Manuel Göttsching

As a child, Göttsching was exposed to the music of Verdi and Puccini by his mother, who was a fan of opera. He also listened to radio stations run by American and British allied forces. Too young for early rock and roll, it wasn't until the 1960s that Göttsching found the music that really inspired him such as Motown music from the United States, as well the Rolling Stones and British blues bands. Originally a classical guitarist, the music he heard inspired him to switch to the electric guitar.[2]

In school, Göttsching played with a cover band. "We played some Rolling Stones, we played some Beatles, we played some Who, some what was the popular music and that was just for fun," he recalls.[3] However upon hearing Blue Cheer's proto-metal cover of "Summertime Blues" and learning about the free jazz movement inspired Göttsching and his bandmates to pursue a freer, more improvisatory approach to music.

As Göttsching and his bandmates moved from song-based music to free improvisation, Ash Ra Tempel was born in 1970. "We didn’t play blues," Göttsching recalls. "We used some elements of it but tried to keep the freestyle of improvisation and using some blues themes." [4] Along with Göttsching, the group included Klaus Schulze (who had just left Tangerine Dream) and Hartmut Enke. Just after Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in 1971, Schulze left to pursue what became a successful solo career.[5]

In 2000, Göttsching and Klaus Schulze released a studio album and a live album as Ash Ra Tempel. The live album was recorded as part of the Cornucopea concerts curated by Julian Cope at the Royal Festival Hall in London .

• Official website
• Discogs