Long article as this is a part of my specialty and book on "Improvisation". I would like to say that the current "special" on "krautrock" is crap, and thinks it is good because 5 folks can say hello before passing away. In the end, their work is empty as it really has no source as to where it comes from or help for all the artists mentioned ... it is a commercial thing, designed to make money for a few folks, and not be a valuable article about the arts whatsoever. "Krautrock" on its own, instead of an art form, is soulless! And "krautrock" was not exactly just about rock music. Jazz was also a big part of it, though less discussed all around!

Here we go:

History is kinda different and funny sometimes. We have a strange way of looking at it, and constantly ignore the artistic movements during that time, and how they affect things all around. It was a time for a lot of experimentation in West Germany, and the usual nationalistic various short wave stuff assaulting East Germany with Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley, and eventually their youth came alive and East Germany was over with the Berlin Wall coming down, though you could see the history coming alive in at least one piece of music by Guru Guru ... Das Lebendige Radio ... which made fun of the designated music in that time over there ... but now, the whole thing, and this was 1976 before the Wall came down, specified that feedback and Chuck Berry was their God, so to speak, not the stuff they were being fed ... and you now can see, a very pointed attack on things, though done so in what is considered a funny style. And it's source? The well known art movement that became known as "krautrock".

How it started has its ... many ideas and touches, and in one "krautrock" special, that had several parts there is a comment by Edgar Froese that is important ... the past was over, the present is here ... and all that is left is the future ... with no direction or understanding, just what appeared to be an empty future, that helped bring about a personal freedom in the arts, that took hold really well, and one of the things that helped it, was ... the most obvious of things of all ... the total improvisations, of anything that went on a stage, or on the streets. It's probably much easier to say that the street always had this sort of thing, but it was never noticed, or appreciated, and all of a sudden ... BOOM! Damo is it!

There was not a whole lot of media discussing this or showing it, but soon enough some film makers went to bat for these new things, and Werner Herzog and Wim Wenders, and probably others not mentioned, ended up showing us some things that were not the norm, or the prescribed preferred chicken music that was shown on TV. 

Now comes the hard part ... you can't discuss Damo, and then CAN, without having a better idea of what the theater and film were doing ... and Werner Herzog went out and found a lot of his early footage and made it into a special on Klaus Kinski, and what was it that was being done at the start? A free form in front of the audience, and he took pot shots at the audience and was appreciated and boo'd as well. We can go to the theater, and at least one playwright was doing "word plays", which is something that Brian Eno adapted later ... with a sort of card game. The word plays had no sentences, or lines per se ... they were strictly word plays, mostly one act plays, that went on for their 15 minutes, as if the words themselves had a different meaning and it was a part of dialogue of some sort ... let's say that it was a dialogue-less moment with words, something that we can not imagine or ever give it a try ... and people always wondered where the communication was? In the words? In the folks involved? Or in some imaginary concept by our minds?

The streets of NY, London, Paris, and Berlin, have one thing that small places often don't ... it has been given a name of "busking", or folks just playing whatever in the middle of the street, and hoping to make a few coins here and there for a dinner, or equivalent ... and you know, for example that NY had the Harlem kids pretty much making rock drummers look like total idiots without a touch whatsoever, except a metronomic left or right hand on a snare drum ... these kids showed the world that "timing" was not what music was about. Add some theater to all this, and folks like Joseph Chaikan was putting together something he called "The Open Theater" in 1963, and it made its mark more in Europe than America, as Europe had a larger history of the arts, and America always made a point of having the media destroy the arts, in the past 75 years, and convert them into commercial adventures. And who owned these things? The movie studios, and this was not new in America, as the movie studios owned almost all of anything done in music, and were the only ones with recording materials, owning the majority of the radio stations since WW2, and specially after the Orson Welles earthquake of farts that scared a nation ... that was never going to happen again, and the controls were created. People still screamed at the image of the train coming towards you, or the gun fired at you in the cinema screen, and it wasn't until after WW2 that this fear subsided some, but by then, things were changing fast and faster.

Europe was a mess after WW2, and it left a younger generation with no connection to a lot of things, and the arts were the easiest things to see. And several movements took off in literature and theater, and film, though in places like Italy the film industry became a political tool. At least in the rest of the European continent most of it was free of influences by political anything.

Things like "The Open Theater" and eventually the loudness of the acting schools coming out of England and America, or the famous great scream, that seemed to wake up a lot of folks, were finally given a voice ... and it was not only heard, it was used massively.

BUSKING, as it is known, is not usually about lyrics or words, it is in many examples just another "word" exercise, and anyone trying to find meanings is going to hit a lot of brick walls. It isn't about meaning, as it is about the feelings at that very second, and sometimes it is on cue with what is around it, and sometimes it is not.

