Niedeckens BAP Take Fans on Journey Back to Early ’80s

I realize writing about a rock band singing in German may be a bit of a tough proposition for most of my readers who it’s safe to assume don’t understand the language. But Niedeckens BAP aren’t just any group, plus when I started listening to English music as an eight-year-old back in Germany, I didn’t know or understand one word of English. All I was reacting to were melody, sound, groove and the quality of the vocals. To this day, these aspects remain more important to me than lyrics in most cases.

If you’ve been a more frequent visitor of the blog, chances are you’ve seen me gush about Niedeckens BAP, or simply BAP as they used to be called. Founded as Wolfgang Niedecken’s BAP in the west German city of Cologne in 1976, the group around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken became the first German-singing rock band I closely followed starting in 1980. More precisely, they perform their songs in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne. Last Friday (April 26) saw the release of Zeitreise (Live im Sartory), a live album focused on the group’s music from the early ’80s.

As a longtime fan, Zeitreise is a pretty emotional experience to me, taking me back to Germany when I was 14 and, as noted above, discovered BAP. The material was captured during four shows the group played on December 7, 8, 9 and 10, 2023 at the so-called Sartory-Säle (Sartory Halls), one of the biggest entertainment venues in the center of Cologne. This place has special meaning to BAP. Between 1980 and 1984, they performed many gigs there.

Wolfgang Niedecken, the band’s frontman and only remaining original member

The idea to revisit BAP’s past with a series of concerts at Sartory emerged during their 2022/2023 tour in support of their most recent studio album Alles Fliesst (everything is groovy) from September 2020, which I covered here at the time. “It was during songs like ‘Zehnter Juni’ (June 10) or ‘Jupp’ (a German first name – CMM),” Wolfgang Niedecken told local German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. “As I was scanning the audience, I noticed what these songs did to people. How they moved them.”

Shockingly, I can offer you more background on BAP. Perhaps the best overview is this post from February 2020. Now, I’d like to get to some music from Zeitreise, which by the way means something like journey back in time – sort of what I call ‘music time travel’ in my Sunday feature! While I wouldn’t necessarily go as far as characterizing the songs as reimaginations, they are new renditions of old tracks, which reflect the group’s different musical line-up.

I’d like to kick it off with Südstadt, verzäll nix (don’t give me BS, south city), a song criticizing what Niedecken felt was the commercialization of Südstadt, a part of Cologne. The song first appeared on Für usszeschnigge! (to cut out), BAP’s third studio album from October 1981, which became their national breakthrough in Germany. Typically, Niedecken writes all lyrics, while the music is credited to one or more of the band’s other members. During their first two decades, most of the music was provided by Klaus Heuser, the band’s guitarist from 1980 to 1999. As their de facto musical director, Heuser largely shaped BAP’s sound during his tenure.

Nit für Kooche (not even for cake) is a track from BAP’s album Vun drinne noh drusse (from the inside to the outside), the successor to Für usszeschnigge!, which was released in August 1982. The song is making fun of Karneval, a festive season between November 11 and Ash Wednesday, which is celebrated particularly in Cologne and the broader region of the Rhineland. During what is also known as the “fifth season of the year”, people costume and go to special events and parades. And, yes, lots of alcohol is involved as well. Some including Niedecken consider it as largely forced and superficial happiness.

A concert revisiting BAP’s music of the early ’80s cannot skip what I would call the band’s most popular song. In Verdamp lang her (It’s been a long time), another track from the Für usszeschnigge! album, Niedecken recalls what oftentimes were difficult conversations with his father where the two of them had a hard time connecting. It also includes the band’s namesake, “bap,” which means “dad” in Kölsch dialect.

I’d like to call out one additional track: a medley of Wahnsinn (madness)/Häng de Fahn eruss (get the flag out). Wahnsinn is a cover of Wild Thing, a song penned by Chip Taylor and first popularized in 1966 by British invasion outfit The Troggs, with completely re-written lyrics. It was included on the group’s November 1979 debut album Wolfgang Niedecken’s BAP rockt andere kölsche Leeder (Wolfgang Niedecken’s BAP rocks different Kölsch songs). Häng de Fahn eruss, a fun rock & roller, is an original song from Affjetaut (defrosted), which was the band’s second album that came out in 1980.

Long-running German TV music program Rockpalast produced a special broadcast that captures most of Niedeckens BAP’s concert at Sartory. It’s currently available on YouTube – not sure for how long. Needless to add I watched all of it and loved every minute. It may well be the closest for me to ever see the band live again!

As you might imagine, BAP have seen many changes over the decades. Co-founder and frontman Wolfgang Niedecken remains the only original member. While he has always been surrounded by great musicians, I think the band’s current line-up is their best. Apart from Niedecken (vocals, guitar), it features Ulrich Rode (guitar, banjo, mandolin, backing vocals), Michael Nass (keyboards, Hammond organ, backing vocals), Anne de Wolff (violin, cello, mandolin, lap steel, guitar, percussion, vocals), Werner Kopal (bass, backing vocals), Sönke Reich (drums), Axel Müller (saxophone, guitar), Benny Brown (trumpet) and Johannes Göltz (trombone).

Last but not least, if you like what you’ve heard, here’s a Spotify link to the album. As as BAP fan from Cologne might say, “dat ess affenjeil” (that’s frigging awesome)! 🙂

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube; Spotify

A Song About My Hometown

This post first appeared as a contributed piece on A Sound Day, a great blog by Dave who hosts a fun monthly feature titled Turntable Talk where he invites fellow bloggers to write about a topic he suggests. This time, he asked participants to write a song about their hometown, adding, “it can be your literal one, or one you live in now or somewhere close by that you associate with.” Following is my contribution, which ran on June 10. The post has been slightly edited to fit the style of my blog.

It’s Turntable Talk time again, which in my book means a fun occasion where I get to contribute thoughts about a topic suggested by Dave who pens the great A Sound Day blog and since April 2022 has been the fearless host of this monthly recurring feature. Thanks, Dave, for having me back and keeping Turntable Talk spinning!

For this 15^th round, Dave asked us to write about a song or artist related to our hometown. Quoting from the instructions: “Likewise, I leave it up to you to define what your hometown is – it can be your literal one, the one you live in now, or one you live in now or somewhere close by that you associate with…”

Okay, I guess you get the picture.

When you grew up in the countryside in a small village, which probably had as many cows and pigs as two-legged residents, finding a dedicated tune becomes a tricky proposition. Milk Cow Blues wasn’t exactly invented in Swisttal-Buschhoven, the German village, in which I lived from the age of seven to 23 when I left the nest to continue my university studies in the old university city of Tübingen in the southwestern part of Germany.

Given the circumstances of my upbringing, I decided to take some liberties with the topic. I drew a broader circle to the region where Buschhoven is located, which is the Rhineland. If you’re a frequent visitor of my blog, you already may have an idea where I’m going with this.

