The tenth album of his 50-year career gives Richard Bargel (72) a new face
Richard Bargel has been an institution in the German music scene for over 50 years. He's at home somewhere between enfant terrible and grand seigneur. He's not easily categorized into any particular scene. Diversity is what defines him.
His raw debut album “Blue Steel” from 1977 was followed by eight more.
The current 10th album "Dead Slow Stampede" was produced by guitarist Fabio Nettekoven (31) and will be released on December 09.12.2022, XNUMX, on his newly founded label "Clementine Music".
An almost retrospective album with songs from Bargel's turbulent career.
The last songs were written at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and can now be heard for the first time. But familiar pieces by Bargel are also presented in a new guise. A little louder and a little more authentic—just like himself, the almost 2-meter-tall musician and actor from Cologne's Südstadt district.
He not only celebrated his 50th stage anniversary with the start of the recordings, but
also his 70th birthday. The album celebrates Richard Bargel's life and work with his live songs.
His band "Dead Slow Stampede" is not only one of the most important ingredients that gives the album its name, but is also largely responsible for the strong foundation of the songs on which the sometimes cinematic and opulent production is built.
Recording live - without a safety net or double bottom
"Dead Slow Stampede" was recorded by Tobias Thiele in the venerable Maarweg Studios in western Cologne, using equipment and microphones some of which are older than the musicians themselves. Each song was recorded live in the studio together, rather than the usual method of recording each musician one after the other. The improvised solos are snapshots that give the listener an extraordinary, intimate insight into the band's work.
The beginning of a new chapter in his career
Bargel's long-standing band as the most important ingredient
Countless concerts have made Richard Bargels' three musicians what they are: a perfectly coordinated band that sensitively responds to the needs of this often unconventional artist. With Geert Roelofs (drums) and Jo Didderen (double bass), the band has a strong foundation. They understand how to serve the songs without losing their sense of solo talent.
For Bargel's long-time musical mentor, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Fabio Nettekoven, this was the perfect canvas for an extraordinary production and design of the songs.
Special instruments, such as the Mellotron, a tape-driven, precursor to the sampler (The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever), provided cinematic and epic-sounding choirs and string orchestrations. The pedal steel guitar, an instrument originally rooted in country music, and transistor organs from the 60s, along with various quirky percussion instruments, gave the production its own unique touch.
A throne that has long been his
"Dead Slow Stampede" is not only the first album release on the Clementine Music label, but also the first band album with this line-up. And it's much more than that. It erects a monument to Bargel and places him on a throne that has long been his. Appropriately illustrated in the lavish layout by Nora Catharina van Rijn, the cover itself places the main protagonist at the center of his remarkable artistic output, the opulence of which is tangible in the form of a CD, with individually designed song illustrations, liner notes, and photos on 12 booklet cards in a 6-page digipack format, as well as on a classic black and limited-edition color vinyl LP.
