Tanned Leather
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1972) - Jim Cannon -- drums, percussion - Alf Gardner (aka Wolfgang Emperhoff) -- vocals - Herbert Igle -- backing vocals, keyboards, percussion - Dicky Mude -- backing vocals - Andy Marx -- guitar, banjo - Rainer Pietsch (aka R.A.M. Pietch) (RIP 1997) -- bass
supporting musicians (1972) - Hans Jurgen Fritz -- keyboards
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- Birmingham & Eggs (R.A.M. Pietsch) - Cherubin (Andy Marx) - Cornflask (R.A.M. Pietsch) - Creepy John Thomas (Andy Marx) - Dream Voices (Alf Gardner) - Family Tree (Andy Marx and R.A.M. Pietsch) - Alf Gardner (solo efforts) - Jet Set Band (Herbert Igle) - Andy Marx (solo efforts) - Michael & the Firebirds (Andy Marx) - ORS (Orlando Riva Sound) (Alf Gardner, Herbert Igle and Rainer Pietsch) - Ray P. (Rainer Pietsch) - Passport (Andy Marx) - R.A.M. Pietch (solo efforts) - The Singing End (Alf Gardner, Herbert Igle and Rainer Pietsch) - Soul Bluff (Andy Marx) - The Stowaways (Rainer Pietsch) - Uncle Sam ( (Alf Gardner) and Herbert Igle)
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Genre: pop Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Child of Never Ending Love Company: Harvest Year: 1972 Country/State: Germany Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: -- Price: $80.00
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Based in West Germany, the band Tanned Leather (why did they think that was a good name?), is mildly interesting for the fact they represented a musical niche that most music fans don't know exists. Think about '70s German bands and you usually come up with the terms "Krautrock" or "schlanger". Look Krautrock up in Wikipedia and the definition you get is:
" ... a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electronic music, among other eclectic sources."
Look up the term "schlanger" and the definition you get is:
"European popular music and radio format generally defined by catchy instrumental accompaniments to vocal pieces of pop music with simple, easygoing, and often sentimental lyrics."
Tanned Leather (and their musical precursor The Singing End) don't fit either category.
I've looked and as far as I can tell there isn't much documentation on Tanned Leather's history. Lead singer Alf Gardener, keyboardist Herbert Ihle and multi-instrumentalist/producer Rainer Pietsch had all been members of the West German pop band The Singing End. When that group broke up in 1971, the three continued their musical partnership in what morphed into Tanned Leather. By the time the group was signed to Harvest Records, the line-up had expanded to include English drummer Jim Cannon, singer Dicky Mude and former Creepy John Thomas guitarist Andy Marx.
The
band's 1972 debut "Child of Never Ending
Love" was recorded at Munich's Musicland Studios with
Rainer Pietsch producing. Showcasing nine original compositions,
unlike The Singing End LP where Pietsche wrote all of the material, this
time around the writing duties were split between Pietsch and guitarist
Marx. While both men shared an interest in country-rock, Pietsche was
the more conventional writer with an ear for pretty melodies. Marx
was more e
"Child of
Never Ending Love" track listing: 1.) Feelin' Tired (Andy Marx) - 4:47 rating: **** stars Having listened to this album dozens of times over the years, I'm still surprised at how much I like the blues-rocker 'Feelin' Tired.' Powered by a nifty Andy Marx riff and Alf Gardner's accent-free vocals, a good comparison would be something coming out of the early Bad Company catalog. Yeah, Gardner wasn't Paul Rogers and things got a little rocky when the angelic backing chorus kicked in and Gardner tried to power up his vocals, but the groove quickly kicked back in. Pietsch's melodic bass lines were tasty. (I've heard the guitar riff on another song and have never been able to place it ...) Great way to start the album. 2.) Sunshine Lady (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:40 rating: *** stars The acoustic ballad 'Sunshine Lady' sounded like they'd been listening to a lot of English folk-rock bands. One of the album's prettiest performances, the melody was almost pastoral, though the angelic backing chorus was once again unnecessary. Harvest tapped the song as a German single:
- 1972' 'Sunshine Lady' b/w 'Jesus May Help You' (Harvest catalog number 1C 006-30 371)
3.) King of Misunderstood (Rainer Pietsch) - 6:24 rating: **** stars One of my favorite performances, had I heard the rocker 'King of Misunderstood' out of context and without any knowledge of the band, there's no way I would have pegged them for a '70s West German outfit. This was another tune that just had such a British folk-rock/progressive flavor ... This was one of the songs where Gardner demonstrated he could belt out a song. The string orchestration sounded like something off a Move, or ELO song. 4.) Jesus May Help You (Rainer Pietsch) - 3:33 rating: *** stars Opening up with some pretty Marx acoustic guitar, the ballad 'Jesus May Help You' would have given American "Jesus music" bands like Joshua and Love Song a run for their money. Not exactly a genre I'm into, but the song was certainly pretty and Pietsch's lyrics were apparently heartfelt.
(side
2) Propelled by some nice Marx acoustic guitar, 'I Came Home' could have easily been on a country-rock album released by an American or British band. Very Firefall-ish to my ears. Surprisingly strong melody and memory factor. 2.) On a Rainbow (Rainer Pietsch) - 5:02 rating: **** stars Showcasing support from Triumvirat keyboardist Hans Jurgen Fritz, 'On a Rainbow' was the album's prettiest performance. Backing Gardner with a Gospel chorus, the tune had a great melody and the refrain was sheer ear-candy. Marx also got a chance to showcase some jazzy lead guitar moves. This is the song I would have floated as a single 3.) Spinning Round (Andy Marx) - 3:32 rating: *** stars Powered by Marx's un-credited banjo moves, 'Spinning Round' injected a touch of Americana into the mix. Normally a song like this would have sent me to the turntable to move on to the next song, but for some reason I quite liked this one. Gardner didn't sound like he was singing this one. 4.) I Won't Talk (Andy Marx) - 0:58 rating: * star Geez, the baritone vocal sounded like a Budweiser frog commercial. This really wasn't more than a song fragment. 5.) Thanks for the Child (Andy Marx) - 5:27 rating: **** stars Back to country-rock, 'Thanks for the Child' was another beautiful ballad with interesting lyrics. I've always wondered if they were non-secular. Regardless, it was one of those melodies that dropped your blood pressure several points.
Only 53, Pietsch died of a heart attack in August 1997.
© Scott R. Blackerby July 2024
© Scott R. Blackerby |
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cclectic
dipping his compositional toes into blues-rock, pure country ('Spinning
Round') and the plain weird ('I
Won't Talk'). As lead singer Gardner had
a great voice. He'd clearly been practicing his English as this time
around his delivery was virtually accent free. He was also versatile
enough to handle everything from pastoral ballads like the single 'Sunshine
Lady', the non-secular ballad 'Jesus
May Help You' to
the blues-rocker 'Feelin' Tired.' Those tracks served to
underscore the band's versatility. These nine tracks were all over the
spectrum which made it hard to get a handle on their image. Most of
their musical explorations were at least modestly entertaining - check out
the Firefall-ish country-rocker 'I Came Home' or the rocker 'King
of Misunderstood.'
If you heard one of these tracks without any knowledge of the band, you'd be
hard pressed to believe they were German. As I mentioned
earlier, that's one of the things fascinating about the release - their
sound is just so removed from Krautrock ... 