Germany (left) and area map of my home region

The closest bigger cities to Buschhoven are Bonn (population: 332k), about 16 kilometers (10 miles) to the northeast, and Cologne, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) to the north (population: 1.07 million). There’s also the small town of Rheinbach (population: 27k) about 8 kilometers (5 miles) to the south of Buschhoven. And, yes, there’s a reason why I called it out, as you will see shortly. The map above gives you an idea about the geography.

My home region (clockwise, from upper left corner): House in Buschhoven, in which I grew up; center of Buschhoven; central post office, Bonn; Cologne on the Rhine with the cathedral on the right side

Since I couldn’t find a decent song about Bonn, tragically, I had to look to Cologne. And guess what, Cologne happens to be the city associated with my longtime favorite German rock band, Niedeckens BAP.😊

The group around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken was formed in Cologne in 1976, and for many years, they were known as BAP. Since September 2014, following the departure of two longtime members, the band has performed as Niedeckens BAP. Niedecken (born in Cologne in Mach 1951) spent most of his school time in Rheinbach and played in two student bands there between 1966 and 1969 – another regional reference that makes BAP the perfect choice, don’t you agree?

While BAP have had many line-up changes over the decades, two things have stayed the same: bandleader Niedecken who remains their lyricist, lead vocalist and only original member, and the fact they perform their songs in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne. If you’re curious to learn more about BAP, I’ve covered them multiple times, for example here, here and here.

Finally, this brings me to the “song about my hometown” I’d like to highlight. And, yes, you guessed it correctly, it’s a BAP tune about Cologne titled Stadt Em Niemandsland (city in no man’s land).

Co-written by the band’s then-guitarist Klaus Heuser (music) and Niedecken (lyrics), the song was included on BAP’s seventh studio album Da Capo, which appeared in August 1988. The catchy rock tune features neat harmony guitar action that has always reminded me a bit of Boston. Niedecken’s singing, which oftentimes sounds closer to speaking, is pretty typical of his vocal style.

Lyrically, I would characterize Stadt Em Niemandsland as a tough love song. On the one hand, Niedecken criticizes Cologne for selling out to commercial interests. On the other hand, he notes that for some reason he has come to love its people and places. He also acknowledges the long history of the city whose origins date back more than 2000 years. Here’s a live version of the tune, captured in 1991.

Last but not least, here are the lyrics – of course, in original Kölsch dialect!

Die Parkbänk sinn zem Övverwintre enjelajert
Un wie’t schingk, passiert datselve für die nähxte Zick met mir.
Hann mich schon lang dodrop jefreut, ens widder Woozele ze schlaare,
Nit, da’ ’sch sesshaft weede wollt, ich will mich opwärme bei dir.
Ich hann mich römjedrivve, ich hann mich ömjeluhrt,
Du bess he jeblivve, klar – du bess he fessjemuhrt.

Du bess die Stadt, die ’sch nit als Stadt sinn, du bess Minsche, du bess Stelle,
Die uss irjendenem Jrund mir ahn et Häzz jewaaße sinn.
Du bess Jeseechter, junge, ahle Lück, bess Zemmer, häss kein Strooße,
Für mich sinn dat alles Strecke, die ’sch erlevve sick ich Kind.
Du häss mich ussjedraare, du häss mich ussjespeut,
Ich hann mich affjenabelt, dat hann ich nie bereut.

Stadt em Niemandsland vun Preußen, off erbaut un off zerstört,
Zweimohl dausend Johr möht heiße: „Dann un wann dozojeliert“.

Ahl Diva, egozentrisch, eitel, komplimentesüchtig,
Selvsverlieb, jraad su, als ob du’t wirklich nüüdisch hätts,
Met dingem Dom vun Kaisers Jnaden, dinger Altstadt,
Die du „tüchtig“ ussverkäuf häss, treudoof läufste jedem Stenz enn’t offne Mezz.
Dat fingkste och noch clever, du denks, dat möht mer jetz,
Hühr zo: Dat jeht donevve, su wie du dich affhetz.

Stadt em Niemandsland vun Preußen, off erbaut un off zerstört,
Zweimohl dausend Johr möht heiße: „Dann un wann dozojeliert“.

Do ’ss unsre Karneval, enn däm du – zur Unkenntlichkeit verstümmelt –
Dich ahn Bonze ranschmieß, Ostermann ahn Elferrööt verrööts.
Wat ich met der decke Trumm verbinge, besste stekum weg ahm Klüngle,
Et ess schon hatt met ahnzesinn, wie du öm Weltstadt-Flair bemöht bess.
Häss du dich opjejovve, dat, wat ding Seel ussmäät?
Du häss dich schwer verhovve, dieh Lächeln wirk jequält.

Jläuv mir, ahl Mädche, eij’ntlich sollt dat Leed he saare,
Da’ ’sch dich jähn hann, dich un ding Pänz, jrooß un klein.
Doch „… wenn ich ahn ming Heimat denke“, rebelliert jet bei mir ’m Maare –
Wenn ’sch op Stromlinie affführ, wöhr ich anderswo doheim.
Du häss mich ussjedraare, du häss mich ussjespeut,
Un wenn ’sch op Heim ahnfahre, hann ich dat noch nie bereut.

Stadt em Niemandsland vun Preußen, off erbaut un off zerstört,
Zweimohl dausend Johr möht heiße: „Dann un wann dozojeliert“.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

The Sunday Six

Happy Sunday and welcome to another installment of The Sunday Six. Once again, I’d like to invite you to join me on a trip into the amazing world of music. This time, there’s a little twist. All six stops are tunes by artists from Germany, including three sung in German. I hope this won’t deter you from boarding the time machine.

Klaus Graf Quartett/Nature Boy

Let’s kick off today’s trip with contemporary jazz by German alto saxophonist Klaus Graf and his band who are known as Klaus Graf Quartett. If you’re a frequent traveler on The Sunday Six, the name may ring a bell. I included them in a previous installment in October 2021. Borrowing from that post, according to Graf’s website, he started playing the clarinet at the age of 10 but soon thereafter switched to the alto saxophone. Graf found his true love for jazz as a 15-year-old after he had joined a youth music school big band. Following his studies of the saxophone at Cologne University of Music, he mainly played as a sideman in various German and international jazz bands. In 2002, he founded his own quartet and released his debut album Changes in Life. Klaus Graf Quartett is one of various music projects of Graf who also teaches jazz saxophone at Nuremberg University of Music. Nature Boy is a track off his 2007 album titled Moving On. At that time, his band featured Olaf Polziehn (piano), Uli Glaszmann (bass) and Meinhard Obi Jenne (drums). Ah, what a smooth sound!

