Herbert Dreilich
Encyclopedia
Herbert Dreilich was a German-language rock
musician. He was an early pioneer in, and an important contributor to, German-language Rock music
. An accomplished singer, songwriter
and acoustic guitarist
, he was best known as lead singer for the group Karat.
, Austria
, which at that time was a part of Nazi Germany
. As a child he moved with his family to Great Britain
, and then to West Germany
. He moved again in 1959 with his family to Halle
, East Germany (the German Democratic Republic
). There he completed school in 1961, and worked as a retail store decorator.http://www.netzeitung.de/entertainment/people/317044.html
Dreilich began to play acoustic guitar
in 1960 at an amateur level with the group Jazz Youngsters in Halle. From 1962-64 he played with Reinhard Lakomy, and from 1967-68 with The Music Stromers. These experiences led him to attend the Music School of Berlin-Friedrichshain
(in then East Berlin
) from 1967-71. During this course of study he played with the Henry-Kotowski-Quintett and The Puhdys
from 1968–69, and with The Alexanders from 1969-71. After graduation in 1971 he became a professional member of the jazz-rock fusion
group Panta Rhei, which he was with until it dissolved in 1975. At that time he and two other members left to found Karat, a group he remained with until his death in 2004. From 1977-on he was the lead singer for Karat, always recording in the German language.
With Karat's distinctive style of progressive rock
, in 1978 Dreilich and his bandmates won the Grand Prize of the International Schlager Festival in Dresden, and toured to West Berlin
.http://www.ostbeat.de/Karat.htm Karat gained quickly in popularity, resulting in an audience across the border in West Germany,http://www.earcandymag.com/karat.htm and even in many other countries of both Eastern
and Western Europe
. Karat received two West German gold records
: one for Der blaue Planet (The Blue Planet) in 1982 and one for Albatros (Albatross) in 1984. That year Karat was also awarded the National Prize of the GDR for Arts and Literature
, and appeared on the popular West German television show Wetten, dass..?
.http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?iA=4&artist=5249
In 1986 Dreilich was also involved in the short-lived East German supergroup the Gitarreros, where he performed together with Tamara Danz
of the band Silly
, Toni Krahl of the band City
, and Mike Kilian of the band Rockhaus.http://www.ostrock24.de/bands/gitarreros.htm That year his band Karat received the Goldene Europa, West German television’s oldest award.http://www.radiobremen.de/tv/schlager/stars/karat.html
By the end of the 1980s Karat had lost all of its other founding members, and also a degree of its popularity. It carried on after the fall of the Berlin Wall
in 1989 with Dreilich as bandleader
, finding new inspiration in more western-oriented pop rock
styles.http://www.mtv.de/artists/artists.php?char=k&artist=karat To Dreilich’s disappointment, over the following years Karat was regarded by many as a relic of the former GDR. Yet, as a foremost representative of Ostrock
, the band did maintain a dedicated core fan base among eastern Germans.
Dreilich worked to broaden Karat's live tours to the former West German states of the Federal Republic
, as well as to Switzerland
and Austria
, partly through touring and recording with artists from those areas. The band returned to its progressive rock roots in the mid-1990s, and was making something of a comeback, when in October, 1997 Dreilich collapsed on-stage in Magdeburg
of a stroke
. He survived the event, but became largely incapacitated and afterward experienced a series of physical problems.http://www.mtv.de/artists/artists.php?char=k&artist=karat In August, 2003 he was diagnosed with liver cancer
and ceased to tour. In the night of December 11–12, 2004 he died of cancer, at the age of 62. A burial was held on December 15, 2004 in Berlin-Biesdorf, attended by a large gathering, among them many prominent musical colleagues from Germany and other countries.
Herbert Dreilich was married three times, and had one son and one daughter. In 2005, his son Claudius Dreilich took his place as lead singer for Karat.
:
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
musician. He was an early pioneer in, and an important contributor to, German-language Rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. An accomplished singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and acoustic guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, he was best known as lead singer for the group Karat.
Biography
Dreilich was born in 1942 in MauterndorfMauterndorf
Mauterndorf is a market town in the Tamsweg district in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The municipality also comprises the Katastralgemeinden Faningberg, Neuseß and Steindorf.-History:...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, which at that time was a part of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. As a child he moved with his family to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and then to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He moved again in 1959 with his family to Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, East Germany (the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
). There he completed school in 1961, and worked as a retail store decorator.http://www.netzeitung.de/entertainment/people/317044.html
Dreilich began to play acoustic guitar
Steel-string acoustic guitar
A steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
in 1960 at an amateur level with the group Jazz Youngsters in Halle. From 1962-64 he played with Reinhard Lakomy, and from 1967-68 with The Music Stromers. These experiences led him to attend the Music School of Berlin-Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is a part of Berlin's borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, and like Kreuzberg across the river it has its own distinct character, with the result that the new double name is hardly ever used outside government administration. From its creation in 1920 until Berlin's 2001...
