Along with Ougenweide, Parzival were one of the few German bands to follow in the steps of British groups like Gryphon and use medieval folklore as the basis for their refined progressive music. The nucleus of the group was the trio Lothar Siems, Walter Quintus and Thomas Oliver. Siems and Oliver had played together since 1965 in the Bremen group The Chamberlains, before joining the Quintus Ouartet. Their repertoire comprised increasingly folky styles. In 1971 they took the name Parzival and obtained a recording contract with Telefunken. Legend (1971) was a fine album of lyrical, electric folk-rock with much use of flute, violin and acoustic guitars. Featured guests were: Matthias Muller-Menckens (flute, piano), Joachim Reichhold (cello) and Hans Jaspers (viola). Some of the tracks had the slight melancholia I associate with Novalis at their best. Unlike Ougenweide and Novalis, Parzival sang in English and lacked the German distinction of the folk-rock bands on the Pilz label. Like Pell Mell, Parzival also incorporated classical music, but not in a pompous large scale manner. Technically they enjoyed the steady support of producer Konrad Plank. An obscure single ("One Day" coupled with "Souls Married To The Wind") followed in 1972. Luckily it was later included on the Rock In Deutschland sampler in 1981.
Their second and sadly last album Ba-rock emerged at the beginning of 1973. The group had expanded with the addition of cellist Walter v. Seydlitz and helped by Muller-Menckens and Harald Konietzko (bass, vocals). This was similar to their first album, although in parts closer to rock than Legend. Parzival's legacy is to have recorded two of the best German folk-rock albums which avoided the trappings of over-ambition. Most of their songs were short, melodic, charming and beautiful. For this reason, their original albums are fast increasing in value, currently a bit short of 100 DEM each.
01 - One day (Bonustrack,single 1972) 3:40 02 - Marsby Legend 2:31 03 - Resignation 2:55 04 - 8 years later 4:40 05 - Senseless No. 6 4:54 06 - Wall bungalow 2:41 07 - Empty land 5:11 08 - Groove inside 16:02
09 - Change your mind (bonustrack,recorded 1969) 2:12 10 - Sarah Girl (bonustrack,recorded 1969)
- Lothar Siems / guitar & vocals - Walter Quintus / violin, bass, organ & piano - Thomas Olivier / drums, vocals & percussion - Matthias Müller-Menckens / flute & piano - Joachim Reichhold / cello - Hans Jaspers / viola
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