Kraftwerk/Das Model

Our next stop is the first German-language tune: Das Model (the model) by electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk (power station). Admittedly, this type of music isn’t in my core wheelhouse, but given the group’s huge influence and significant popularity beyond Germany, I felt it was appropriate to include them. Kraftwerk were formed in Düsseldorf, West Germany in 1970 by Ralf Hütter (lead vocals, keyboards, various other instruments) and Florian Schneider (backing vocals, synthesizer, various other instruments). They began as part of West Germany’s experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines and vocoders. Das Model is a track off Kraftwerk’s seventh studio album Die Mensch-Maschine (the man-machine), released in May 1978. At that time, the band’s line-up apart from Hütter and Schneider also included Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür (both electronic drums). Kraftwerk still generates power to this day, with Hütter (now 76 years) remaining as the only original member. Schneider left in 2008 and passed away in April 2020 at the age of 73.

The Rattles/Come On And Sing

Time to pay a visit to the ’60s and, nope, it’s not Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand by The Beatles though it’s beat music, by The Rattles. They were formed in 1960 in Hamburg by Achim Reichel (vocals, guitar), Volker Reinhold (guitar, vocals), Herbert Hildebrandt (bass, vocals) and Dieter Sadlowsky (drums). In 1962, The Rattles on several occasions performed at the same venues in Hamburg as The Beatles, including the famous Star-Club. The band’s 1965 single La La La was their first to chart in Germany, reaching no. 19. The Witch, released in 1970, was their biggest hit, climbing to no. 4 in Germany, no. 8 in the UK and no. 20 in Austria. It even made the U.S. charts, reaching no. 79. The Rattles rattle to this day and still feature their original bassist Hildebrandt. They have various upcoming gigs in Germany in April, June and September. Here’s Come On And Sing, a tune they released in 1966 – not bad!

Niedeckens BAP/Mittlerweile Josephine

No post about German music artists can exclude my all-time favorite band singing in German, more precisely in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne. Niedeckens BAP, formerly known as BAP, are a band around German singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken, founded in Cologne in 1976. Since September 2014, following the departure of two longtime members, the band has performed as Niedeckens BAP. At the time, a seemingly somewhat frustrated Niedecken also declared the group would no longer have a standing line-up. That being said, the core members have remained the same since then: Ulrich Rode (lead guitar), Anne de Wolff (multi-instrumentalist), Werner Kopal (bass), Michael Nass (keyboards) and Sönke Reich (drums). Mittlerweile Josephine (now Josephine) is off the group’s 18th and most recent studio album Alles Fliesst (everything is groovy), which appeared in September 2020. In this ballad, Niedecken reminisces about one of his daughters, Josi, who has since become Josephine, a young woman. I love this tune!

Scorpions/Someone to Touch

Scorpions are among Germany’s bands who are also well known beyond their home country’s borders. This next tune takes us to September 1993 and the rock and pop metal band’s 12th studio album Face the Heat. At that time, Scorpions were in their 28th year since their founding by guitarist Rudolf Schenker in Hanover in 1965. The remaining lineup on the album featured Klaus Meine (lead vocals), Matthias Jabs (lead guitar), Ralph Rieckermann (bass) and Herman Rarebell (drums). After five non-charting albums, Scorpions broke through with Lovedrive in February 1979. They entered my radar screen with Love at First Sting, released in March 1984. Featuring multiple hits, such as Rock You Like a Hurricane, Still Loving You and Big City Nights, their ninth studio album became a major success in Germany (no. 6), as well as many other countries, including France (no. 4), Switzerland (no. 9), the UK (no. 17) and the U.S. (no. 6), among others. Someone to Touch, co-written by Schenker, Meine and Mark Hudson, is a track from the aforementioned Face the Heat. Scorpions continue to rock, with Schenker, Meine and Jabs remaining part of the present line-up.

Ideal/Blaue Augen

And once again, it’s time to wrap things up. Our last stop on this trip is the year 1980 and the eponymous debut album by Ideal, a band from West Berlin that was part of what became known in Germany as Neue Deutsche Welle (German new wave). This music genre was a German version of punk and new wave that emerged during the second half of the ’70s. It reached peak popularity in the early ’80s when seemingly every day, new German music artists and bands seemed to pop up. Ideal were founded in the spring of 1980 by Annette Humpe (lead vocals, keyboards), Frank Jürgen Krüger (guitar, vocals), Ernst Ulrich Deuker (bass) and Hans-Joachim Behrendt (drums). After three years and three studio albums, Ideal called it quits. Here’s Blaue Augen (blue eyes), one of their best-known songs penned by Humpe. I always liked the tune’s cool grove, especially the bass part.

This post wouldn’t be complete without a Spotify playlist featuring the above tracks. As always, I hope there’s something that tickles your fancy.

Sources: Wikipedia; Klaus Graf website; YouTube; Spotify

Wolfgang Niedecken Is Coming Full Circle On New Solo Album “Dylanreise”

After coincidentally learning that prominent German singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken was about to release a new solo album featuring English and Kölsch (a German dialect spoken in West Germany’s Cologne region) interpretations of Bob Dylan songs, I wasn’t planning to explore it. While BAP (Niedeckens BAP since September 2014), the band he founded in Cologne in 1976, has been my favorite German-singing rock group since the early ’80s, I haven’t paid much attention to Niedecken’s solo work. Still, curiosity prompted me to check out Dylanreise (Dylan journey), which dropped last Friday, March 25. To my pleasant surprise, I find Niedecken’s sixth solo album quite engaging.

Of course, I realize for non-German readers and more specifically for folks who don’t understand the Kölsch dialect, Wolfgang Niedecken is likely going to be a challenging proposition. I’m not sure whether liking Dylan’s music helps a great deal; in fact, I could see the opposite since Niedecken sounds very different from Dylan, no matter in which language he sings the maestro’s songs. The renditions are fine, but what I find most intriguing about Dylanreise are the anecdotes Niedecken shares throughout the album. In fact, it’s really more a narrated audiobook than a traditional music album.

Dylanreise is available as a 3-CD set, on vinyl as a double LP and on streaming platforms

As reported by German entertainment outlet Kulturnews, Dylanreise’s origin goes back to 2017 when Wolfgang Niedecken starred in the 5-part docu-series Bob Dylans Amerika (Bob Dylan’s America) produced for French-German cultural TV channel ARTE. In this docu-series, Niedecken traveled to the U.S. to trace key places in Dylan’s life, such as the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. where Dylan had performed in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, or Big Pink, a house in the Woodstock, N.Y. area where the so-called basement tapes sessions had taken place in the summer of 1967.

In turn, the TV series inspired Niedecken to write a book, Wolfgang Niedecken über Bob Dylan (Wolfgang Niedecken about Bob Dylan), which appeared in March 2021. Two months earlier, the German version of the audiobook of Bob Dylan’s 2016 autobiography Chronicles had come out, narrated by Niedecken. Last but not least, Niedecken teamed up with his friend and jazz pianist, Mike Herting, for a series of concerts in German-speaking countries, billed as Niedecken liesst und singt Dylan (Niedecken reads and sings Dylan). The tour has had 40-plus shows to date and is still going on.

