Eela Craig: One Niter (1976)

Austria isn’t exactly a hotbead of prog rock, but a few bands did come out of that country. One was Paternoster who released a self-entitled album in 1972, and then Eela Craig who released a total of five albums between 1971 and 1980. One Niter is their second album, and it was a long five year wait between their self-entitled debut and this album. In between they tied us over in 1974 with a Mellotron heavy single called “Stories”/”Cheese” (you can find these as bonus cuts on the CD reissue of their debut). Quite a lot had happened in those five years. They changed from a bluesy progressive jazz rock band to a full blown prog rock band. And by this point, they finally had the benefit of recording for a real label, Vertigo Records (a label, at the time, still pumping out great prog rock albums, as opposed to the largely mainstream heavy metal and new wave albums the label was dealing with in the 1980s and 1990s). The band went through a bunch of lineup changes, by One Niter the band consisted of vocalist/keyboardist Hubert Bognermayr, guitarist/keyboardist/flutist Harald Zuschrader, bassist Gerhard Englisch, drummer Frank Hueber, guitarist/vocalist Fritz Riebelberger, and keyboardist/flutist Hubert Schnauer. Also the band by this point included so many keyboards it’s not even funny (you’ll only need to look at the back of the album cover to see). Synthesizers included Mini Moog, string synths, two EMS VCS-3s. Non synthesizers included a Mellotron, Fender Rhodes and Wurlitzer electric pianos, Hohner clavinet, piano, spinet. And that’s not all you see on the back cover, you see the guitars, the drums, the mixing board, and so much more. Anyway One Niter is regarded by many as Eela Craig’s best album, and I really have no argument about that. They decided to go a more funky route (especially because of the use of electric pianos and clavinets) and when they jam, they put out some killer jams. You only need to listen to parts of “Circles” to know what I’m talking about. Part of this song also features a ballad sung by Fritz Riedelberger. Those big brass sounds you hear periodically is by a Mellotron (not unlike the brass sound you hear Tangerine Dream use on many of the albums they did from 1975 to 1978). The next song, “Loner’s Rhyme” was, I was told, the band’s idea of sounding like Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here (particularly the more funky parts of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” – the parts that radio stations usually don’t play that is). This song features a lengthy Moog solo, when the Moog solos end, the band calms down for a minute playing on the Wulitzer electric piano, before they got hog wild on the organ. Then it goes back to the vocal section (sung by Hubert Bognermayr) that it started with. The next song is a suite called “One Niter Medley”, which includes a theme from Bach, electronically altered, with several more funky jams in a mid ’70s fashion. “Venezuela” is a nice, acoustic piece sung by Fritz Riedelberger. Unfortunately this song is not included on their CD Symphonic Rock (which included most of this album and their following Hats of Glass on one CD). The only way you can get the entire One Niter on CD is through the Korean reissue by Si-Wan Records (a great label that reissued many great prog rock albums). Else, just get the LP. The album ends with “Way Down”. It starts off really dreamy with flute, before the band goes off hog wild with jamming once again. This is great stuff indeed, and if you like mid ’70s funk-influenced prog rock (like what such Italian bands like Il Volo or Goblin circa Roller were doing around the same time), you’re sure to like this album as well.
– Hubert Bognermayr: keyboards, vocals
– Harald Zuschrader: keyboards, acoustic guitar, flute
– Hubert Schnauer: keyboards, flute
– Gerhard Englisch: bass
– Fritz Riedelberger: guitar, vocals
– Frank Hueber: drums
– Alois Janetschko: live mixing