Ash Ra Tempel

Along with <a href="spotify:artist:1BGN1IdyiSR0ZYrkoKNchl">Tangerine Dream</a>, Ash Ra Tempel (later Ashra) was one of the first bands to convert the trippier side of late-'60s psychedelia into the kosmische rock of the '70s. Most Ash Ra titles were solely the work of <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Manuel Göttsching</a>, plus any other additional players who happened to be around during the recording of his ten albums. <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Göttsching</a> trained in classical guitar and studied improvisational music plus electronics at school. In 1970, he formed Ash Ra Tempel with no less than <a href="spotify:artist:3U2U4TR03ZuStsizrv0EJB">Klaus Schulze</a> (fresh from a brief stint in <a href="spotify:artist:1BGN1IdyiSR0ZYrkoKNchl">Tangerine Dream</a>) and Hartmut Enke. After a self-titled album in 1971, <a href="spotify:artist:3U2U4TR03ZuStsizrv0EJB">Schulze</a> left for a solo career; <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Göttsching</a> carried on with a variety of bandmembers and guests, including <a href="spotify:artist:2yuMEs1pcJKMwZajj68aa2">Timothy Leary</a> on 1973's Seven Up (and <a href="spotify:artist:3U2U4TR03ZuStsizrv0EJB">Schulze</a> again, for Join Inn).

By 1975, <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Göttsching</a> had released his first solo album (Inventions for Electric Guitar) and though Ashra returned the following year, the next two records by the "group" were <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Göttsching</a>-only albums, the brilliant New Age of Earth in 1976 and Blackouts one year later. For the '80s, most Ashra LPs were full-band albums (with the assistance of guitarist Lutz Ulbrich and drummer <a href="spotify:artist:1yejR2Tszo9sGMXtmuq07K">Harald Grosskopf</a>) while <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Göttsching</a> solo records (like the landmark E2-E4) were, truly, solo records. He also reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:3U2U4TR03ZuStsizrv0EJB">Schulze</a> to work on <a href="spotify:artist:0xliTEbFfy5HQHvsTknTkX">Alphaville</a>'s 1989 LP, The Breathtaking Blue. <a href="spotify:artist:38KMWWA4MPJ6VxlO9kx6CU">Manuel Göttsching</a> died on December 4, 2022 at the age of 70. ~ John Bush, Rovi