Das war nur ein Moment (translation: That was just a moment) is jazzy pop with a fair amount of 60’s flavor. We learned from the Über-weird 33rpm Record store owner that the co-credited composer/arranger and long-time Krug collaborator Günther Fischer also doubled as Krug’s “handler” – ie Fischer was spying on Krug for the Stasi (GDR secret police). Fischer excelled at both roles, apparently; besides ruining (temporarily) Krug’s career, he helped put together a pretty great album. It should be noted (this info also from weird record store owner) that only trained musicians were allowed to record in East Germany so the level of musicianship on Das war nur ein Moment is excellent. While this kind of jazzy pop is well outside of my wheelhouse, I do have a couple of top picks: “Der Tag beginnt” (“The Day Begins”) has The Turtles’ “Happy Together” (1967) all over it: bright, poppy, super-duper catchy and “Hör auf!” (“Stop It!”) which is funky and world-beaty. Das war nur ein Moment is not a record I’ll throw on often but the layers of stories surrounding this LP makes it a great addition to the collection as well as a non-traditional trip souvenir.

Here’s a long video of Krug (and Fischer) playing live with interviews (in German)

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Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too is OK. The strongest track is the title track “Satisfied ‘n Tickled Too,” a cover of Mississippi John Hurt. It’s got a bit of groove Mahal delivers it with a hefty dose of sly wit.  “New E-Z Rider” has moments of good funk, as does “Easy to Love,” and the world beats/reggae rhythms of “Black Man Brown Man” are catchy. I’m less fond of the smooth jazz/R&B numbers like “Baby Love” (which goes on forevvvverrr) and the cover of Irving Taylor’s “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” is kinda corny, as is “Old Time Song – Old Time Love” by Hoshal Wright.

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