Krokodil - An Invisible World Revealed (1971 SUI)

Discazo 5 estrellas, y no es mahou. Edicion rusa del disco con 5 bonus, a 320 y con portadas completas. Ademas de las canciones normales en torno a los 4 minutos, tiene 4 por encima de los 10, algo de agradecer en este grupo.

Krokodil

Formado : Enero 1969 en Zurich Suiza

Personal:
Hardy Hepp (violin, piano, vocals)
Düde Dürst (drums, percussion, vocals)
Walty Anselmo (sitar, lead guitar, vocals)
Terry Stevens (bass, guitar, vocals)
Mojo Weideli (harmonica, flute, percussion)

Krokodil, Cocodrilo en aleman, aunque suizos llevan el espiritu del krautrock en las venas. Normalmente son presentados como la version krautrock de The Groundhogs. Krokodil tiene sus origenes en el blues, endureciendolo y dandole un toque experimental, lo mismo que The Groundhogs. Sin embargo Kokrodil son innovadores por derecho propio, no copian, excepto quiza en sus raices estilo John Mayall.

Como muchas bandas suizas, Krokodil era un grupo mayoritariamente de cantones alemanes, con un ingles: Terry Stevens. En los origenes del grupo Hardy Hepp, apodado el Bob Dylan suizo, lideraba el estilo junto a Mojo Weidili en la harmonica, con una mezcla suave de folk y blues.

Despues de la salida de Hardy para continuar su carrera en solitario, Krokodil saca "An invisible world revealed" (Un mundo invisible sacado a la luz), su tercer disco, mezclando elementos etnicos y de fusion, obteniendo un hibrido de Amon Düül II, Man y Third Ear Band con el estilo Krokodil. Aunque en sus anteriores trabajos ya sacaron elementos etnicos, en este disco el sitar, las tablas y las flautas tienen mucha mas presencia.

Krokodil (German for "Crocodile") were constantly promoted by the labels they signed to as a Krautrock band, yet though they had the spirit of Krautrock in their veins, the truth was that they were Swiss! Naturally, Liberty tried to present them as the Krautrock answer to The Groundhogs. Well, Krokodil did have blues origins, they really knew how to rock-it and had a flair for the experimental, so they did have the same sort of attitude as The Groundhogs. But, all that aside, Krokodil were innovators in their own right, not at all copyist, except for maybe their John Mayall type roots. Like most Swiss bands, Krokodil were an unlikely combo, mostly of German-Swiss extraction, with one Englishman: Terry Stevens. Early on, the quoted "Swiss Bob Dylan" Hardy Hepp seemed to be in control, his softer folk and blues mix, and Mojo Weideli's harmonica, gave them a more down-to-earth sound.

After Hardy's departure for a solo career, Krokodil really blossomed with the extraordinary “An Invisible World Revealed”, an album that took on all sorts of ethnic and fusion elements, becoming like a hybrid of Amon Düül II, Man and Third Ear Band, all mixed into that unique Krokodil style. Ethnic elements had figured in earlier Krokodil recordings, but not so much as here, where the sitar, tablas and flute are heavily featured. Krokodil had become the finest of Swiss Krautrock bands.

A change of label, to Bacillus, their next album “Getting Up For The Morning” offered a similar blending of rock, blues and ethnic styles, though in a more condensed and song-based concoction. The double album “Sweat & Swim”, though it had a couple of duff tracks, also contained some of their best, not least so the 17 minute cosmic-ethnic trip "Linger" recalling the masterworks of “An Invisible World Revealed”.

Discografia:

1969 Krokodil
1970 Swamp
1971 An Invisible World Revealed
1971 Krokodil Musik
1972 Getting Up For The Morning
1973 Sweat And Swim
1976 Classic German Rock Scene
1977 Krokodil [Bellaphon Records]
2005 The Psychedelic Tapes

1971 Krokodil Solo (de Düde Dürst, bateria de Krokodil, con participacion de muchos de sus miembros)

LOOK FOR: INVISIBLE