The CAN folks were not kids that just picked up their instruments and one day learned nothing in school, and were handled out like a machine, or as was romanticized, a meat market! They were students at a very well known school that had gathered a lot of respect, and had managed to survive under the radar of things. The question was how it was going to be done, and CAN had already started with an American actor, and though some of that material is on record, it has nice stuff, however, it really was not a free form experimentation as it was handled like a preset improvisation, designed around the actor's words and singing, which in some ways, when heard, are not designed to be thought of as "meaningful" and this is important ... but I think it lacked the freedom of FORM ... meaning ... no style, no known music, no known ideas ... and this was some of the work that the Berlin School had been trying to help folks learn and discuss, since so much of the stuff coming out of the WW2 was so nationalistic as to make one sick, of the ideas created to convince people of their righteousness and political designs. And it worked in almost all of Eastern Europe, mostly because of the strength of the Russian leaders in that area ... but in the Westernized World, it was not going to happen ... there was a lot more freedom in the arts, and its history, for example, for folks to be able to be conducted like cattle to put together a song!

Holger Czukay specified that he was immediately excited when he saw Damo Suzuki perform on the street ... there was no self conscious attitude, or attempt to ask for some money, or even a thank you ... he was busy with the microphone near him and his eyes closed, and his attention was "internal", not external ... and Holger immediately proclaimed that this was what he was looking for.

It's easy to see, NOW, how something like "TAGO MAGO" was created at this point ... a sort of attempts at finding something, out of nothing ... and Holger had specified that Tago Mago was taken from some 20 hours worth of stuff kinda put together in whatever way seemed to work better ... and from then on, came the series of concerts  that ended up in the creation of Ege Bamyasi, and then led to Future Days ... when it became evident that Damo's time with the band had come to its end ... it is thought that it was that Damo would not, do "lyrics", and I think the record company had a lot to do with that ... even though CAN was mostly self produced and invested, something almost no other band out there did, btw.

If you see the film, about Damo, and his story, and specially read the book, you will find a tremendous artist with no fear of going onto a stage with ... NOTHING. He was, basically, naked each and every time, all the way to the end, and while not as well to do financially, he was ok, and happy with every thing and his attitude, and studies were inspiring. And, when it came to the music, he really was not going to speak about it, since it was not about "ideas" or "thoughts" ... it was about improvisation, the pure kind not the idealistic concepts of it, and no form, so that the inner self could have some expression, and eventually come alive ... this was something that a lot of audiences got to see, but did not always enjoy and appreciate, since the whole thing and design was to be commercially viable so the bar, or venue, could make enough money and everyone gets paid ... but in touring in America and Europe, for some reason, his shows sold enough to be able to maintain ... and he always liked using new folks behind him, and never wanted to rehearse, or prepare ... the stage was it ... PERIOD ... and this is something that 99.9% of all musicians are afraid of ... but this one person, easily sliced through all that and more often than not put on some memorable shows, and something like we have never seen, or will ever be likely to see.

If ever there was a person that was the true inspiration of what theater, film, and the art of performing was about, there was only one that could stand up and give us a lesson, and Damo was the one, and it is sad, and a shame that he never EVER, showed up at the Acting Studio and talked about how he did what he did, which in the book and a few words, is not really defined, except that we know that it is some sort of inner stream of consciousness that he is capable of letting out, which most actors are not exactly able to do so, and at this point, you can see how some of those folks are considered "crazy", as Robin Williams was always thought of. But, it begs us to make room to what this "crazy" and "different" thing is all about ... and the only thing that can be said is ... shut up ... stop trying to define it, and just enjoy the sounds, and whatever else comes along with it is the only thing that matters, since we did not exactly go to Harlem to watch the kids drum up the whole thing by tapping on anything they could find or touch, and we still can't give it an important specification of some style or other, and its best to just not do so ...you got to let it live on its own. It is a beautiful thing and not some magic that we have to interpret and define. 

I like to say, in honor of Damo, that it is the life and art of it all like we can not imagine without our own anything that we must have in our lives to be satisfied with ourselves. With only ideas and thoughts we are just a silly empty shell of nothing!

The moment you can get around that, Damo comes alive, in your head, like it's something new, a special moment that you will always remember. 

Must see moments:

The Damo Susuki film by Michelle Heighway with Elke Morsbach's help.

Werner Herzog's film "My Friend"

Various articles I have collected since 1972

Works by Wim Wenders

Works by Peter Handke

Guy Guden and his Space Pirate Radio shows for never giving up on CAN

The Jaki Liebezeit Special Tribute ... the Damo part is incredible and tells you all you need to know.

The filmmaker Fassbinder was also using a lot of improvisation.

Music Now and Then

We're talking about 50 years or more!

Recently, upon watching some interviews with well known folks, for PA at least, they made a point that is really scary, and is something that should, somehow, be addressed, however, I'm not sure that we can agree on anything in regards to that idea, which is another problem that will endup being a personal generational thing.