Wolfgang Niedecken in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., 2017, one of the shoot locations for the ARTE TV docu-series about Bob Dylan

So what’s behind Niedecken’s obvious infatuation with Robert Zimmerman? “To me, he’s the greatest among the American songwriters,” Niedecken said in the above ARTE docu-series. “No other musician has given me a deeper insight into America’s soul, and no one else knows how to express Americans’ troubles and hopes. To many, he’s the polar star, guiding the way. Undoubtedly, without him, I wouldn’t have become a musician, and many of my songs probably wouldn’t have materialized without Dylan’s work.”

In a recent interview with regional German radio channel SR3, Niedecken framed his new album as follows: “It’s actually three journeys…The journey through my life, the journey through Dylan’s life and the 2017 journey throughout the U.S. And the tour, btw – four journeys [laughs].” Dylanreise’s 32 tracks feature 16, mostly Dylan songs and 16 narrated anecdotes, which translate into a total running time of two hours and 14 minutes. That’s pretty heavy, but I found it a worthwhile listening experience. Niedecken is a decent narrator.

Throughout his entire career, in addition to his own tunes, Niedecken has performed Dylan songs. In fact, before founding BAP in 1976, he had gained some local popularity in Cologne as “Bob Dylan of the South Town.” Typically, his versions were performed in the Kölsch dialect, something he continued with BAP. On Dylanreise, there’s a mix of all-English, all-Kölsch and mixed English-Kölsch renditions. The Times They Are a-Changin’ is one of five all-English versions. It’s the title track of Dylan’s third studio album from January 1964.

“I used to play bass in a student band since I adored Paul McCartney,” Niedecken told SR3 during the above interview. “The vocalist of our band needed to pass high school graduation. So he showed up to his final gig…and brought along the single ‘Like a Rolling Stone’. He had also already written down the lyrics. And we listened to it and this was something quite different (from The Beatles)…And suddenly, it was like lightning had struck. What the hell is he writing about? What do all these words mean? And all these metaphors, ‘Napoleon in rags’…All I knew is that was something I found much more exciting than playing bass and singing harmless lyrics. That same night, I told my friend Heiden, ‘ Heiden, you know what, you have to play bass now. I’m going to sing and write lyrics, just like the dude with the sunglasses.”

From Niedecken’s website: When we got to Woodstock as part of our Dylan journey, among others, we paid a visit to “Big Pink” in the forests of West-Saugerties. A nondescript wooden house painted in pick where rock & roll history was written when Dylan and his band [The Band – CMM] recorded countless demos there in 1967, some of which subsequently appeared under the title “Basement Tapes”. There I met with guitarist and vocalist Happy Traum, who four years later had assisted Dylan to re-record “Goin Nowhere” for his second greatest hits album, to record this song for our documentary. Here’s Du Jehs Nirjendwo Hin (You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere), a song Dylan wrote in Woodstock in 1967, which first appeared on the aforementioned compilation Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II

Before wrapping up this review with another rendition of a Dylan song, I’d like to recap one of my favorite anecdotes Niedecken tells: his eye-to-eye encounter with the maestro. In April 2009, on behalf of German guitar maker Duisenberg, Niedecken was invited to hand Dylan a lap steel he had ordered from the company. After a show in the German city of Saarbruecken, Niedecken was brought backstage and told to wait for Dylan there, all by himself. Finally, Dylan showed up, all by himself as well. He approached Niedecken smiling and with one fist raised.

“‘What’s that supposed to mean?,’ I was asking myself before realizing at the last second it evidently was meant to be a ghetto fist,” Niedecken recalls. “Apparently, I had not been the only person who had shaken his hand too firmly when Wim Wenders [the film director – CMM] who had known Dylan from the ’70s introduced me to him, and obviously I had grabbed his hand a little bit too firmly, leading him to wince…When I mentioned Wim’s name, he was like, ‘yeah, sure.’ And then the time had already come to hand over the guitar.”

“I can no longer remember what he was saying. I only recall how fascinated he was when removing the instrument from the case and looking at it from all sides. Like a small boy who finds an engine underneath the Christmas tree for his toy train – a moving moment I didn’t want to ruin under any circumstances with an unnecessary question or any sentence he presumably had heard a million times. Sure, I’d like to let him know he has significantly impacted my life and thank him for that. But, as I said, I would have ruined this moment and it wasn’t worth it. Eventually, he told me he had a small guitar amp on his tour bus where he would hook up the instrument right away. That same night they would travel to Paris. As such, he would have enough time to spend with the lap steel. Okay, one last ghetto fist, ‘thanks, take care,’ and that was it.”

Here’s Fuer Immer Jung (Forever Young). Recorded in 1973, the tune first appeared in two versions (one slow, one fast) on Dylan’s 14th studio album Planet Waves from January 1974.

Here’s the link to Dylanreise on Spotify.

Sources: Wikipedia; Kulturnews; SR3; Niedeckens BAP website; YouTube; Spotify

Showing Some More Love to Cologne

My recent post about images and music from Germany, the country in which I was born and grew up, was so well received that I decided to do an encore. Instead of covering various places, this time, I’d like to focus on one specific city I briefly mentioned in that post: Cologne, or Köln in German. Or Kölle, as it’s known in the local dialect of Kölsch.

While Cologne isn’t my place of birth (Heidelberg is) and I grew up about 25 miles to the south in the countryside close to Bonn, I’ve come to love this old city. And I always enjoy going back there during visits to Germany.

Cologne is big, at least for German proportions. With approximately 1.1 million people, it’s the country’s fourth largest city after the capital Berlin (3.8 million), Hamburg (1.9 million) and Munich (1.1 million). Cologne is also the most populous city on the river Rhine and in the so-called Rhineland region. Moreover, with more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries, it’s a major cultural center in the region.

Cologne with its key landmark the Cologne Cathedral on the left side

There’s lots of history and old architecture in Cologne. The city was founded by the Romans in 50 AD as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. The first urban settlement on the grounds of present day Cologne dates back even further, to 38 BC and a Germanic tribe known as the Ubii. During the Middle Ages, Cologne flourished due to its geographic location on major trade routes. But the city has also experienced its share of hard times. During World War II, it suffered major destruction when much of its millennia-old center was reduced to rubble.

Cologne has many landmarks that have been restored or are in a near-constant state of restoration. Undoubtedly, the most famous is the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), a majestic Gothic church built in various stages between 1248 and 1880 (see in photo above and feature collage imagine on top of the post). While badly damaged by aerial bombs during World War II, remarkably, the cathedral remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city. There are also a dozen Romanesque churches in the old town of Cologne, as well as medieval houses and city gates (see photo collage below).

