Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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Joy Unlimited Biography: Originally a Mannheim pop band fronted by the powerful female vocalist Joy Fleming under the guise of Joy & The Hit Kids, they moved on to progressive and very different realms by the late-60's and adopted the name Joy Unlimited to record OVERGROUND featuring numerous cover-versions of well-known songs. Their second SCHMETTERLINGE was an odd album for the Pilz label, a complex and ambitious conceptual rock ballet suite performed by a larger much more multi-instrumental ensemble. It ran a wide gamut of styles, from spacious jazz, via psychedelic rock onto a wild tongue-in-cheek raunchy blues, where Joy invites the listener to indulge with her sexually in a most profane manner! A fascinating and unique album. After this, Joy went on to pursue a successful solo career, and the band continued without her. American singer Ken Traylor replaced Joy on REFLECTIONS, an album that developed themes from SCHMETTERLINGE, but with a varied rock fusion as explored by many British bands of the era, like Raw Material or Gravy Train. In sharp contrast, with German Joschi Dinier as vocalist, on MINNE the style changed to a very Teutonic, slightly Floh De Cologne like, progressive folk - "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg"

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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This group began their life as Joy & The Hit Kids, fronted by the talented female vocalist Joy Fleming, and they released four singles on Decca in 1967 and 1968. Their name was changed into Joy Unlimited in 1969, and five further singles were released on Polydor in 1969 and 1970 (I'm not sure if some of the singles were issued under the old name). Polydor also released their first album Overground (1970), a befitting title, as it contained 12 short pop-blues rock songs, clearly inspired by Janis Joplin. For this reason, it is a bit dated today and only completists should investigate. By then, the group was a sextet. Schmetterlinge ('butterflies') was a solid step in a progressive direction. Indeed a very versatile album, ranging from the gutsy Joplin blues of "Rankness" via free jazz improvisations like "Sensual Impressions" to excellent progressive rock songs like "Rudiment". This album saw the arrival of a seventh member: Cord Kothe. The arrangements were refined, benefiting from the group's strong musical muscle. This, and both of the subsequent albums, contained ballet music! The female vocals placed Joy Unlimited in the European tradition of bands like Sandrose, Circus 2,000 and Earth & Fire. However, this was to change when Joy Fleming departed to start a solo career in 1972. Also Klaus Nagel left, and Reflections (1973) was recorded by the five remaining members and new American Ken Traylor. Most material was now instrumental, featuring many flute and sax solos. Influences from classical music and folk were also more evident in the compositions. Their last album, Minne (1974), would have fitted in fine on the Pilz label alongside the folk albums of Holderlin and Broselmaschine. It represented a softening of their style - more sophisticated and homogenous. Traylor had left, being replaced by Joschi Dinier, Hans Lingenfelder and the returning Klaus Nagel. Minne was a very good orchestrated progressive folk-rock album, apart for a couple of short brass-jazz tracks. - "Cosmic Dreams At Play"

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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In the second half of the 1960s the Mannheim-based band known as Joy & The Hit Kids has gained a popularity in the club circuit, playing many live shows and issuing a bunch of sinqles on the Decca label. Their repertoire consisted mostly of simple adaptations of popular beat and rhythm'n'blues pieces, but the band's playing was incredibly tight and professional, while their female vocalist Joy Fleming could easily rival Janis Joplin in terms of rocking energy. With a considerable change of public preferences in the late 1960s, the band's style moved towards psychedelic rock, but it still contained plenty of rhythm'n'blues rudiments. The name "Joy & The Hit Kids" referred to the previous musical era so the band took the imposing title "Joy Unlimited" instead. Soon the contract with Polydor