Franke Echo Quintet

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Franke Echo Quintet
Franke-Echo-Berlin
General information
Genre (s) Beat music
founding 1959
Website www.franke-echo.de
Founding members
Dieter Franke
Henry Kotowski
Current occupation
Melody guitar
 Dieter Franke
Karin Franke
Keyboard , vocals
 Jürgen Paasch
Drums
 Jürgen Günther
Rhythm guitar
 Udo Zschocke
former members
Bernd Frömel
bass
 Peter King
Hans Sigismund
bass
 Werner Friedt
saxophone
 Kurt Gerlach († 2020)
Drums
 Manfred Brückner
Keyboard
 Jochen Gleichmann

The Franke Echo Quintet, at times also the Franke Echo Sextet, was founded in East Berlin at the end of 1959 . It was one of the pioneers of the beat movement in the GDR . Band founder Dieter Franke was considered a "master" of the movement and was a role model for many of his young musician colleagues. The band appears today under the name Franke-Echo-Berlin .

Band history

From 1960 onwards, the line-up included Dieter Franke (melody guitar), Henry Kotowski (drums, vocals), Bernd Frömel (rhythm guitar), Peter König (bass guitar) and Hans Sigismund (saxophone). Characteristic of the band's style at the time were instrumental pieces with a twang sound , founded by the American guitarist Duane Eddy . The Franke Echo Quintet gained national recognition with this musical concept. The prerequisite for the recognition by the predominantly young audience was the perfection achieved in emulating their idols. Like all GDR bands, the Franke Echo Quintet had to struggle with insufficient equipment. The special sound could not be achieved with the musical instruments available in the GDR trade and the amplifier systems lacked volume, sound volume and variability. Instruments and devices from the West traded at high prices after the Berlin Wall was built and were unaffordable for the young musicians. Inventiveness and a talent for improvisation were required. This was not a problem for the trained electrical mechanic Dieter Franke. Among other things, he made a three-necked electric guitar from old mandolins. The necessary bobbins were wound from thin wire with the help of a sewing machine. In addition to the show effect, the guitar enabled a quick tonal change by just one guitarist. In addition, an echo device was used, which went into the name of the band.

With the end of the Shadows era in the mid-1960s, the band became one of the few out of thousands of beat groups to become a professional formation. That meant media presence and appearances in bars and dance halls with high demands. Nevertheless, the band never lost their grip and continued to organize beat evenings for their young fans in their then domicile, the "Twistkeller". The “Twistkeller”, in which the Sputniks had also found their home, was opened in 1962 as a youth club in the Kreiskulturhaus in the Treptower Puschkinstrasse. This was the most famous Beattreff in East Berlin and very soon developed into a musicians forge. In 1964, the Franke Echo Quintett was one of the first beat bands to be given the opportunity to appear on GDR television. At the height of Beatlemania in the GDR, in October 1964, the GDR label Amiga produced the sampler Big Beat I , the GDR's first beat LP. The record, released in February 1965, features seven instrumental recordings by the Franke Echo Quintet. On the LP Big Beat II , released in the same year, the band presented four original compositions.

The Franke Echo Quintet also appeared as a backing band for Manfred Krug . In the middle of 1965 Franke recruited the band. From then on he was accompanied by Werner Friedt, Kurt Gerlach, Manfred Brückner and Jochen Gleichmann, who later switched to the Music Stromers and the Modern Soul Band . In September the quintet was given the opportunity to accompany the Munich singer Gisela Marell , who gave a guest performance of several weeks at the Steintor-Varieté in Halle (Saale) , and to play her own sets. In the same year, the band produced several original compositions for the DEFA film Spring Needs Time by Günter Stahnke , which was banned a short time later. At the end of the year the band went on an international tour to Poland . While it was still successful in 1965, the band also felt the changed attitude of the GDR authorities towards the Beat movement a year later, but survived the "Ice Age" and has remained active under the name Franke-Echo-Berlin to this day. The current line-up includes Dieter Franke (guitar), Karin Franke (bass guitar), Jürgen Paasch (vocals, keyboard), Udo Zschocke (guitar) and Jürgen Günther (drums).

Discography

Albums

  • 1982: The Sputniks / Franke Echo Quintett: The early years (B-side, Amiga )

Singles

  • 1964: Brasiliana (only B-side, Amiga)
  • 1964: Peter Gun / Hungarian Shepherd's Song (Amiga)
  • 1965: There is a house in New Orleans (only A-side, published under Manfred Krug and Franke Echo-Quintett, Amiga)

Compilations

  • 1965: Big Beat I (Amiga), eight of 14 tracks
  • 1965: Big Beat II (Amiga), four of 16 tracks
  • 2006: The Red Cockatoo (soundtrack to the film of the same name ), Peter Gun and Hawa Nagila

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Rauhut : Beat in the gray area. P. 98
  2. ↑ Rolf Roncka: Big-Beat on Amiga. In: Melodie und Rhythmus, Berlin (Ost), issue 23/1964, p. 18.
  3. ↑ Official website , accessed January 22, 2012