Cologne landmarks (clockwise from upper left corner): St. Aposteln, St. Cäcilien and St. Gereon’s Basilica Romanesque churches; medieval Cologne City Hall; and Hahnentor and Severinstor medieval city gates

When it comes to Cologne, it’s also important not to forget about Kölsch beer. To be clear, Kölsch refers to a style of beer, not a specific brand. Per Wikipedia, Kölsch is one of the most strictly defined beer styles in Germany: according to the Konvention, it is a pale, highly attenuated, hoppy, bright (i.e. filtered and not cloudy) top-fermenting beer, and must be brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot. Of course! 🙂

There are approximately 25 different brands of Kölsch. The most popular are Reissdorf, Gaffel and my favorite Früh Kölsch. Various of the local breweries have restaurants where Kölsch beer is served super fresh – you simply can’t beat that taste! Typically, these restaurants offer delicious dishes from the region as well – to die for! As I’m writing this, I’m getting hungry and thirsty – dang it! 🙂

Obviously, it’s impossible to capture Cologne’s richness in a few paragraphs. If you’d like to know more about this remarkable city, I’d highly recommend a visit.

From left: Früh Kölsch; brewery restaurant Früh in the heart of the city near the Cologne Cathedral; and a traditional Kölsch server, aka Köbis

Since this blog is focused on music, let’s devote the final portion of this post to local artists. More specifically, I’d like to feature a handful of bands from Cologne with songs that are related to the city.

BAP/Stadt im Niemandsland

Of course, the first band that comes to my mind in the context of Cologne is BAP, a group around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken, which has been around since 1976. Nowadays known as Niedeckens BAP, it’s essentially a project of Niedecken. As my favorite German-singing (or I guess I should say Kölsch-singing) rock band, I’ve covered them on various previous occasions, for example here. One of the group’s songs about Cologne is titled Stadt im Niemandsland (city in no man’s land), a catchy tune with nice harmony guitar action from their 1988 studio album Da Capo.

Bläck Fööss/Dat Wasser vun Kölle

Bläck Fööss are a true Cologne institution. Founded in 1970, the band is best known for music in connection with the Cologne Carnival. The local festive period stretches from November 11 all the way to Ash Wednesday in February, with a temporary suspension between the Advent and Christmas period. The highlight is the last week when festivities culminate in a street carnival with parades and people going out masqueraded. Apart from carnival music, Bläck Fööss also became known for other, oftentimes humorous songs. That was especially the case when their front man was Tommy Engel who deliberately took the group beyond carnival music. One great example is Dat Wasser vun Kölle (the water from Cologne), a track from a 1983 studio album titled Immer Wigger (always pushing forward). Based on what I believe was an advertising slogan for the local water utility, the tune pokes fun at Cologne’s tap water. Here’s a short translated excerpt: Oh dear God, please give us water/Because all of Cologne is thirsty/Oh dear God, please give us water/And help us through our misery… Performed in the style of a gospel song, the tune also illustrates Bläck Fööss’ impressive vocal talents.

Brings/Kölle

Brings are a rock-turned-carnival/party song band, which was formed in 1990. During the first 10 years, they focused on rock music. Following the commercial success of a polka type song titled Superjeilezick, Brings completely changed their style to focus on carnival and other Kölsch party music – and completely lost me in the process. Here’s a great tune from their rock period titled Kölle. It was included on their 1991 debut studio album Zwei Zoote Minsche (two types of people). In a nutshell, it’s about a guy from Cologne who once he arrives at his vacation destination becomes homesick and longs to be back in his hometown. Here’s a translation of the chorus: I want to walk to Cologne/It’s the language I understand/It’s what makes my heart beat/I want to walk.

Zeltinger Band/Müngersdorfer Stadion

Let’s wrap things up with some Kölsch punk. Zeltinger Band are a rock group formed by vocalist Jürgen Zeltinger and other musicians in 1979. They have released more than 20 albums and remain active to this day. While I never followed them, I’ve always liked Müngersdorfer Stadion, their tune about a famous local soccer stadium that is the home base of professional Cologne soccer club 1. FC Köln. The song was included on the band’s first record De Plaat (Im Roxy Und Bunker Live) [The record (live at Roxy and Bunker)]. Is it a stretch to highlight this track, given it’s not directly about Cologne? I think it’s not, given Müngersdorfer Stadion and 1. FC Köln are two local institutions that I would argue are comparable to the cathedral, at least to many folks living in Cologne!

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

Taking An Imaginary Journey Back to My Original Home

The idea for this post came to me over the weekend when I found myself listening to my long-time favorite German rock band Niedeckens BAP, previously simply known as BAP. Suddenly, I longed to be back in Germany, the country where I was born and lived for the first 27 years of my life. Not for good, but just for a visit, which feels long overdue!

Images of key places started popping up before my eyes: My town of birth Heidelberg (image below), the small village in the countryside close to Bonn where I grew up, the cities of Bonn (second image from right in the lower row of the collage on top of the post) and Cologne (left image in collage), as well as the town of Tübingen (right image in lower row of collage) where I did my graduate studies, to name a few.

Heidelberg

I’ve now lived permanently in the U.S. for close to 25 years, almost as long as I lived in Germany – hard to believe! There’s no question the States have become my home. While over the more recent past I’ve witnessed things I never thought could happen in this country, I’m firmly rooted here.

I never really felt homesick since I left Germany in 1993. After all, I’ve been back many times, once every other year on average, to visit my parents and other family. I also still have friends there from high school and university. Returning to Germany has always been important. But my last visit dates back to the fall of 2019, and it’s currently unclear whether I’ll be able to go back this year. This sucks!

Former house of my parents (left) close to the city of Bonn in the village of Buschhoven (right) where I grew up

So, yes, I miss visiting good ole Germany. My family and friends. The above mentioned places. The food. And, I know it sounds like a cliché, the beer – it’s the best I’ve ever tasted. Note I’m not saying it’s the best in the world, though it probably is – sorry, Budweiser or Miller! 🙂

This brings me to German rock and pop music performed in the German language. The above mentioned BAP, a band from Cologne, were the first Deutsch Rock I started to explore more deeply in the early ’80s. I turned to many other German acts thereafter. Fortunately, I still got access to plenty of their music, which is very reassuring! Here’s is a small selection.

Wolf Maahn/Kannst Du Sehen

Let’s kick things off with Kannst Du Sehen (can you see), a groovy tune by Wolf Maahn from his 2010 studio album Vereinigte Staaten (United States). Maahn, who was born in Berlin in 1955 and grew up in Munich, has been a professional music artist since the late ’70s. After recording two English language albums with Food Band, he launched his solo career in 1982, mostly singing in German ever since. Two years later, his great breakthrough album Irgendwo in Deutschland (somewhere in Germany) appeared. Maahn remains active to this day and has released 15 studio albums, as well as various live records and compilations. If you’d like to know more about him, you can check out this previous post.

