Missus Beastly ~ Germany

Minden 1976 (2023)

You would be hard pressed to find a more ardent fan of Missus Beastly than myself. Especially their jazz rock era starting in 1974 and concluding in the early 80s with Dr. Aftershave. This would include their festival recordings as well. However when it comes to archival releases, their two prior could only be considered disappointments. The SWF Session is largely a live radio alternate take of their 1974 self-titled album and is debatable that it should have been released in the first place. The Bremen 1974 performance with Dzyan guitarist Eddy Marron sounded like a home run on paper, yet it was mostly a free jazz exercise, noisy and tuneless.

With that backdrop I reluctantly plucked down for Minden 1976 with obvious trepidation. And the good news is I was rewarded with a unique recording that sounds like an improvised 75 minute concert based on familiar Missus Beastly themes. Garden of Delights went to great lengths to point this out, seemingly addressing my concerns personally, and they were right to do so. The sound is fantastic, and they point out it wasn't from the soundboard but rather two professional microphone recordings mixed together. They stated they didn't want the soundboard (which I guess exists too) because it would have been a different mix than intended. Never thought about that before. So the feeling you get is that you're actually there listening to a concert played 48 years ago. The instrumental music is very good with some long solo opportunities, to be expected on a lengthy concert. Perhaps best of all is Norbert Domling's use of the Framus Triumph bass. Essentially it was an electric upright bass, but much thinner and lighter more ideal for travel. Has a cool sound, and one wonders why it wasn't more popular in its day. Though I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Keyboards, flute, sax, and drums round out the sound. Guitar wasn't part of their usual lineup during this era.

Ownership: CD: 2023 Garden of Delights. Jewel case. Full historical liners and photos.

7/15/24 (review)

Dr. Aftershave - In the Diving Bell (1980 / 2017)

In The Diving Bell is essentially Missus Beastly's final album. Dr. Aftershave was a moniker they'd used in the past, as the album known as Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles was actually the name of the band and For Missus Beastly the title. But of course no one sees it that way, it was just a legal matter.

Musically it's easy to consider In the Diving Bell as a continuation of where the band was at with Space Guerrilla. They're only a trio here, so the music is not quite as diverse as before. Especially notable is the absence of woodwinds. Mostly it's Burkard Schmidl's keyboards that lead the way, with a superb rhythm section driving the music forward. He plays a mixture of piano, period synths, and analog electric keyboards. At the beginning of the album I wasn't convinced the band had much left in the creativity tank, sounding like any number of 1980 fusion bands out there. But once the lengthy 'Resurrection Agents' gets going, the magic of Missus Beastly steps up with it, and the perception changes. The album was intended to be released real time, so the sound quality is that of a final product. Overall a very fine effort straddling the border of very good to excellent. Knowing how Missus Beastly has grown on me in the past, I figure this album will also grow in stature with time.

Ownership: 2017 Garden of Delights (CD). Historical liner notes, excellent sound, and plenty of photos.

9/21/22 (review)

Space Guerilla (1978)

Missus Beastly's final album sees the legendary band going out in style. The constant line-up changes had taken their toll on the group, and though they continued on with different line-ups as late as 1982, the band finally collapsed with the advent of punk and heavy metal.

Flute and Clavinet are but two instruments that define this mature work by these veterans of Germany's jazz rock circuit. A mixture of high energy fusion and spaced out cosmic jazz with long flights of organ jamming define the lengthy title track, arguably the album's finest moment. Some beautiful piano can be found on 'Guitar for Sale'. 'Rahsaan Roland Kirk' is a 3 minute echoed flute solo, which is quite cool. 'Fuzzy, Don't Go to the Disco' brings in the expected funk bits, typical of the era, but features some fine shredding violin. 'Hoffmannstropfen' seems to be headed in a similar direction, before taking a distinct turn towards their classic 1974 Nova album, which is always a welcome sound. 'For Flü' demonstrates Missus Beastly at their most technical and progressive, with some superb flute and piano playing. 'King Garlic' continues with the piano driven sound, this time in a highly melodic composition, and a great way to close the album. For my tastes, Space Guerilla is second only to the monstrous 1974 self-titled album in their discography. I do hope a tape surfaces of one of their mid to late 70s performances. For example, 'Porta Erotica' that has been added as a bonus track to the Garden of Delights CD, from one of the famous Umsonst und Draussen festivals that we covered years ago.

Ownership: 1978 Schneeball (LP). Gatefold; 2015 Garden of Delights (CD). Two bonus tracks and liner notes.

