Aficionados of Krautrock will agree that “Mammut”’s unfortunately sole album is legendary cult, an
absolute rarity. For a well preserved copy one has to fork out up to 1000 E, provided there is one to be had. This CD now makes the album (+ one bonus track) available for
a larger fan circle.
Three factors have contributed to the album’s existence: a lively local music scene in the southern Black Forest region, a creative and dedicated sound
engineer/producer, and the renowned record company MPS located in Villingen with their own recording studios. Villingen and Donaueschingen, both situated in the southwest
of Germany, are famous for their Jazz festivals (Villingen) and the “Days of new music” (Donau-eschinger Musiktage), and are excellent examples for a high standard of
musical and organisational commitment that isn’t confined to the big cities, but exists in the province, too. And of course there was a Jazzclub, which attracted the local
musicians.
The Villingen based label MPS later was distributed by BASF, featuring top jazz musicians (such as Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Dave Pike, Wolfgang Dauner, Volker
Kriegel and many others), who did their recordings in the MPS studios without time pressure and in the relaxed environment of the Black Forest. Aki Kienzler, who also acted
as sound engineer on the recording equipment, accompanied many of these productions. Influenced by the musical spirit of optimism that had arrived even in Germany by the
end of the 1960’s, and the many various forms of expression of Pop- and Rock music it brought with it, Aki Kienzler no longer wanted to limit himself to the production of
Jazz music, but wished to partake in the new musical movement. Unfortunately, his intention to publish German Rock music fell on deaf ears with MPS. Nevertheless, the
people in charge agreed to let him use their recording studios for his work. Kienzler called his label “Mouse Trick Track Music”. Although the financial and economical
responsibility rested exclusively with him, he was allowed to use MPS’s distribution channels. In 1969 and 1970 several local bands and musicians headed by Aki Kienzler
began to develop contemporary rock music. In an atmosphere of enormous musical freedom, new music pieces and sounds were composed in endless party like night sessions, with
each musician contributing his own ideas. Kienzler’s job as head of these undertakings was not just the recordings, but his musical and technical abilities formed an
essential part of the music projects. Thanks to these recordings two LPs could be published. The first one, entitled “Under Party Ground”, combined the recordings of
various local groups using their own and well-known music material. A decisive incident, which eventually triggered the formation of “Mammut”, was, that during the
production of the title “Dä Du Dä” by “The Rope Sect”, both - guitarist Klaus Schnur and Aki Kienzler - recognized the title’s and the musicians’ potential and were
inspired with the idea to record an album in the style of this song. “Dä Du Dä” then became the forerunner of the oncoming big “Mammutprojekt”, which is reason enough to
include it as a bonus track on this CD.
(from LongHairLabel info )
new and sealed CD!