Spider Murphy Gang/Schickeria

Spider Murphy Gang, formed in Munich in 1977, became known for mostly ’50s rock & roll and other retro style songs performed in Bavarian dialect. I think there’s just something about dialects. They can add a certain charm to a song. Country rocker Schickeria (in crowd) is the opener of Spider Murphy Gang’s third studio album Dolce Vita from 1981, which greatly expanded their popularity in Germany beyond Bavaria. BTW, the band’s name comes from Spider Murphy, the guy playing the tenor saxophone in the Leiber-Stoller classic Jailhouse Rock that first became a hit for Elvis Presley in 1957. After nearly 45 years, Spider Murphy Gang rock on with lead vocalist and bassist Günther Sigl and guitarist Barny Murphy remaining as original members in the current eight-piece line-up. I’ve never been to one of their shows, though I’d love to see them some day. Their music is quite fun!

Marius Müller-Westernhagen/Schweigen Ist Feige

If you count his start as a 14-year-old actor in 1962 before turning to music in the second half of the ’60s, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, or just Westernhagen, has been active for nearly 60 years. After meager beginnings his music career took off in 1978 with his fourth studio album Mit Pfefferminz Bin Ich Dein Prinz (with peppermint I’m your prince). Westernhagen whose catalog includes 19 studio albums, four live records and various compilations is one of Germany’s most successful music artists. Here’s Schweigen Ist Feige (remaining silent is cowardice), a Stonesey rocker from Affentheater (monkey business), Westernhagen’s 14th studio release that appeared in 1994.

Udo Lindenberg/Ich Zieh’ Meinen Hut

Udo Lindenberg, who is turning 75 years later this month, is another German rock and pop institution. Already as a 15-year-old, he performed in bars in the West German town of Düsseldorf, playing the drums. After relocating to the northern city of Hamburg in the late ’60s and stints with folk rock band City Preachers and jazz rock outfit Free Orbit, which he co-founded, Lindenberg launched his solo career in 1971, focused on writing and singing his own songs in German. He has released more than 30 studio and numerous other albums to date. You can read more about him here. Following is Ich Zieh’ Meinen Hut (I tip my hat), the opener of Stark Wie Zwei (strong like two), a triumphant comeback album for Lindenberg from 2008.

Herbert Grönemeyer/Was Soll Das?

Pop music is Herbert Grönemeyer’s second act. The versatile artist, who was born on April 12, 1956 in Göttingen, first came to prominence as an actor. He gained some international attention after his role in the acclaimed 1981 World War II motion picture Das Boot. His eponymous studio debut Grönemeyer from 1979 went unnoticed. Things changed dramatically in 1984 with his fifth studio release 4630 Bochum (name and then-zip code of a West German city). It became Grönemeyer’s first no. 1 record in Germany, a chart position he incredibly has been able to achieve for each of his 10 albums that have since come out! Here’s Was Soll Das? (what’s that supposed to mean), the first track from Grönemeyer’s seventh studio album Ö that appeared in 1988.

Niedeckens BAP/Mittlerweile Josephine

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete without Niedeckens BAP. If you’ve followed my blog for some time, the name may sound familiar. The band around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken, which used to be known as BAP for most of their career, was founded in Cologne in 1976. Not surprisingly, there have been many line-up changes over the decades. For the past six years, the band essentially has been a solo project for Niedecken, the only remaining original member. The other constant is Niedeckens BAP continue to perform their songs in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne. You can read more about the band here. Following is Mittlerweile Josephine (now Josephine) from their most recent studio album Alles Fliesst (everything is groovy) released in September 2020. It was this beautiful ballad Niedecken wrote for his daughter, which triggered this post.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

German Rock Staple Niedeckens BAP Continue to Deliver on New Album Alles Fliesst

Every now and then, I like to feature German language rock and pop music, an acknowledgement of my German roots and the country where I was born and grew up. In this context, the act that always comes to my mind first are Niedeckens BAP. The band’s new studio album Alles Fliesst (everything is groovy), which was released yesterday, September 18, certainly provides a nice occasion to do another post on my favorite German band for now close to 4o years.

Simply known as BAP for most of their career, the band around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken was founded in the West German city of Cologne in 1976. While there have seen many line-up changes, as you’d expect over such a long period, two things have stayed the same: band leader Niedecken who remains their lyricist, lead vocalist and only original member, and the fact they perform their songs in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne.

Niedeckens BAP at Castle Studios, Schloss Röhrsdorf, Dresden, Germany

Since September 2014, following the departure of two longtime members, the band has performed as Niedeckens BAP. At the time, a seemingly somewhat frustrated Niedecken also declared the group would not longer have a standing line-up. That being said, the core members have remained the same since then: Ulrich Rode (lead guitar), Anne de Wolff (multi-instrumentalist), Werner Kopal (bass), Michael Nass (keyboards) and Sönke Reich (drums). You can read more about their previous music here.

Alles Fliesst is Niedeckens BAP’s 20th studio album. While overall I think it’s fair to say it doesn’t break much new ground, that’s just fine with me. Sometimes you don’t want things to change that don’t need to change. A few songs had been released as singles leading up to the album. Two of these tracks, Volle Kraft voraus (full steam ahead) and Ruhe vor’m Sturm (calm before the storm), I already covered in previous installments of my Best of What’s New music feature here and here, so I’m going to skip them in this post. Let’s kick things off with the nice rocker Jeisterfahrer (ghost driver). The title is a symbol for populist politicians and demagogues spreading dangerous misinformation and ideas. Sadly, this sounds all too familiar.

One of my early favorites is the lovely ballad Mittlerweile Josephine (now Josephine). It’s named after one of Niedecken’s daughters he apparently used to call Josie when she was a young girl. “Actually, the song is for both of my daughters,” he told news agency Spot on News, as published by German regional paper Stuttgarter Zeitung. “But you have to decide how to name it. My younger one is called Joana-Josephine, and the older one is Isis-Maria. Our guitarist wrote the tune and sent me a demo. It included the name Rosie. As I was listening to it, I thought it could also be called Josie.” Here’s the official video.

Amelie, ab dofür (not quite sure how to translate this) is another nice rocker. The lyrics are about a guy who wants to get to Amelie but is stuck in traffic. More generally, the song deals with everyday stress life can throw at you – not sure it has any deeper meaning, but won’t get sleepless nights over it! Apart from bluesy guitar work, the great music features nice horn accents by Axel Müller (saxophone), Christoph Moschberger (trumpet) and Johannes Goltz (trombone).

Jenau jesaat: Op Odyssee (specifically put, an odyssey) looks back on the band’s 40-year-plus history from humble beginnings in local bars to playing the German Rockpalast music festival in the ’80s that was broadcast throughout Europe and put BAP on the map more broadly. “The song deals with our beginnings when we were surprised that suddenly we were supposed to play outside of Cologne,” Niedecken explained during the above interview…’They don’t speak Kölsch, how is this going to work?’…Specifically put, we didn’t go on tour but on an odyssey to unknown regions.” Things worked out quite well for BAP, though their popularity has largely remained confined to Germany and neighboring countries where folks understand German.

