Comment:
In Herb's original words ...
12 and a half month after their 1973 concert, opening for UFO, the Scorpions returned to Minden with a new line up.
Michael Schenker had left the band, moved to England, joined UFO and was the major influence on their new, third album
PHENOMENON.
Only Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine remained from the original Scorpions and merged with "Dawn Road" members
Uli Roth, Francis Buchholz and Jürgen Rosenthal, using the Scorpions name, as the massive concert schedule and the
1972 album Lonesome Crow had established this band name on the German Live scene.
In early 1974 I had changed my Uher 724L tape machine for a Sony TC 377, 3 May was the second time I carried it to the
legendary "Zur Grille" concert hall . I knew the members of the local opener ADDITION, so it was easy to get access
to the venue early in the afternoon. As usual I positioned my gear in the middle of the hall, got the right level and mic
position during the soundcheck. I well remember that Rudi Schenker came to me to talk about the tape machine,
he had bought the same model for his father and both we were very impressed by it´s performance.
In no way was he against my intention to record his band that night, maybe because we were known to each other,
as I had visited him in Laatzen (Hannover) in late '73, to buy parts of the Scorpions former PA system.
These circumstances made it possible to documentate the band in it's new incarnation with new material, not even
recorded yet for their forthcoming album, released in November of 1974.
That nights setlist mainly drafted from their new stuff , no songs from the "Lonesome Crow" album anymore.
It needed not more than 2 minutes of their opening song to make clear, that with Uli Roth the band had found
a guitarist to fill the big shoes of Michael Schenker. Melodic, easy accessible Hard Rock was the formula, sometimes contrasting
with Roth's spacy Hendrix influenced material. Nearly 20 minutes of the set were dedicated to R&R classics and lengthy
guitar improvisations. Maybe at that time they lacked more stage ready original material.
After "This Is My Song", Meine referrs to the Scorpions last appearance in Minden with than lead guitarist Michael Schenker.
"Last time we were here in Minden, some of you will have heard, we played with Michael, Michael Schenker,he played lead guitar with us,
we played with UFO, some of you will recall, ya, (pause ., laughs) - since than he plays with UFO.(long pause) that's life .
in this respect, Minden does have a certain significance for our group."
This underlines what Rudi Schenker and Klaus Meine said in several interviews: The 1973 Minden concert seemed to be Michael's initial step towards leaving the band and joining UFO.
Not to forget my old friend Vestus, from the earliest schooldays until today!
He was the guy, who dragged the heavy tape machine and all our gear (on foot), all the kilometers from my parents house to the Grille location, and back home late in the night.. We were 16: Whereas I invested every Mark and Pfennig into my recording system,his main interest became photography with main focus on live music. Herewith you can see the beautiful results of his efforts from that very night !
Few notes of interest about the rarity of this performance/recording;
1. 2nd Earliest "known" Live Recording Of the SCORPIONS With ULRICH ROTH
2. Earliest "known" Live AUDIENCE Recording Of ULRICH ROTH (19 YEARS OLD)
3. Earliest "known" Live Recording Of the songs, "Hey Little Woman" & "Far Away" played with ULRICH ROTH on Guitar.
4. Earliest "known" Live Recordings Of, THEY NEED A MILLION, DRIFTING SUN & FLY TO THE RAINBOW (w/Different Lyrics)
5. 2nd Earliest "known" Live Recordings Of, THIS IS MY SONG & SPEEDY'S COMING
6. Earliest "known" Live Recording Of all the other songs played with ULRICH ROTH on Guitar!!
7. The only known Live Recording to feature JURGEN "Doobie" FECHTER - Drums
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