has been signed and in 1970 Joy Unlimited's debut album "Overground" has finally seen the light of day .Musically it was a nice collection of short songs ranging from pop-rock to psychedelic-tinged blues-rock. Joy Fleming was clearly inspired by Janis Joplin and her excellent vocal parts benefited this LP. Besides her, the band consisted of drummer Hans Herkeene, bassist/trombonist Albin Metz, keyboardist/vocalist Roland Heck, bassist/saxophonist/vocalist Dieter Kindl & guitarist/flautist/vocal-ist Klaus Nagel. Soon after "Overground" being released, the band has been kicked out from Polydor (for unknown reasons), so their next effort, entitled "Schmetterlinge" appeared a year later on the famous German progressive label Pilz. Indeed, it was a much more progressive effort, where the blues-rock showoffs, typical for the band's early years were excellently combined with proggy arrangements (1971 saw the arrival of yet one winds-player Gerd Kothe) and even some free-jazz weirdness (listen to the track "Sensual Impressions"). Overall it was a wonderfully versatile album and fans of German prog would certainly like it a lot. The important fact is that "Schmetterlinge" featured music written and performed for no less than a conceptual rock ballet! This album proved one of Joy Unlimited's ultimate masterpieces and has been also released in USA on the BASF label under the title "Butterflies" (English equivalent for "Schmetterlinge". Following "Schmetterlinge" release, Joy Fleming left the band to pursue a solo career (which turned out pretty successful). Disappointed with this fact guitarist and one of the main songwriters Klaus Nagel dropped out as well, but the remaining quintet decided to keep on composing and performing music as Joy Unlimited so the American-born vocalist Ken Traylor has been called aboard to replace Joy. "Reflections", released in 1973 on BASF, established the band as one of the leading German progressive acts. Here are no breathtaking stylistic diversity a-la "Schmetterlinge"- instead we get several excellent purely progressive tracks, reminiscent of Frumpy or Jane with the prominent horn-section added. Influences of folk, hard-rock and classical music has been mixed together to form a wonderful musical puzzle, very typical of the early 1970s progressive rock. Traylor and Kindl left the band before its final album "Minne" to be replaced with vocalist/guitarist Joschi Dinier, guitarist Hans Lingenfelder & the returning Klaus Nagel. Once again released on BASF label, "Minne" (1974) signified the band's shift towards folk-prog, still they were far more competent on this field than many other German folk-prog groups. Yet one masterpiece from Joy Unlimited, this album contains several very tight and sophisticated tracks, departing from the rough heavy progressive rock of "Reflections". If "Schmetterlinge" is the most diverse Joy Unlimited's album ever and "Reflections" is the most energetic and rocking one, "Minne" could well serve as the most beautiful work the band ever recorded. With the demise of this talented band German prog-rock scene lost one of its brightest representatives. Too bad Joy Unlimited hasn't got a wider recongnition in the time of their existence and even worse is that no their albums have been officially released on CD, while the original LPs has become very sought after. With this reissue you can dive into the wonderful world of the unlimited joy without paying megabucks for the BASF LP. As brothers Freeman rightly put in their "Cosmic Dreams At Play" book, "Joy Unlimited were a constantly surprising and inventive band".

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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JOY UNLIMITED from Mannheim developed from their precursor Joy & The Hit Kids in 1969 and released the LP "Overground" (Polydor 2371050) in 1970. In 1971, they re­leased "Schmetterlinge" (Pilz 2021090-1). Both LPs with Joy - later called Joy Fleming - as a singer. The latter work appeared as a CD with four bonus tracks (Garden of Delights CD 111) in 2005, and in its booklet one can read all about the band history until 1971. Joy had turned her back on the band in 1971, but - the show went on. Despite all prophecies of doom, the new formation with the new singer and guitarist Ken Traylor, Roland Heck on organ and electric piano, Gerd Köthe on tenor and soprano saxophone and