Royal Servants - We 1970 - software for linux

Royal Servants, the forerunners of the more widely known Eulenspygel, were formed by a couple of schoolboys from the town of Reichenbach in Swabia. Since 1964, they had been playing together as the Sounders, changing the name to Royal Servants in 1965. In the early years, they played beat like everybody else. The actual founders were Matthias "James" Thurow (8/25/1949, Tübingen) on guitar and Gerhard Schlotz (8/3/1948, died in 1997), on bass. The line-up was complete when Helmut Bescherer (9/25/1948) on drums and Klaus Schwagerick on rhythm guitar joined them. In 1967, the band bought an electronic organ, Gerhard Schlotz switched instruments and his school friend Ronald "Ronny" Libal (5/4/1948, Plochingen) replaced him on bass. The latter came from the Ambassadors, a band from a neighbouring town, which had also played beat since 1965 and was now breaking up. Gerhard Schlotz had been their guest musician for a short while in 1967. When Gerhard Schlotz, Klaus Schwagerick and Helmut Bescherer left the Royal Servants in 1968, in came drummer Wolfgang Zimmermann (2/16/1948) from the Buttons and, later that year, singer Manfred Maier from the Swallows as well as rhythm guitarist and organist Michael Scheibner, also ex-Buttons. When Wolfgang Zimmermann quit in early 1969, Alex Alecke took over the drums. It was with this line-up that, in May 1969, they recorded the single 'Burning Region'/'Help Me Please' (Juke Box JB1) at the Meilhaus studio in Munich. The lyrics were written by Ronald Libal, the music - by Matthias Thurow. The edition was 1,000 copies. Some time later, Detlev Nottrodt (1/6/1946, Stuttgart) on guitar and organ and Günther Klinger, a talented drummer joined the Royal Servants, replacing Michael Scheibner and Alex Alecke. On 4/4/1970, they recorded their single, 'Still I Belong'/'The Blues Comin' My Way' (Royal Corporation RC1003) at an excellent studio in Stuttgart. That very year saw the release of yet another single, 'Work Part II'/'Someone To Be With Me' (Royal Corporation RC1004), their third, which was again written by Detlev Nottrodt and recorded at the Jankowski studio. It even got to No.2 on Radio SWF3. The band were now busy playing gigs in the area and even went on tour of Austria. In the Summer of 1970, they decided to release an LP and won over keyboard player Reinhard Hetzinger of the Speeders as guest musician. In the middle of the recording, singer Manfred Maier announced he had to quit the band for 'work' reasons. Their new singer Rainer "Mulo" Maulbetsch, who had been with Mulo & The Misfits and the Hardships before, was not able to acquaint himself so quickly with his new task, and so Detlev Nottrodt sang most of the songs. As for the vibraphone (some sort of amplified metallic xylophone), they engaged the best musician in the Stuttgart area, Peter Mayer, who had been playing with Detlev Nottrodt on several occasions before. The tracks were recorded in October 1970, again in the tried and tested Jankowski studio, and mixed shortly afterwards. The LP was released under the title of "We" (Elite Special PLPS 30130) in an edition of probably one or two thousand copies, and has meanwhile become a quite sought-after collectors' item. It includes the two tracks from the third single. Played on the radio, their singles, "Still I Belong" and "Work Part II", made not only fans prick up their ears but also well-known record companies. On this first LP, where they had all the free reign they wished for, they offer no sterile perfection but spontaneous improvisation and sounds, 'studio live', so to speak. The arranged tracks, as well as all the lyrics, attain a level of quality one simply wouldn't have dared to think an amateur pop band was capable of. As the music of the Servants (all songs were written by Detlev Nottrodt) is so varied, this mixture of progressive and melodious will surely earn them a lot of new fans.

Line-up / Musicians

Detlef Nottrodt/guitars,vocals
Manfred Maier/vocals
Reinhard Hetzinger/organ
Günter Klinger/drums,percussion
Matthias James Thurow/guitars
Ronald Libal/bass
Peter Mayer/keyboards
Cornelius Hauptmann/flute

Discography

We 1970