At least 3 folks, have stated something that we do not take in consideration in regards to some of the comments and choices made by several members on PA's threads. The most prevalent of them is their children ... they found their kids did not care who the band was, or had much of an idea about the band ... they just wanted the song, and got another song tomorrow, and the day after another, because their friends had it.

This is going to be a serious issue for JMA, since the majority of folks that would frequent here, are likely more dedicated folks when it comes to the music they listen to!

This makes, for a lot of the "subjective" discussions here, since many of those folks would only mention their favorite songs, and some of those folks might have gotten a little better at listening to things for a band, but in general, you see a lot of discussions are about a song, not an album, in general.

This was massively different 50 years ago, and it is too easy to say that we were better versed and educated about a lot of music, than our children seem to be ... it's a hard thing to say, but one day, I intentionally played my stereo louder, to interrupt one of the kids from my sister's daughter (heck if I know what the term is!) ... and it worked. At first she said it was too loud and she couldn't hear anything on her ear buds. Ten minutes later, she goes, why you playing that so loud? Because it's pretty and better than what you are listening to. She made a face, but shut off the portable player and sat there looking silly as if paying attention to the loud music from the speakers.

Who is it and what is that?

So I told her. 

But that's so busy that we can't keep up with it.

That's a simple one, and I can play you a really busy one that will blow the ear wax off.

Nah, that's OK. Which song is that so I can hear it later?

No song. It's a full side on an LP, or about 20 minutes.

Why so long?

It varies ... do you do your reading for school? 

We rarely get reading assignments. We got one to find what Wiki said about something or other. I think it was about "bridge" in music.

How many songs you got in that thing?

About 300.

Do you listen to them all? 

Mostly, though they are on shuffle. 

Do you know the names of the bands?

What for?

...

The whole thing died down after that as it was dinner time.

This was scary and got me thinking, since the three folks that said this on various interviews were 2 very well known musicians, and one podcaster with an attitude, but he was right.

Music listening has changed in 50 years, and the majority of kids these days, don't know the bands, and don't want to know them, because the only thing they are interested in is one song, as long as their friends also have it ... and spending 99 cents, is easier on their budget, as opposed to 10 dollars, which means they could get at least 9 songs for their device!

We didn't know much about the bands in those days either, specially in America with no periodical dedicated to the music properly. One was a star kissypoo thing, and a couple of other magazines with nice pictures, were quite obviously a music company's baby and 4 of their bands were illustrated with nice pictures, even if the music was garbage, but the articles made it seem better! I guess they were wearing clothes by then, and not diapers! England had MM and it was OK in general, but it had a massive back section that listed all the concerts in the area and when and a few reviews of some shows, even though those reviews were (as Mike says) just blurbs. But you could see that there were a lot of European bands goofing around in London, and I wish I was there sometimes. What bothered me the most is that NY did not have anything like it, and it was hard to believe that NY did not show a music scene that had exciting things happening, beyond the Velvet Overrated Ground! 

Some things might have made it through and eventually we heard a bit of it, but in general, most of it was left behind, only to be found years later, by a few folks on PA ... weird that we find more of that music today, than we ever did then!

In general, for me, in 1971/1972, when I heard something on late nights, from LA mostly (we could get the 2 big FM stations and the PBS station well enough on clear nights) ... we could not look it up, but we ended up going after it, and a lot of it ended up in Space Pirate Radio from January 1974 on. By then , between Guy and I, we had already piled up a nice set of things, that could go a long way, and both or our record collections were used on the air for his main show. The regular air times for him, when they happened were more of a mix bag and also had other things, and more American stuff, which the main show would not do, though in the early days it had to, things like Paul McCartney, for example.

But now, even without a periodical we had a way to find out about the bands, and we were already familiar with a few things ... Black Sabbath being one for sure, and Uriah Heep, and a few more things. There was enough here, that we could quickly learn about them, and it really wasn't until 1974, perhaps, that we came across the Canterbury stuff, and it was mainly Robert Wyatt's 2nd album (Rock Bottom) that gave us a link to more stuff, by the number of folks that played in his album ... there wasn't a single person in there that we did not follow up on, and eventually it led to GONG and CARAVAN ... which we came across when I heard during the half time show between Man and Hawkwind (LA 1974 I think) played something I like and went to find out what it was (Caravan's C'thlu Thlu from "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night) ... and immediately I got the album and that was it, a couple of the previous Caravan albums right away, and the following week the next Caravan album came out with that neat cover of the tailor and his client in front of the mirror. A very neat cover by Hipgnosis, that suggested what you see is not exactly what you get ... which is very Caravan, with a slight edge.

