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the smoke cleared away, revealing a lone figure in a spiked helmet
amid a debris of broken bodies and twisted guitars, an old-timer
drawled, "They were fast. But they weren't fast enough."
In
the PC sensitive media, the pickelhaube, German army tunic and
Iron Cross that Herman sports on stage seem to be cause for distress,
so a quick history lesson. While never a universally popular fashion
statement, the Imperial German Army's spiked helmet was phased
out during The Great War, while the Iron Cross dates back to the
19th Century. In other words, the whole deal has jack sh** to
do with the nazis, something that real people seem to recognize
instinctively, accepting it as a tongue in cheek Monty Python-esque
spoof.
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Before
we come to Herman The German, guitarist extraordinaire - Ed Bradfield
of the Austin outhouse, longtime supporters of Das Cowboy, claims
he once knew Herman's last name, but has forgotten it, which still
puts him one up on everybody else - let's deal with that image.
In any case, how to explain the revved-up version of Hava Nagila
that's one of the high spots on Herman's new CD. Surfmeister Teisco
Del Rey boasts, in his liner notes, "I was once quoted as saying
that if I were made head of Columbia Records, my first act would
be to sign Herman The German & Das Cowboy." Well Teisco may not
have made it that far, but he obviously has enough pull at Texicalli
Records, a division of Finland's Amigo Music named after Danny Young's
restaurant, on which his own debut album was released, to finally
get Herman's unique sound immortalized in wax (or whatever it is
they make CDs out of).
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More
than one person has commented that the Continental Club's Sunday
night pairing of Junior Brown and Herman makes a wonderful, twisted
sense, the two weirdest guitar players in Austin on one bill.
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I
have one small advantage over most people here in being able to
glimpse, even though Herman's love of Gene Vincent and Cliff Gallup
(Pink Thunderbird and Blue Jean Baby, the first song he ever learned
to play on guitar, are on the album, though not, sadly, Herman's
rendition of Woman Love) and polkas (Happy Herman Polka, Drifter's
Polka and Buck's Polka), The expression "musician's musician" has
its ambiguities, but, while Teisco speaks of his "striking fear
in the hearts of sidemen trying to decipher cues and signals of
unknown origin," Herman is consistently welcome everywhere he goes
for the very demands he makes on others.
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While
blistering speed is Herman's most obvious trademark, the truest
measure of his virtuosity as a guitarist is that any of the rockabilly
or other 50's ("I still play the stuff I heard as a kid") numbers
he performs never again sound quite the same if they aren't sung
with a heavy German accent.
- John Conquest
Publisher/Editor of the Music City free publication from Austin,
TX
1002 South First
Austin, Texas 78704
512/444-0693
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