What is this actually about?
| What is this actually about? | |||||
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| Studio album by Hildegard Knef | |||||
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Publication |
October 1971 (LP) / 2005 (CD) |
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admission |
September 9, 1971 (bonus tracks: November 13, 1971) |
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| Label (s) | LP: Decca ( Teldec ) CD: Warner Music Group |
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
12 (+ 2 bonus tracks on the CD) |
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running time |
44:44 (CD) |
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Studio (s) |
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What is this actually about? is a German-language music album by the actress, singer and author Hildegard Knef . The lyrics of the twelve included chansons come from the interpreter herself. The composer, arranger and musical director of eight songs was Les Humphries . Hans Hammerschmid took over these tasks for the remaining four songs . The album was released in October 1971 as a long-playing record on the Teldec's Decca label . In the same year, the tracks Nur mit dir and Die Schnecke were released as a single . The entire album was re-released on CD for the first time in 2005 with two bonus tracks .
Emergence
The Austrian composer Hans Hammerschmid has been arranging most of Hildegard Knef's recordings since 1967. The Hammerschmid and Knef team of authors wrote successful titles such as For me it should rain red roses and From now on it went downhill (both 1968). In collaboration with Hammerschmid, the music albums Halt mich fest (1967), Dreams are called du (1968), knef concert (1968) and KNEF (1970) were created. With the latter, Hammerschmid and Knef broke new ground musically by orienting themselves on current pop , beat and folk music . In addition to four compositions by Hammerschmid, the next studio album was to be created primarily in collaboration with the British musician Les Humphries.
The Les Humphries Singers were an international vocal group that was heavily influenced by the hippie movement , musicals like Hair and popular gospel choirs like the Edwin Hawkins Singers . The group was still at the beginning of their career in 1971, which would peak in the mid-1970s. Although Hildegard Knef retained the artistic upper hand in the collaboration, the interpreter produced extraordinarily fast songs. Hildegard Knef said in retrospect: "At first they really all said you are completely crazy, but sometimes you just have to be insane and take risks in order to achieve something and to set something new in motion!"
According to Knef, the idea of working with the Les Humphries Singers came about in “a discotheque at Zurich Airport . [...] My machine left at seven in the morning. We had worked like stupid people during the night, so that nobody could sleep. There is no discotheque in Zurich itself, so the sidewalks are folded up at midnight, and some taxi driver then gave me the tip for the airport. I heard Les Humphries for the first time in this Zurich discotheque ” . According to other sources, however, the co-production was reprinted by the Decca record company, which had both artists under contract. The vocal recordings of the twelve tracks took place on September 9, 1971 in the Teldec Studios (today Teldex Studio ) in Berlin-Lichterfelde. The album was produced by the British actor David Cameron , who was married to Hildegard Knef from 1962 to 1976.
Music and content of the title
13. Christina (Les Humphries / Hildegard Knef / David Cameron Palastanga) *
14. Holiday Time (Hildegard Knef / David Cameron Palastanga) **
(*) Musical director: Les Humphries
(**) Musical director and Processing: Hans Hammerschmid
The first title, what? You're doing well? , is a contemporary, ironic pop song on the subject of optimism ("What? You are fine? That should be changed, you can 'reduce your silly satisfaction today with a little something"). The next piece, I don't recognize you , is a modern, easy-listening composition that manages with comparatively subtle choir entries. Knef's lines of text refer to a city to which she will return after a long time (“We will rediscover each other, my city, you and me”).
Dear Sir, Dear Madam… is an epically arranged track that is reminiscent of the work of the American composer Jimmy Webb . Piano and string instruments accompany the stanzas, the chorus is impressively supported by the Les Humphries singers and brass . In the text, Hildegard Knef uses more cynical than tactful words to cancel an invitation in the form of a letter ("You will understand me, I would like to see you, but you are simply stealing my time"). The following piece is an a cappella number that tells a short fable ("Thirteen fish sat at table and had the same neuralgia ").
The title track What is this actually about? , stylistically a mixture of hippie song , beat and hit song , makes it clearest why the album just missed the aesthetic zeitgeist musically. Journalist Jan Feddersen wrote in the text accompanying the CD re-release: “At the time of publication, songwriters such as Reinhard Mey and Franz Josef Degenhardt were already claiming the tradition of the chanson , the singing and texting diva Knef fell through all grids.” The eponymous question answered Hildegard Knef with ironic words (“What is this actually about, except that everyone doesn't want to be everyone?”).
