vibe. In early 1969 they changed their name to Xhol Caravan to release a single "Planet Earth"/"So Down" on the Hansa label and then later that year, after both Funk and Rhodes had departed, they released the strange and excellent LP Electrip, one of the earliest Krautrock albums, also on Hansa. Xhol Caravan were a popular group at the time, constantly gigging and playing festivals, and even appeared live on WDR Radio that year as well as on television with Frank Zappa, Tangerine Dream, and Amon Düül II. Fischer left the group before the end of the year, and the band eventually shortened their name to Xhol to avoid confusion with the British group Caravan. More studio and live material was recorded that year, though the group was unable to release any of it until they signed on with the legendary Ohr Records. In 1971 Ohr released the LP Hau-Ruck, taken from a couple live jams in early July 1970. The following year the LP Motherfuckers GMBH & Co KG came out, with both live and studio tracks, also recorded in 1970 and also on the Ohr label. Xhol unfortunately disbanded at about this time. In 2001 United Dairies released Motherfuckers Live, a two-CD set of live Xhol material from 1968 (when they were still Soul Caravan with James Rhodes on vocals) and 1969 as an instrumental four-piece.

~ Rolf Semprebon, Rovi 


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