Hairy Chapter
Eyes
Formed late 1968 in Bonn, West Germany, Hairy Chapter intended to create a kind of white blues, playing own material with a permanent rock feeling, influenced by John Mayall, Cream and Jimi Hendrix but spiced up with its own ingredients. According to the band not only the Bonn music scene was enthusiastic about the band, but also a certain young Dieter Dierks was impressed and offered the band to record their first album in his new little studio, a former pigsty in Cologne-Stommeln, a rural setting north of Cologne, Germany. Their first album 'Eyes' was released in 1969. The album's release was accompanied by a professional promotion campaign. Every popular German radio station but also BFBS British Forces Broadcasting Service, located in Cologne, featured the album with great success and gave the band the opportunity to play 2 songs live in the studio, featured for the first time as bonus tracks on this reissue. 'Bad Dreams' started the album, a kind of standard blues-rock structure with pedestrian guitar from guitarist Titlbach and a haphazard harmonica solo. Imagine a Teutonic, second string Black Sabbath and you'd know what to expect on the first two thirds of this one. The last third of the track lead into a much tougher song, complete with a blazing Titlbach solo and some funky studio effects at the tail end. 'Pretty Talking Girl' was an unexpected ballad. Surprisingly pretty, the only complaint was that clocking in at under 90 seconds the song ended before it really got going. 'Pauline' kicked along by a funky! Oldenburg bass line and some of Titlbach's best playing, 'Pauline' was one of the album's highpoints. Yeah the song briefly lost its course midway through, but stumbled back home for the second half. 'Illusions' closed side one with a striking rocker. A fantastic laidback number with Unte holding back some of his normal aggressive vocal power to deliver a surprisingly sensitive performance. This one had another nice Oldenburg bass line and chiming Titlbach lead guitar. The only complaint here was that the song closed out as a standard blues-rock jam complete with hideous harmonica solo. Side two starts with 'Looking For A Decent Freedom' and found the band branching off in a more psych direction. The overall feel was still heavy metal with a nice guitar hook, but Unte's screaming vocals were treated to give the song kind of lysergic feel. With its pounding opening 'Cry For Relief' instantly attracted my attention, but about 20 second in the track abruptly switched tempo becoming a Doors-styled blues-rocker. I will tell you that Titlbach turned in one hell of a wah-wah solo on this one. Another atypical number 'Thought After' offered up an pretty 90 second acoustic ballad. Would have been one of the better tracks if they'd bothered to extend the length. 'Life 69' was a relatively funky blues workout with multi-tracked vocals. It was also one of the few tracks to showcase drummer Haubold. 'Big Fat Woman Blues' is a blues-rocker that showcases Rudolf Oldenburg's bass work. Just after the release of the second album 'Can't Get Through' in the middle of 1971, the group called it a day. 'Eyes' is an early classic of German independent underground music. A real monster of sound. A must have for your collection. The album was remastered and comes with 2 bonus tracks recorded live at BFBS Radio Studio Cologne in 1969, reissued for the first time. There is also a 4-sided cover sized insert sheet with story and many photos. Don't miss it!