But, at least, we finally were able to follow things up some, and learn more, though by that time we had already switched allegiances to the Europeans, as we got more and more interested in Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, and so many others from Europe. I was, for example, already aware of Aphrodite's Child and Alan Stivell, as two of my sisters had spent time in Europe and they brought those albums with them. Stivell went on immediately to SPR and AC went to it when we got the 666 album. We, at that moment, were starting to have a nice view of Europe, with some Germans and other Europeans ... and in very little time during 1974 and the SPR show, Ange, Banco and Le Orme, became present and a very valuable part of all the shows.

1962 or so ...In our house we had a stereo that dad bought in Araraquara, when we lived there for 3 years (we came to America in 1965), and he listened to many of his operas and other classical music he had on LP's ... and in due time, we purchased the Rolling Stones, and Beatles and played them on that stereo, though we had to play them low so it wouldn't bother dad or mom. However, our listening and a lot of the things I had heard on the radio (the stereo unit had a radio portion as all those units did at the time), and already we knew Maria Bethania, Roberto Carlos, Antonio Carlos Jobim (Girl from Ipanema was huge hit), Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto ... and all of them were in the airwaves, in some way or another, and though we had no recordings of any of them, we heard many of these things, and remembered them well.

When we came to America in 1965, the first thing I heard was Blonde on Blonde Bob Dylan) at the house of the gentleman in Madison WI where we stayed for a month before we got our own place.

You can see that at 15, we already knew the artists and the bands, when the case was there ... it wasn't like we didn't already know the Beatles or Rolling Stones. I spoke no English but could name all of their members!

Now, as we compare this to a lot of the folks that frequent PA, for example, the tough thing is seeing that a lot of folks don't have a reasonable historic view of the different places and time, which were very visible in our family as we went from Portugal to Brazil and then to America! And the tough side of this is seeing comments that completely take the music from 50 years ago, as if they were just another song from today, with one really bad idea ... it would not be listed on favorites because it was from many years ago, and therefore, it was assumed many times that the material wasn't any good, or important. And no one, can teach them anything about the different times and places out there, and often those folks will say something on their favorite this and that, but the comment lacks what I would call "perspective" and this is very visible in quite a few threads, and so clear on one place ... the Abbey Road vs Sgt Pepper's thread.

We can help, but PA has to add/create a better description of the times and places, so that some folks can have a chance to learn more about a lot of this history ... instead of ignoring it ... and kinda try to keep the idea of "progressive" and "progrock" alive by clothes pins outside on a wire across the yard.

There is no specific "reason" why today's young ones do not have any history in their minds, and I suppose the educational system is a serious issue around America ... and I remember one California governor cutting a lot of the PBS moneys because he thought that their work was too liberal and hurt conservative causes. This has been happening for over 50 years now, and (basically) it looks like education about the arts, is no longer useful or important in so many school systems that would rather save their moneys for their benefit, than it is to educate the students a bit better. The funding for a lot of this is simply gone, and expecting the young ones to pick it all up by themselves from their friends and the songs they like, is not a good educational choice, but no school system in America is going to do anything about it ... and this is the sad reality of a lof of the younger fans these days.

PA, if it wants to generate more time for its efforts in the Progressive and related areas, has to do more, within a somewhat more educational ability ... to help define and keep the movement alive, though if Music History is any indication most periods of music do not last 50 years, and that would suggest that our specialty has already had its best days, and would likely face a massive decline. I kinda think that we can stop this if we add some historical content, so the new music fits better and is more than just a monthly number or a minor hit in Left Balling Neptune!

I'm not sure that this will happen ... I have, for many years, always posted with a lot of details about yesterday many years ago, in my experience, and sadly, it's like no one wants to bother with it, since no one has a comment ... but one person cleared it up with me ... he said ... goodness, you just destroyed my ideas about music ... and I said ... nope ... I am adding to your study and ideas so you might have some help in figuring out why some of that stuff came alive ... things like "Foreign Son" and "Ohio" are not exactly a huge finger to the establishment, but they are a huge bunch of words about how we felt ... while today, not a lot of music is as valuable and important in terms of guidance for many of us, regardless of how we look at some things as better and more important, as they are not even a valuable listen compared to 50 years ago ... I kinda think of many of these new old things here, as just "MOS" the term that we gave the new FM stations in 1980 after the great American Radio Rape by the FCC and such. Folks are creating stories and concepts for the sake of ... something that could be entertaining and interesting for one or two of us, but in general, they are not even valuable in that area, and it's hard to not think of these things as pulp fiction in rock music, and this is something that we should not allow in "progressive" and "progrock" as so much of it going back 50 years was a revolution ... we did not like the empty messages ... we wanted some truth, and while fun listening to it, in the end, it was not about the Masked Marauders having to tell us about it at all ... we depended on many of these artists for it all ... and since the Internet days? The only thing we can depend on is, them all falling down and departing for another cosmic address ... and hope that their music can survive so we can learn something about our own history, instead of ignoring it!