flute, Dieter Kindl on bass and guitar, Albin Metz on bass and trumpet, and Hans W. Herkenne on drums excellently got on in the scene. There were further invitations to festivals and gigs, the earthy vocals and powerful guitar sound of the Texas singer Ken were appreciated by their audience - the dreaded setback due to the change of the figurehead did not come to pass. Ken Traylor and Joy Unlimited with the new line-up, by the way, took part in an NDR (Northern German broadcasting company) television programme about Joy Fleming, which was shot at that time. In this TV portrait, Joy and Ken, among other things, sing together "All heaven and all earth are silent", and there are other musical contributions by Joy Unlimited. The programme was called "Joy Erna - Eine Stimme aus Mannheim" (Joy Erna - a voice from Mannheim); it was directed by Ernst O. Draeger, production manager was Wolf Brackhahn. The first thing to be released under the new line-up was the 7" single "Silvergun"/"Peace train", which can be heard as a bonus track on the CD "Schmetterlinge". The single "Early morning moanin"/"Proud Angelina" (Pilz 0511556-3) followed in 1972. These tracks have been played with pronounced simplicity and straightforwardness, a brief recollection of their bluesy roots. On the picture sleeve you see - from left to right - Ken Traylor, Hans W. Herkenne, Dieter Kindl, Gerd Köthe, Roland Heck, and Albin Metz. The band management had remained with Klaus Nagel, and thus old contacts were still used in order to provide the band with alternative activities apart from the usual gigs. Among other things, the band took part in so-called radio productions in which they had the opportunity to place some of their own compositions with the radio station. The bonus tracks "Navigationen", "Believe me", "Peters Zeitmaschine" (Peter's time machine), "Mosaik", "Francesco's horse", "Sister Christine", "One small step", and "Highway affair" are from these kinds of productions in July 1971 and January 1972. Furthermore, they made a number of tracks for advertising campaigns, mostly under a pseudonym. One advertising campaign receiving an award in New York was the production "Go easy, go Bahn" for one of the biggest advertising agencies worldwide (McCann). A great experience for the band, which unfortunately ended in a tragedy, was the invitation to the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972. There, on the open-air stage of the so-called playing street, Joy Unlimited played the gigantic multi-media work "Morgen nach dem Feuer, Hymnus 2" (morning after the fire) by Dieter Schönbach and Pavel Blumenfeld. The work had been written for a rock group (Joy Unlimited), a folk band, a Madrigal choir and numerous sound machines. On the playing street on the Olympic grounds artists from around the world and from all cultures met, as well as street musicians, dancers, conceptual artists, performers, etc. This fruitful and peaceful co­operation and coexistence abruptly ended with the cruel attempt on the Israeli athletes' lives. No human being could have imagined in their wildest dreams that a "morning after the fire" in a different sense should suddenly become the bitter truth. A single of the work "Hymnus 2" was recorded for Polydor, with the excerpts "Holy holy" and "Racks", the lyrics of which were written by Allen Ginsberg. On the record label the artist was said to be a certain Multimedia-Group behind which were hidden mainly Joy Unlimited, supported by the Pit Janssens Gruppe and a Madrigal choir. The single (Polydor 1110001) had a booklet-like cover of forty pages which, among other things, contained the complete lyrics of the work. After the senseless act of terror in Munich, this sound carrier silently disappeared from the market. Shortly afterwards, Joy Unlimited started the attempt of mounting a joint project together with several Mannheim bands. A concert programme was worked out with the so-called Mannheim Rock Family, in which the bands Joy Unlimited, Nine Days' Wonder, and Sixty-Nine played works they had developed together; but the enormous organisational difficulties - and unfortunately also personal rivalries - deadened the whole undertaking after only a few gigs. At least the title "29 days of unlimited joy with 66 wonders" was recorded and broadcast by the SWF Baden-Baden. Their co­operation, then, was also not to last much longer than 29 days.