2000 (acquired); 7/10/16 (review)

Dr. Aftershave and the Mixed Pickles (1976)

Dr. Aftershave and The Mixed-Pickles sees Missus Beastly moving onto the more-in-fashion funky sounds of the era, while still building on the jazz rock of the 1974 album. Anyone who is familiar with Embryo's Bad Heads and Bad Cats will immediately recognize the sounds here (and they share many members between the groups). Worth noting this is the first album on the April label, later renamed Schneeball for legal reasons.

Ownership: 1976 April (LP) FOC; 2011 Garden of Delights (CD). Two bonus tracks, history, and photos.

2002 (acquired); 2010; 11/17/11; 3/18/13 (review)

Missus Beastly (1974)

The evolution to a Masterpiece status is a strange phenomenon. Like many albums at first glance, Missus Beastly's second album struck me simply as better than average. As the years went by, something about the album kept drawing me to it. Not all masterpiece albums take this long of course, but this is one of those albums that gets into your skin and just won't let go. It's now to the point where the measuring stick for all things jazz rock must go up against it. Cosmic Dreams At Play says of this album "uninspired slick fusion", which could not be further from the truth. The rhythm section here is amazing, jet propelled, sporadic, and energetic. The piano playing is divine, frequently compared to McCoy Tyner's best work. The dual sax/flute combination drives the melody and solo lines and they're always in control. And the tunes are memorable long after the music has stopped as perhaps best exemplified by '20th Century Break'. A brilliant album.

The CD adds four bonus tracks that demonstrate a much rawer and looser Missus Beastly, but still very engaging.

Personally I find the LP cover absolutely hideous, and downright offensive. According to the CD liner notes, the band had no artistic control of this situation, and it appears to be the poor judgment of the label themselves. The cover doesn't represent the style of music at all.  

Ownership: 1974 Nova (LP); 2005 Garden of Delights (CD). Bonus tracks and liner notes.

1996 (first acquired); 3/16/13 (review)

SWF Session 1974 (2012)

Hmm! So we have an interesting one here. The question is: Are you willing to buy an alternate version of the 1974 Missus Beastly album? If the answer is yes, then definitely get this. If not, read on. I'm disappointed in Long Hair for not mentioning the similarities between the two. And the lackluster liner notes make no explanation as to why some of the tracks have different names than on their vinyl counterpart. It's worth noting that these recordings (two different sessions) were recorded near the dates of the studio release, so the similarities with the actual album are certainly understandable from the band's perspective.

The album begins with 'Fly Away', which is track 6 on the Nova album. It's a great example of why the original album is so brilliant in my eyes (the album itself is a 5 star masterpiece as far as I'm concerned - see above).

But now the problems start. The second track would appear to be unique, if titles are what we go on here: 'Simsalabim'. But the melody is instantly recognizable and, sure enough, it's the 'Paranoidl' track from the LP.

Now things really get weird. Track 3 is 'Talle', which turns out to be '20th Century Break' on the original, and happens to be one of my favorite tracks of all-time. No mention, as I stated earlier, as to why the difference in track titles. To make matters worse, 'Talle' from the LP is the ONLY track not on the SWF Session. Good grief - what a mess.

'Free Clinic' is a unique track, though there is a longer improvised live version on the GoD reissue (as a bonus track).

'Geisha' is a pretty faithful representative of the LP version. 'Space in the Place' is the first truly new piece (I think) represented here. But at just two minutes, there's not much to grab onto.

'Song For Ann' is a beautiful Dieter Miekautsch piano piece - except it too was released on the (get ready) Missing Link album from 1972 (Missing Link... Missus Beastly. Ay-yi-yi. Keeping up with me here?). It's slightly different than the LP version, but not by much.

'Dauerwurst', like 'Simsalabim', is not new. It's a renamed version of 'Vacuum Cleaner Dance' from the Nova LP. It's driving me nuts why none of this has been mentioned before!

'Julia' is a lively rendition of the Nova album opener. Different enough to be exciting, and perhaps what this SWF could have been about. But no.

And we get to the last two tracks - which are finally unique. 'Serenade to a Soul Sister' is no doubt an embryonic version of 'Vloflutho' which shows up as a bonus track on GoD's CD of the '74 album.

Former ownership: 2012 Long Hair (CD)

3/17/13 (review)

Missus Beastly (1970)

Missus Beastly's debut is squarely in the psychedelic blues rock camp, and is significantly different than their later (and brilliant IMO) jazz rock albums. Highlights here are the gloomy organ, Mississippi Delta blues guitar, and downer vocals. Definitely strives for a down and out American alley sound. And succeeds for the most part.

Missus Beastly's debut album is one of the earliest examples of a studio album being pirated and resold (Nara Asst Incense version). While this has sadly become common practice in the CD era, it was very rare in the early 70s when the industry was more tightly controlled. 

Ownership: 2012 Garden of Delights (LP). Gatefold. Liner notes.

3/9/13 (review)

3/9/13 (new entry)