Let’s do one more: Huh die Jläser, huh die Tasse (let’s raise our glasses and cups), a song that had been written last last year, was released in connection with Niedecken’s 69th birthday on March 30. Initially, he had planned to throw a party on a boat to celebrate the happy occasion, but that didn’t happen because of COVID-19. Instead, in a surprising move, Niedeckens BAP put out this track to celebrate first responders and others who have helped keep things going during the pandemic. “Huh die Jläser, huh die Tasse is a happy reggae to express our gratitude to people who provide social services in a broader sense, as professionals or as volunteers, and who oftentimes are underpaid and under-recognized in our society,” Niedecken stated at the time, as reported by the German edition of Rolling Stone. “These are the same people who are now saving our butts.”

According to the band’s website, the first takes for the album were recorded live in studio at a facility close to the Eastern German town of Dresden. The album was completed in Hamburg. Alles Fliesst was co-produced by Rode and de Wolff who also composed most of the music. As always, all lyrics were written by Niedecken.

Alles Fliesst is available in standard CD and vinyl formats. There is also a deluxe edition, which apart from the 14 tracks on the standard version features a studio outtake and live versions of nine tracks that were not included on the band’s last live album Live & Deutlich (live and clear) from November 2018. I previously covered it here.

Apparently, in November 2018, Niedeckens BAP became the band with the most no. 1 hits in the German albums chart with the above noted Live & Deutlich. This broke the previous record that had been held by The Beatles.

Sources: Niedeckens BAP website; Spot On News/Stuttgarter Zeitung; Rolling Stone (German edition); YouTube

Clips & Pix: Niedeckens BAP/Halv Su Wild

These days, the U.S. is going through so much pain and despair. It truly feels like unprecedented times, at least to me. While it’s important to acknowledge the two epidemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism and hold those who call themselves leaders responsible, I also believe it’s critical never to lose hope. Never to give up.

One of the many beautiful things music can do is to help lift our spirits. Here’s a great picker upper from my favorite German rock band BAP or Niedeckens BAP, as they have been known since September 2014: Halv su wild (things aren’t as bad). The title track from their 16th studio album released in March 2011 has cheered me up more than once when I felt down.

Like all of the band’s lyrics, the words were written by founder Wolfgang Niedecken. The music of this particular tune was composed by him and his main songwriting partner at the time, former lead guitarist Helmut Krumminga.

The above clip is from a concert that was part of a tour to celebrate BAP’s 40th anniversary, which I was fortunate to attend during a visit to Germany in June 2016. The line-up featured Krumminga’s excellent successor Ulrich Rode.

Of course, I realize most readers don’t understand German – not to speak of Kölsch, the regional dialect in which Niedeckens performs the songs, and that is spoken in the area of Cologne. Following is a rough translation. Admittedly, it sounds much better in Kölsch, but I hope you get the point!

Hey what’s going on, don’t tell me you’ve given up.You’re right things are tough, but no matter what happens, the sun is rising, even though the night seems to be endless. Trust in what the new day brings before you’re consumed by self-doubt.

Things aren’t as bad, just wait and you will see. Definitely, things aren’t as bad, it’s gonna work out. Believe me, things aren’t as bad, no matter how much you despair. The world won’t come to an end. Things aren’t as bad.

Hey man, stop now, you will see land again. Don’t have doubts, you know what you can do. Don’t hide behind a wall, no, you have to get out. Sure, it’s a shitty situation, but, hey, shit happens!

Things aren’t as bad, just wait and you will see. Definitely, things aren’t as bad, it’s gonna work out. Believe me things aren’t as bad, no matter how much you despair. The world won’t come to an end. Things aren’t as bad.

The person who manages to take away our joy to live still needs to be born. It’s not a problem…no, it’s really not.

Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube

What I’ve Been Listening to: Niedeckens BAP/Live & Deutlich

I guess this is another post you can put in the one-thing-leads-to-another category. The latest installment of my Best of What’s New recurring feature included a new song by Niedeckens BAP, Ruhe Vor’m Sturm, which will be on the German rock band’s next album scheduled for September. After listening to that tune, I felt hungry for more music by what has been my favorite rock band singing in German for close to 40 years. When I checked my streaming music provider, Live & Deutlich (live & clear) popped up, a live double CD capturing a concert at Circus Krone in Munich, Germany on June 6, 2018, conducted as part of the band’s 2018 Live & Deutlich tour.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I think it’s a great album – otherwise, I wouldn’t be writing about it! Plus, as a longtime fan, I’m not unbiased here. Of course, I realize a rock band that not only sings in German but more specifically in Kölsch, a regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne, may be a tough proposition to most of the blog’s readers who it’s safe to assume don’t speak German. That doesn’t discourage me. It’s also not the first time I’m writing about the band. I hope to those who don’t understand the lyrics – and trust me, not all people in Germany understand Kölsch either – the music, which I feel is an international language, will be enjoyable.

According to this review by Sounds & Books, Live & Deutlich marked the band’s first-ever tour that featured a full-blown horn section, including saxophone (Axel Müller), trombone (Franz Johannes Goltz) and trumpet (Christoph Moschberger). “That was a lot of fun for us, since the three horn players opened up new possibilities for the band,” commented Wolfgang Niedecken, who has led the band since it was founded in 1976 in Cologne and is the only remaining original member. “We had a ball on stage and enjoyed having songs in the set we had not played in a long time and playing other tunes for the first time with real horns.”

The 30 tracks feature a nice variety of songs spanning much of the band’s 40-plus-year catalog. There are classics, such as Verdamp lang her (it’s been a long time), Kristalnaach (night of broken glass), Du kanns zaubere (you can do magic) and Anna, as well as deeper cuts like Nem mich met (take me with you), Psycho-Rodeo and Ruut-wieß-blau querjestriefte Frau (red-white-blue horizontal striped lady). There is also a cover version of Bob Dylan’s You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere. Many of the tunes were rearranged, in part because of the horn section. Time to get to some music!

Let’s kick it off with Drei Wünsch frei (three free wishes), which is a nice introduction to the horn section. As usual for original tunes, the lyrics are written by Wolfgang Niedecken. The song first appeared on Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier (between salt pretzels and beer) from May 1984, the fifth studio album by the band that between 1982 and 2014 was simply called BAP. On that record, the music was credited to the entire band.

Psycho-Rodeo has a cool Stonesy sound. I dig the slide guitar (I assume it’s played by lead guitarist Ulrich Rode) and again, the horn work is great. The band recorded this tune for their 11th studio album Comics & Pin-ups that appeared in January 1999. The song was co-written by Klaus Heuser, BAP’s guitarist from 1980 until 1999, and Niedecken. In fact, the two of them wrote most of the band’s songs during that time period.

Diss Naach ess alles drin (tonight, anything is possible) is another track from the aforementioned Zwesche Salzjebäck un Bier album. I had not heard that song in many years and feel it sounds really fresh. The horn work is a standout.