(in then East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
) from 1967-71. During this course of study he played with the Henry-Kotowski-Quintett and The Puhdys
Puhdys
The Puhdys are a veteran German rock band, formed in Oranienburg , in what was then the German Democratic Republic, in 1969, although they had been performing together, with various lineups, as the Puhdys since 1965. They continue to record and tour...
from 1968–69, and with The Alexanders from 1969-71. After graduation in 1971 he became a professional member of the jazz-rock fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
group Panta Rhei, which he was with until it dissolved in 1975. At that time he and two other members left to found Karat, a group he remained with until his death in 2004. From 1977-on he was the lead singer for Karat, always recording in the German language.
With Karat's distinctive style of progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, in 1978 Dreilich and his bandmates won the Grand Prize of the International Schlager Festival in Dresden, and toured to West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
.http://www.ostbeat.de/Karat.htm Karat gained quickly in popularity, resulting in an audience across the border in West Germany,http://www.earcandymag.com/karat.htm and even in many other countries of both Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. Karat received two West German gold records
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
: one for Der blaue Planet (The Blue Planet) in 1982 and one for Albatros (Albatross) in 1984. That year Karat was also awarded the National Prize of the GDR for Arts and Literature
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
, and appeared on the popular West German television show Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..?
Wetten, dass..? is a long-running German-language entertainment television show. It is the most successful Saturday television show in Europe...
.http://www.sonybmg.de/artists2.php?iA=4&artist=5249
In 1986 Dreilich was also involved in the short-lived East German supergroup the Gitarreros, where he performed together with Tamara Danz
Tamara Danz
Tamara Danz was the lead singer and lyricist of the East German rock group Silly. She died at age 43 of breast cancer.- Life and work :...
of the band Silly
Silly (band)
Silly is a German rock band. Founded in East Germany in the year 1978, Silly was one of the country's most popular music acts, and was well known for its charismatic lead singer Tamara Danz. Her death in 1996 ended the band's recording career for 14 years...
, Toni Krahl of the band City
City (band)
City is a German rock band, formed in East Berlin in 1972, best known for the song "Am Fenster" from its 1978 first album....
, and Mike Kilian of the band Rockhaus.http://www.ostrock24.de/bands/gitarreros.htm That year his band Karat received the Goldene Europa, West German television’s oldest award.http://www.radiobremen.de/tv/schlager/stars/karat.html
By the end of the 1980s Karat had lost all of its other founding members, and also a degree of its popularity. It carried on after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in 1989 with Dreilich as bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, finding new inspiration in more western-oriented pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
styles.http://www.mtv.de/artists/artists.php?char=k&artist=karat To Dreilich’s disappointment, over the following years Karat was regarded by many as a relic of the former GDR. Yet, as a foremost representative of Ostrock
Ostrock
Ostrock is rock music from the formerly communist East Germany. The word derives from the German word "ost" , and "rock" .-Notable ostrock bands:* City* Feeling B* Gerhard Gundermann* Nina Hagen* Karat* Keimzeit* Lift...
, the band did maintain a dedicated core fan base among eastern Germans.
Dreilich worked to broaden Karat's live tours to the former West German states of the Federal Republic
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as well as to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, partly through touring and recording with artists from those areas. The band returned to its progressive rock roots in the mid-1990s, and was making something of a comeback, when in October, 1997 Dreilich collapsed on-stage in Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. He survived the event, but became largely incapacitated and afterward experienced a series of physical problems.http://www.mtv.de/artists/artists.php?char=k&artist=karat In August, 2003 he was diagnosed with liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
and ceased to tour. In the night of December 11–12, 2004 he died of cancer, at the age of 62. A burial was held on December 15, 2004 in Berlin-Biesdorf, attended by a large gathering, among them many prominent musical colleagues from Germany and other countries.
Herbert Dreilich was married three times, and had one son and one daughter. In 2005, his son Claudius Dreilich took his place as lead singer for Karat.
Discography
- 1973 Panta Rhei
- 1978 Karat (Carat)
- 1979 Über sieben Brücken (Across Seven Bridges)
- 1979 Albatros (Albatross) — West German debut album, compiling first two East German albums
- 1980 Schwanenkönig (Swan-King)
- 1982 Der blaue Planet (The Blue Planet)
- 1983 Die sieben Wunder der Welt (The Seven Wonders of the World)
- 1985 10 Jahre Karat – Auf dem Weg zu Euch – Live (10 Years of Karat – Coming at You – Live) — Live albumLive albumA live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
- 1986 It's Only Rock´n´ Roll – Die Gitarreros live im Konzert (It's Only Rock´n´ Roll – The Gitarreros Live in Conzert)
- 1987 Fünfte Jahreszeit (Fifth Season)
- 1990 ... im nächsten Frieden (...in The Next Peace)
- 1991 Karat (Carat)
- 1995 Die geschenkte Stunde (The Given Hour)
- 1997 Balance (Balance)
- 2000 Ich liebe jede Stunde (I Love Every Hour) — Compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
- 2001 25 Jahre Karat – Das Konzert (25 Years of Karat – The Concert) — Live albumLive albumA live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
- 2003 Licht und Schatten (Light and Shadow)
- 2005 30 Jahre Karat (30 Years of Karat) — Compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Literature
All titles are in GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
:
- Pop Nonstop – Caroline Gerlach, VEB Lied der Zeit, 1985
- Über sieben Brücken – Wolfgang Schumann, Henschel Verlag, 1995
- Meine Jahre mit Karat ("My Years with Karat") – Jens Fritzsche, 2005