Cravinkel -

Cravinkel was a German blues-rock/pop band that released two albums and a standalone single on Philips in 1970 and 1971.

Members: Gert Krawinkel (guitar, percussion), Rolf Kaiser (vocals, bass), George B. Haupt (drums), Klaus George Meier (guitar, vocals, percussion), Achim Brierley (drums)

Cravinkel formed in 1969 Wilhelmshaven, their name spun from the surname of guitarist Gert Krawinkel.

Their self-titled debut album was released in 1970 on Philips. It contains five short songs per side, including “Smiles,” “If I Sing a Song For You,” and “About Mother and Son.” The album was recorded at London’s I.B.C. Studios and produced by Rainer Goltermann (Frumpy, Eiliff, Weed, Randy Pie) with engineering by Andy Knight (Juicy Lucy, Soft Machine) and John Pantry (Bee Gees, Tin Tin). Original copies came in a four-fold poster cover. CD reissues append both sides of the 1971 non-album single “Keep on Running” / “Mr. Cooley.”

In 1971, Cravinkel released their second album, Garden of Loneliness. Side one contains two lengthy tracks: “Sitting In a Forest” (10:27) and the title-track. Side two consists of the 20-minute jam “Stoned.” Recordings took place at Hamburg’s Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios with Goltermann and engineers Henning Ruete (Joachim Kühn, Lucifer’s Friend, Zarathustra, Franz K., Ikarus, Eloy) and Friedrich Bischoff. Original pressings feature a bottom-fold painted cover.

Drummer Boris Haupt (aka George B. Miller) later surfaced in Deutsch-rockers Wolfsmond. Bassist Rolf Kaiser reemerged in Dig It Al(I), which issued the electronic allbum Volt Age in 1981. Miller, Kaiser, and guitarist George Meier cut two albums as a trio during the late 1980s.

Krawinkel recorded with the country act Emsland Hillbillies and the electro-pop Trio, which scored a global hit in 1982 with “Da Da Da.” In 1985, he partook in the Band Aid-inspired record “Nackt Im Wind” as part of the German-industry collective Band Für Afrika.

Discography: