IN CONCERT

SUB were a five piece out of Germany who managed to release this one studio album before vanishing. They all had a background in beat music, but were all gung-ho about being part of the German underground scene that would become known as Krautrock eventually. So yes naming yourself SUB certainly connects well with that psychedelic underground movement in Germany in the early seventies. I like the name. And yes it's deceiving to call this "In Concert" given it's a studio album. Adding fake crowd noise etc. on that opening 18 plus minute track to make it sound live does take away from my enjoyment knowing it's not live.

But no behind the scenes trickery will take away my admiration for this album. My music right here. These guys know how to play and they loved to jam. And they have an amazing singer who can bring it, very entertaining. He has character in those vocals, and even sounds like Bryan Ferry at times when he slows it down. The drumming also stood out, and he would go on to play with AMOS KEY a more Symphonic band from Germany that released an album back in 1973. And while the vocals and drumming impress the most here, the solo instruments of guitar and organ are also very good.

They clearly were fans of THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP as they cover "Gimme Some Lovin'" and then add "I'm A Man" as a bonus track. And there is, as others have mentioned, a non-German vibe to their music with American and British bands coming to mind. That over 18 minute opener is the one to hear. They sure like to jam and experiment.Lots of feedback from that guitar and after the guitar and organ have had their way, the piano takes a turn. I do like that cover "Gimme Some Lovin'" especially the bass.

The opener which is called "Sub Theme I" has a second part "Sub Theme II", and at 2 1/2 minutes it sounds nothing like the first part. Same with the two final tracks "Match I" and "Match II" as they have nothing in common(haha). That leaves "Off" and "Ma-Mari-Huana", and the latter was released as a single with "Off" the b-side. Yes a song about weed, and it was their most popular song. Weed has been legal here in Canada for 6 years but it seems way longer. But acceptable now to the point that people bring weed products as gifts for Christmas events at work etc. We have all gone to pot here.

Those stories my Accountant teacher told us in High School were so cool about The Netherlands and weed. This teacher had "Close To The Edge" and other Prog vinyl albums at the back of the class. Yeah cool guy. Actually a couple of classes back then in the second half of the seventies had record players in their class. My Art teacher only specified one band he would not allow anyone to spin, and that was RUSH. Yeah "2112" was pretty extreme back then.

I feel this is well worth picking up for those wanting to check out some of the more rare Krautrock albums from back in the early seventies. Garden Of Delights as usual did a real nice re-issue with this one.