Ferienzeit , penned by Hildegard Knef and Hans Hammerschmid, is one of the most extraordinary tracks on the album. In the number, which is heavily influenced by funk , Knef reports on a casual bass line in the spoken word about the "lame, noisy holiday season". She makes several references to current and personal topics ("Christina, three years old, plays her records, the blacksmith forges the iron and saffron turns the cake yellow.")
Only with you is the most traditional chanson on the album, lyrically and musically. Knef's lines, accompanied by a piano and a calm orchestral and choir arrangement, are a classic love song (“Only with you does love have no everyday life”). Such 'das Schöne , on the other hand, is again a contemporary and optimistic pop song (“Search the beautiful, don't stop with those who have forgotten to see what's beautiful”). The lines of the chanson Die Schnecke ("I am in a hurry, spoke the snail after going around a corner") are accompanied by a slow and dreamy arrangement.
In the chanson Ein Freund, Hans Hammerschmid combined the melancholy text (“A friend… my friend… you died”) with a folkloric melody that is carried by acoustic guitar , piano and harmonica and works entirely without a choir. Although it was also composed by Hammerschmid, the track I wait for the night is dominated by the powerful Les Humphries Singers and a modern percussion .
The last piece of the LP, melting buttercups? , on the other hand, is again a quiet, easy-listening song. Hildegard Knef, whose daughter Christina was three years old when the album was made, wrote a text with various children's questions (“Does my shadow sleep when I sleep, what is eternity?”) And some counter-questions (“And the colors of your eyes, yours Hair like mine, have you lent it to me or even given it to me? ").
Bonus tracks
Christina , mostly sung in English, is also about Knef's daughter. Only two stanzas are in German ("Christina, who says to the stranger: I am Christina; Christina, who asks the stranger: And who are you?"). Recordings with the voice of Knef's daughter Christina were mixed in among the last part of the song. At Holiday Time is largely a literal translation of the play holiday season into English. Both lyrics are by David Cameron, Knef's then husband.
Publications
TV show
On October 28, 1971, shortly before the long-playing record was released, Hildegard Knef and the Les Humphries Singers presented seven pieces from the current album in addition to older Knef songs in the TV show I need a change of scenery on ZDF : What? You're doing well? ' What is this actually about? , Only with you , thirteen fish , I'm waiting for the night , melt buttercups? and look for the beautiful . In the show, which was hosted by Heiner Gautschy , Hildegard Knef said that the record reflects her personality in every second of her life - contradicting, but happy mood.
LP, singles and CD
In October 1971 the long-playing record came on the Decca label (order number: SLK 16734-P) from TELDEC "Telefunken-Decca" Schallplatten GmbH . In the same year the single was released Nur mit dir / Die Schnecke (Decca D 29 134). Hildegard Knef designed the LP and single covers by hand. In the cover of the album was an LP-sized portrait with Hildegard Knef's husband David Cameron and their daughter Christina on his shoulders. The text of the song Ferienzeit was also handwritten on the back of the portrait .
The bonus tracks on the CD re-release were recorded on November 13, 1971 in the Teldec studio in Hamburg. Both tracks, sung in English and partly in German, appeared in December 1971 on the Decca single Christina / Holiday Time (order number: 84037) in France . Neither the long-playing record nor the singles were listed in the hit parades of that time. In the long term, however, the album achieved a certain respectable success. Hildegard Knef described the album as her "most successful" , although the sales figures speak against this claim.
In 2005 the complete album and the two bonus tracks were remastered and released on CD by the Warner Music Group (order number: 5051011-1484-2-2).
more publishments
On the album texts, written and read: Hildegard Knef (1972; Philips) were recitations of the lyrics I don't recognize you , melt buttercups? and dear sir, dear woman ... included.
Others
What is this actually about? was Hildegard Knef's last album produced for the Decca label. From 1972 to 1980 Knef's records were released by Philips . By 1975 three albums were released there under the musical direction of Hans Hammerschmid. Years later, Les Humphries composed and arranged five tracks from Hildegard Knef's last Philips studio album Das ist ein Zeit ... (1980; Philips). The musical director of the album and composer of the seven remaining tracks was Kai Rautenberg .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Quote in the book: Axel Andree : Hildegard Knef Original sound: For me it should rain red roses ... Verlag a-verbal. Berlin 1995. ISBN 3889990320 .
- ↑ a b c d Jan Feddersen : Text accompanying the CD What is this actually about . Warner Music. 2005.
- ↑ Hildegard Knef - filmography . As of November 8, 2010.
Web links
- Description of the LP in the authorized Hildegard Knef database (with lyrics)
- What is this actually about? at Discogs (English)
- What is this actually about? at music collector (German)