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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The special musical talents of the soloists of Joy Unlimited brought along many offers and new opportunities. Thus, e.g. Gerd Köthe - who, by the way, once got an offer by Tony Ashton - appears as a guest soloist on the LP "Sonnet to Billy Frost" by Nine Days' Wonder (produced by Peter Hauke and Christian Kolonovits, released in 1975) and on the Peter Seiler LP "Keyboards and friends" (RBM 5004) from 1973. The SWF Bigband seriously discussed Roland Heck as a potential successor, after their pianist, organist, and arranger Dieter Reith had quit the band, and Hans W. Herkenne got several offers by established gala bands that would have liked to make use of his great musical experience. But in spite of obviously looming economic problems, for the moment all remained the same; the common wish for good music kept the group together. And this common hope was rewarded. A new artistic and creative climax was opening up, one that should take place on the same level with "Schmetterlinge": Joy Unlimited got another commission for a big, full-length ballet composition, this time from the Mannheim Nationaltheater. The idea of the ballet was based on the verses from the Bible "To everything there is a season…"; elementary contrasts and situations of life were summarized under the title "Reflections". As with "Schmetterlinge", Dieter Kindl, Gerd Kothe, and Roland Heck composed the music, the lyrics were written by Hans Herkenne and Ken Traylor. Again, the music was remarkably multi-layered. It is interesting to observe how intensely the composers and writers influencing the work brought their own respective musical background into the composition: Hymnal epic ballad motifs by Roland Heck ("Crystal palace"), the preference for the concert guitar and renaissance music by Dieter Kindl ("King Richard's court jester") and the rock/jazz-influenced intensity of saxophone player Gerd Kothe ("Colossus of steel and iron") as well as his flute solos inspired by the blind multi-instrumentalist Rahasaan Roland Kirk ("The search for father time"). Remarkable in this title are also the passages in two voices played on the flute and the effects achieved by an electronically manipulated flute. In the vocals of Ken Traylor, who introduces his first part with the fervent cry "I'm free…", as well as in his guitar sound, the love for Deep Purple is unmistakeable. The ballet - with the theatre's ballet ensemble dancing - was performed live over a period of two playing seasons at the Mannheim Nationaltheater. The performances' success was overwhelming. An LP of this work was recorded in 1973 and released in that same year under the name of "Reflections" (BASF 2021686-1). This decidedly demanding and complex music had been recorded in the Ludwigsburg studio Bauer, under the direction of sound engineer Martin Wieland, within only a few days. The second sound engineer, Carlos Albrecht, who hasn't been mentioned on the cover, today holds a professorship at the sound engineer college in Detmold. As an allusion to the LP title, the cover shows a silver ball in which is reflected a female relative of the photographer Willi Hölzel. This shot was inspired by the famous lithograph "Hand mit spiegelnder Kugel" (Hand with reflecting ball) (1935) by the famous Frisian artist M. C. Escher, of which there are numerous illustrations to be found on the internet. On the flipside you can see (left to right) Dieter Kindl, Ken Traylor, Albin Metz, and Gerd Köthe; next to them sits Roland Heck, on drums in the background there is Hans W. Herkenne, and next to him stands the group's long-standing roadie Josef Müller, amicably named Seppl by all of them. The music on the LP is powerful, expressive, and imaginative. The wide musical range spans rock motifs, jazz notes, complex rhythms, and even medieval styles. Again, the band's elaborate craftsmanship and musical ingenuity could be admired. Arts critics enthusias­tically praised the work, the whole topic was presented during the Berlin radio exhibition in the ZDF magazine "Aspekte", and one sequence from the flute solo "The search for father time" was played as the theme melody of "Aspekte" for quite some time. Only years later was this music replaced by a theme by the Cologne cult band Can around bandleader Irmin Schmidt. Comparing "Reflections" with "Schmetterlinge", one can say that "Reflections" is more straightforward, less floating and, ultimately, more rocking. A touch of Colosseum had sneaked in and made the music straighter and more concise. The track "Motion is movement" is one example. A special sound-related charm is caused by the somnambulistic complementary interplay between the smoky-passionate flute of Gerd Köthe and the gently and passionately played Hammond organ of Roland Heck. Without any doubt, they are - even before the untamed and raspish voice of Ken Traylor - the fundamental soloists on this LP, be it in lyric moments or in wild outbursts, also driven on by the pressing grooves of the brilliant drummer Hans Herkenne and the massive bass of Albin Metz. Joy Unlimited were skilful enough not to provoke any direct comparison, concerning composition and sound, with "Schmetterlinge" and the inimitable singing of Joy, also by applying the soulful voice of Ken Traylor more economical - but absolutely convincing - and by deliberately abandoning vocal improvisations; instead, they emphasized Ken's rock and dramatic talents.

