Ash Ra Tempel

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  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Along with Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel (later Ashra) was one of the first bands to convert the trippier side of late-'60s psychedelia into the kosmische rock of the '70s. Most Ash Ra titles were solely the work of Manuel Göttsching, plus any other additional players who happened to be around during the recording of his ten albums. Göttsching trained in classical guitar and studied improvisational music plus electronics at school. In 1970, he formed Ash Ra Tempel with no less than Klaus Schulze (fresh from a brief stint in Tangerine Dream) and Hartmut Enke. After a self-titled album in 1971, Schulze left for a solo career; Göttsching continued on with a variety of bandmembers and guests, including Timothy Leary on 1973's Seven Up (and Schulze again, for Join Inn).

By 1975, Göttsching had released his first solo album (Inventions for Electric Guitar) and though Ashra returned the following year, the next two records by the "group" were Göttsching-only albums, the brilliant New Age of Earth in 1976 and Blackouts one year later. For the 1980s, most Ashra LPs were band-setting albums (with the assistance of guitarist Lutz Ulbrich and drummer Harald Grosskopf) while Göttsching solo records (like the landmark E2-E4) were, truly, solo records. He also reunited with Schulze to work on Alphaville's 1989 LP, The Breathtaking Blue. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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Ash Ra Tempel
Origin Berlin, Germany
Genres Krautrock
Space rock
Psychedelic rock
Years active 1970–1976
2000–2001
Labels Ohr
Virgin
Komische
King
Cleopatra
Spalax
Associated acts Ashra
Eruption
Klaus Schulze
The Cosmic Jokers
Bettina Hohls
Timothy Leary
Agitation Free
Wallenstein
Website Official site
Members
Manuel Göttsching
Klaus Schulze
Past members
Hartmut Enke
Timothy Leary
Rosi Mueller
Lutz Ulbrich

Ash Ra Tempel are a German krautrock group of the 1970s, and are an example of cosmic or space rock.

Contents

History

The group was originally 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.[1]

A reunion concert performance with the original line-up took place in Cologne on February 28th, 1973.[2]

Later, after recording the soundtrack Le Berceau de Cristal (1975; unreleased until 1993) Ash Ra Tempel shortened its name to Ashra, making a more melodic, synthesizer-based music. In 2000 the band was reunited in the line up of Manuel Gottsching and Klaus Schulze. The pair had previously worked together on Schulze's album In Blue.

Influence

Ash Ra Tempel has exerted a relatively large influence on later space rock and krautrock bands. The psychedelic bands Acid Mothers Temple and Hash Jar Tempo named themselves in reference to Ash Ra Tempel.

Discography

Studio albums

Live album

  • Gin Rosé: at the Royal Festival Hall (2000, live album)

Compilations

  • The Best of the Private Tapes 2xCD (1998) (rare demo recordings)
  • Schwingungen/ Seven Up (1998) (Two original LP's on one CD)
  • Join Inn/ Starring Rosi (1998) (Two original LP's on one CD)


References

External links


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Mentioned in

Walter Wegmüller (Rock Artist, '70s)
Gilles Zeitschiff (1974 Album by The Cosmic Jokers)
The Black Neon (Electronica Artist, 2000s)
Ashra (Rock Band, '70s-'90s)
Join Inn (1973 Album by Ash Ra Tempel)