Time to slow it down. Here’s a beautiful ballad called Jupp, which is a male name. Originally, it appeared on BAP’s national breakthrough album Für usszeschnigge! (to cut out) from October 1981. The acoustic guitar part combined with the beautiful violin played by Anne de Wolff is the song’s highlight. The tune, another Heuser-Niedecken co-write, also has a nice build turning from an acoustic-focused to an electric power ballad.

After four German songs, I thought it might be a good idea to throw in an English tune, the aforementioned Dylan cover – well, sort of, it’s half English, half German, but, hey, at least it’s got some English! 🙂 Dylan wrote You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere in 1967 in Woodstock, N.Y. during his self-imposed exile from public appearances following his motorcycle accident earlier that year. The tune was first released in November 1971 on his second compilation Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II. For this version, the band is joined by two Bavarian artists, Werner Schmidbauer (guitar, backing vocals) und Hannes Ringlstetter (guitar, backing vocals). I just love this cover – dare I say it, even more so than the original! The Bavarian artists with their local dialect provide character. I also dig the warm rootsy sound of the music, which almost has a John Mellencamp flair to it.

Over the decades, Wolfgang Niedecken has repeatedly written songs with political themes. A recurring topic has been discrimination against immigrants. Here is one of his best, included on BAP’s fourth studio album Vun drinne noh drusse (from the inside to the outside) from August 1982, the above noted Kristallnaach (night of broken glass), another co-write with Heuser.

After such a serious song, I think it’s time for some reggae happiness. Aff un zo (every now and then) is the title track from BAP’s 13th studio album, released in June 2001. The song was co-written by Niedecken and Helmut Krumminga, who succeeded Heuser as lead guitarist in 1999 and was with the band until 2014. Just like Heuser, he became Niedecken’s key songwriting collaborator.

I’d like to highlight one more track, another ballad called Jraaduss (straight shooter). This tune is also from the previously mentioned album Für usszeschnigge! Yet another Heuser-Niedecken co-write, it’s one of my favorite BAP tunes, in part because of the lyrics. An excerpt: Stay where you are/hold on to something/and stay like you used to be/a straight shooter. 

“I’ve always liked live albums,” wrote Niedecken on the band’s website. “Because they authentically capture the sound of a band and are a time capsule. In the ideal case, live recordings document how a band sounds at a particular moment in time.” Speaking of the band, I’d like to acknowledge the other core members I haven’t mentioned yet: Marius Goldhammer (bass), Sönke Reich (drums) and Michael Nass (keyboards). I think I agree with Sounds & Books, which called Live & Deutlich “perhaps the best BAP live album with the most variety since Bess demnähx (see you soon).”

Sources: Wikipedia; Sounds & Books; Discogs; BAP website; YouTube

Best of What’s New

This latest installment of the recurring feature presents yet another new tune by Robert Allen Zimmerman, who finally revealed there will be a new album with original music, probably providing some relief among die-hard Bob Dylan fans. The piece also includes a new song by a German singer-songwriter who happens to be a yuge Dylan fan and has led my favorite German rock band for more than 40 years. There’s also a melancholic track by Norah Jones. And how about rounding out things with some smoking hot blues by an indigenous artist from Canada? Let’s get to it.

Bob Dylan/False Prophet 

False Prophet, released today, is the third new song by Bob Dylan that appeared in recent weeks. He probably thought three make a charm and also finally confirmed what many fans had hoped for: All these tunes appear on a new album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, set to come out on June 19. It’s Dylan’s 39th studio album, per Rolling Stone’s count, and his first release of original music in eight years since Tempest from September 2012. False Prophet, a guitar-driven bluesy tune, definitely speaks to me more than the previously released I Contain Multitudes and the nearly 17-minute Murder Most Foul. In fact, I kinda like it!

Niedeckens BAP/Ruhe vor’m Sturm

BAP or, since September 2014, Niedeckens BAP have been my favorite German rock band for now close to 40 years. I’ve covered this group from Cologne around singer-songwriter Wolfgang Niedecken on various past occasions, most recently here. One of their characteristic features is they sing all of their songs in Kölsch, the regional dialect spoken in the area of Cologne. Ruhe vor’m Sturm (calm before the storm), the first tune from the band’s next album scheduled for September, has rather dark lyrics, drawing a bridge between Germany’s past Nazi era and the growing influence of right-wing extremist ideology in Germany and other countries. “Everything that has happened in previous years, the populists that step by step are gaining power and those who are still in their starting positions…are developments that can frighten you and make you think, ‘how is it supposed to continue’,” said Niedecken during an interview with German broadcast station SWR1. “I’ve had many sleepless nights. I have now grandchildren…and don’t simply want to say, ‘ do whatever you want’ – I won’t accept that.” Niedecken who writes all of the band’s lyrics has spoken up against racism for many years. The song was deliberately released today, the 75th anniversary of Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allies and the official end of World War II and one of the darkest chapters in human history.

Norah Jones/Tryin’ to Keep It Together

Every time I listen to Norah Jones, which for some reason I hardly do, I somehow feel at ease. There’s just something about the singer-songwriter’s voice I find incredibly powerful. Tryin’ to Keep It Together is a bonus tune on Jones’ upcoming eighth studio album Pick Me Up Off the Floor, which will appear on June 12. “I didn’t intend on releasing it early, but it kept running through my head,” said Jones in a statement, as reported by Rolling Stone. “It’s very much how I feel in this moment, so it felt appropriate to release it. Maybe it’s how others feel as well.” The song was co-written by Jones and Thomas Bartlett, a.k.a Doveman, who also produced it. Jones released the official video for the tune today. In a tweet she wrote, “The official video for ‘Tryin’ To Keep It Together’ was filmed at home and is out now. Thanks to my quaran-team house-mate, Marcela Avelar, for making this video.”

Crystal Shawanda/Church House Blues

Crystal Shawanda is an indigenous country-turned-blues artist. According to her website, she grew up on Wikwemikong reserve on an island in Ontario, Canada. While her parents exposed her to country music and taught her how to sing and play guitar, her oldest brother introduced her to what became her ultimate passion, the blues. She started her career in country music and her debut album Dawn of a New Day was released in June 2008. But while country music apparently brought her some success, she started feeling like a fish out of water and decided to take off some time. Shawanda returned in September 2014 with her first blues album The Whole World’s Got the Blues. Her new record Church House Blues was released on April 17. According to this review in Glide Magazine, it was produced by Shawanda’s husband and collaborator Dewayne Strobel, who also plays guitar on the record. The review notes influences from Shawanda’s heroes Etta James, Koko Taylor, The Staple Sisters and Janis Joplin. Regardless whether you agree with their take or not, one thing is crystal clear to me: That woman has mighty pipes and great energy. Check out the title track!

Sources: Wikipedia; Rolling Stone; SWR1; Crystal Shawanda website; Glide Magazine; YouTube