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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After this extraordinary artistic achievement it was not clear where the musical journey should lead to. For quite some time the music of "Reflections" was used as the musical backbone of the band's gigs, but in spite of a high acknowledgement from art critics and the admiring respect of artist colleagues, this music was denied a real breakthrough outside the theatre; purely and simply because the standard demanded was too high, especially when the visual element of the ballet was no longer present. Where then was the journey to go? Nowhere for the moment, because Ken Traylor by all means wanted to realize his second dream - a career as a motorbike racing driver - just at that time; and after there had been several occasions on which he could not keep appointments for this reason, Joy Unlimited without ceremony started to search for a new singer. "Reflections" had been the climax, but also the end of the story of this great line-up. But: The story of Joy Unlimited was meant to continue. At that time also some license editions of the LP were released, not in Great Britain but e. g. in Japan (with OBI strip and a different cover backside), in New Zealand, or even in Venezuela (with a colourful label). Here, the large company BASF could benefit from its world-wide connections. There were, however, no later re-releases. Only one illegal CD-edition (Expertise Records EXCD-9923 FF) came out, and that was in Russia in 2004. It has been recorded from a vinyl LP and contains no bonus tracks. According to the price catalogue 2007 of the German record collectors' magazine "Oldie-Markt", "Reflections" is presently traded at 43.50 € in mint condition, according to the "Cosmic price guide 2006" (Wohltorf 2005, www.cosmic-price-guide.com) by Ulrich Klatte at 40 €, and according to "The Penguin price guide for record and CD collectors" (London 2000) by Nick Hamlyn at £15 - in England the group is in less demand. For the single "Early morning moanin" a price of 19.30 € or 15 € has been set; it is not listed by Nick Hamlyn. In the well-known sources there is not a lot to be found about "Reflections". In "The crack in the cosmic egg" (Leicester 1996), Steven and Alan Freeman merely write: "An album that developed themes from 'Schmetterlinge', but with a varied rock fusion as explored by many British bands of the era, like Raw Material or Gravy Train." Dag Erik Asbjornsen in "Cosmic dreams at play" (Glasgow 1996) does not say much more: "Most material was now instrumental, featuring many flute and sax solos. Influences from classical music and folk were also more evident in the compositions." A longer review by Achim Breiling can be found on the internet at www.babyblaue-seiten.de. Excerpts: "As its predecessor album 'Schmetterlinge', 'Reflections' offers a quite colourful musical mixture in which ingredients can be found from classic progressive, jazz-rock, blues-rock, organ-progressive, brass-rock and - as a new element - folk. Ken Traylor's voice sounds a bit like John Wetton but holding a greater volume, which comes out clearly in a few passages of bluesy roaring. There is, however, not a lot of singing to be heard in 'Reflections'; for most of the time the band is playing instrumental music. One could draw comparisons with bands like Colosseum, Warm Dust, Jethro Tull, Van der Graaf Generator, Procol Hamm, and If, but here Joy Unlimited have created their own, very specific mixture. Electric guitar, bass, and drums provide the rocking basis, above which Roland Heck on organ sees to the symphonic sonority and Dieter Kindl, Albin Metz, and Gerd Kothe come in with solos using a variety of wind instruments (saxophone, flute, bassoon, trumpet). Very melodiously and forward-pressing comes the music out of the loudspeakers, wavering between hymnal-symphonic passages, classic-inspired pro­gressive music (The search for father time') and very brass- or jazz-rock-like moments, sometimes becoming contemplative and relaxed, earthy-bluesy or based on sacral organ sounds. From time to time also a trace of krauty-meditative floating sounds can be detected. Somehow stepping out of line is the folk-based 'King Richard's Court Jester', in which at first recorders and then a flute a la Jethro Tull spread some kind of folk-rock atmosphere, an influence which was to become even stronger on the band's last album 'Minne' from 1974. The record's climax is definitely the relatively long piece 'The search for father time', in which Gerd Kothe presents himself as a masterly and extremely versatile flutist and creates, together with various strange keyboard sounds -probably stemming from the synthesizer - and a filigree acoustic guitar, a very special, progressive classic-rock. 'Reflections' is a worthy successor of the already very con­vincing album 'Schmetterlinge' and hardly makes one miss the characteristic voice of Joy Fleming. This record will probably appeal strongly to lovers of classic, Hammond-organ-based progressive music who are not against occasional brass or jazz trips." Strangely enough, not even one record review of Joy Unlimited appeared in the German music magazine "Sounds".

Notes: Credit to flogger77, the original uploader. Great listening just for who loves "Progessive Rock" and Van Der Graaf Generator particularly.

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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Joy Unlimited - Reflections - 1973 (Remastered Expanded Edition - 2007)

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