Here's an obscure piece of classic German progressive rock from 1971, a time when the Hammond organ was seen as a must have addition, which nowadays is very nearly extinct.
Keith Emerson was the big deal at the time with his exploration crossing rock and classical with sometimes mesmerising and dramatic effect ('America' anyone?) and other times carrying the drama on.. and on (and that was just the bands budget).
The relatively uncomplicated rock/pop singles of 1965 to the complexities of the 'album bands' in just 5 or 6 years was to separate out the mainstream audiences clearly. Now the music demanded your ears rather than your feet.
Then their were all these trained college musicians who fitted right into the progression of rock. Some highly successful others despite their obvious ability, destined for obscurity. Prog rock was less an America thing, but the European contribution to the times.
So here is Epsilon.
"Typical of bands from Marburg (cf. Pell Mell, Frame, etc.) Epsilon drew heavily on classical music in an original and complex progressive rock, in a very different way to their British or Italian counterparts, especially so on side one of their debut, which blends in these classical influences in a very unusual and original manner, not least so a classical styled rendition of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black". It all amounts to an odd album that covers a lot of ground, yet is also excellent throughout. Subsequent releases moved onto hard-rock and blues realms, though MOVE ON was surprisingly good for a more mainstream song-based rock album, with some nice folky touches breaking the mood occasionally. DISCOGS
And here is "Paint It Black" from their album 'Move On' in 1971, indeed things had come a long way since the original Stones version of 1966.
