Siggi Schwarz & Michael Schenker

Siggi Schwarz & Michael Schenker - Live Together - 2006 - Schwarz Music

Vintage hard rock & roll permeates Live Together 2004, as the great Michael Schenker teams up with Siggi Schwarz to run through a bunch of perennial favorites like "You Really Got Me" and a trio of numbers from the Free and Bad Company catalog, credible renditions of "The Stealer," "Wishing Well," and "Can't Get Enough" with bassist Martin Hesener doing his best Paul Rodgers. It's the guitars you came to this party for, though, and Markus Gröbel's live mix gives them plenty of space in the speakers to communicate this singular message. There are also three titles from UFO's 1974 Phenomenon opus, including "Built for Comfort," a 12-and-a-half-minute "Rock Bottom" (almost double the length of the version on the UFO album), and the obligatory rendition of Schenker's co-write with Phil Mogg, the classic "Doctor, Doctor," also a staple of the Michael Schenker Group. Schwarz's time in Mountain is evident as the Leslie West thunder resonates here on this very tight and crunchy set of performances. Bernd Elsenhans plays the drums with efficient blasts that are as perfectly timed as you'd expect, and for a collection of material fans have heard time and time again -- in a variety of mutations -- there's something quite electric and entertaining about Live Together 2004, maybe that the guitars are cranked to 11 and sound just fine. The quartet even dips into Mel London's "Messin' with the Kid," a staple of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells (and credited to Wells on this disc), showing some class along with the power riffs. At 62 minutes, this would be your typical double live classic from the '70s if it could be shipped back in a time machine to stand next to Live Bullet and Blow Your Face Out, and (perhaps) be the little brother to Frampton Comes Alive! -- not in terms of fame, of course, but in having the crisp playing of a bona fide guitar star like Michael Schenker letting it rip. © Joe Viglione © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-together-2004-mw0000576536

A great live album from the underrated ex UFO guitarist Michael Schenker and Siggi Schwarz, the great German guitarist, composer and producer. This direct cut, two-track stereo album was recorded live from the desk with no overdubs at Karl Rau Halle, Heidenheim, Germany on 18th December 2004. The band played mostly hard rockin’ covers from Free, Bad Company and others as well as some UFO-stuff (Only You Can Rock Me, Built For Comfort (I know, not exactly UFO), Too Hot To Handle, Doctor Doctor and Rock Bottom). Despite the recording methods used, the SQ is surprisingly good, and this band really play some great old fashioned rock’n’roll. It is often forgotten just how good a guitarist Michael Schenker is. Listen to The Michael Schenker Group’s 1980 s/t album [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 144 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 You Really Got Me – R.Davis 3:24
2 Wishing Well – Rodgers, Kirke 4:07
3 Only You Can Rock Me – Schenker, Mogg, Way 4:17
4 You Don’t Love Me – Cobbs 4:47
5 Built For Comfort – Dixon 6:05
6 The Stealer – Rodgers, Kossoff, Fraser 3:38
7 Can’t Get Enough – M.Ralphs 4:08
8 Too Hot To Handle – Way, Mogg 4:09
9 Doctor, Doctor – Schenker, Mogg 5:16
10 Messin’ With The Kid – Mel London 5:29
11 Rock Bottom – Schenker, Mogg 12:35
12 Ice Cream Man [Bonus Track] – J.Brim 3:40 recorded at Studio-Zwei, Neu-Ulm

MUSICIANS

Siggi Schwarz & Michael Schenker – Guitars
Martin Hesener – Bass, Lead Vocals
Bernd Elsenhans – Drums

ABOUT SIGGI SCHWARZ

Siggi Schwarz (b. 28/02/1958), the South German guitarist, composer and producer, has been the epitome of passionate, virtuoso guitar playing since the mid-seventies. His playing style has its roots in Hendrix, Clapton, Santana, & Woodstock. He has played in many bands, such as "Blue Bushroom" and the funk-rock band "Split", during the ‘70’s and ‘80’s, releasing several albums and playing hundreds of concerts in Germany, Greece, Austria, France and Luxembourg. In 1987 with his band "VIP" he won the important Marlboro Music Award, emerging as the best German rock band. Over 1200 participants competed for the award. This resulted in a record deal with BMG Ariola production in Peter Maffay's Red Rooster Studio, as well as several television appearances. Siggi worked for several years as a guitar presenter for Musikmesse, the large guitar manufacturer in Frankfurt. From the mid 90's he played with singer and guitarist Willi Geyer of the Geyer-Black Project. The Electric Blues duo released two CD's. As a guitarist and producer, he has played on stage and in the studio with musicians that include the guitar legend Michael Schenker, ex Manfred Mann's Earth Band's Chris Thompson, Chris Norman, Mungo Jerry, Toto's Steve Lukather and Simon Phillips, Frank Diez (Peter Maffay), Geoff Whitehorn (Procol Harum, Roger Chapman ), Laurie Wisefield (Tina Turner, ex Wishbone Ash), Alex Conti (Lake, ex Atlantis), drum legend Pete York, Leslie West & Mountain, Hellmut Hattler, David Haynes (Prince, Chaka Khan), ex Climax Blues Band guitarist Pete Haycock and many others. In 1989 he started the Siggi Schwarz band which at times has included many high-profile guests including ex Earth Band's Chris Thompson and guitar legend Michael Schenker. Siggi Schwarz’s band has released 2 live CD's. In 2004, Romi Schickle produced the globally popular "Siggi Schwarz & Legends" album which included many legends of rock music. In 2008 Siggi produced the Michael Schenker album "In the Midst of Beauty", on which Simon Phillips (TOTO), Neil Murray (ex Whitesnake), Don Airey (Deep Purple) and Gary Barden played. In May 2009, Siggi co- produced and played on the GoodTimes-All-Star-Band’s “GoodTimes Songs” album, an album of classic rock tunes, which also included Chris Thompson, Pete York, and Geoff Whitehorn). Recently Siggi has been the opening act for a variety of concerts by Santana, The Who, ZZ Top, John Mayall, Scorpions, Luther Allison, Michael Landau, and Steve Lukather. Siggi and Romi Schickle have also composed, played and produced the music for Wolfgang Fierek's American road movie series "On the Road Again”. [Roughly translated from German & © http://www.siggi-schwarz.de/]

ABOUT MICHAEL SCHENKER

Along with Gary Moore, Michael Schenker never quite reached the same level of acclaim stateside as he did in Europe (and other parts of the world), despite possessing exceptional, and quite influential, six-string skills. Born on January 10, 1955, in Savstedt, Germany, it was Schenker's older brother, Rudolf, who sparked the youngster's interest in guitar at an early age. Entirely self-taught, Michael picked up a thing or two from such hard-rocking acts as Wishbone Ash and Mountain, as well as his older brother, who would offer the youngster money if he would transcribe certain songs for him while he was at work. As a result of constant playing, it wasn't long before Schenker showed immense talent with the instrument, and by the early '70s, joined Rudolf's group, the Scorpions. Michael appeared on the group's 1972 full-length debut, Lonesome Crow, and toured with the outfit (all at the age of 17). But it was during the album's supporting tour that another up-and-coming outfit, UFO, took a keen interest in the young Schenker and managed to pry the guitarist away from the Scorpions. Although a language barrier existed between Schenker and his new bandmates (he barely knew any English at the time), the guitarist let his playing do the talking, especially on his first recording with the group, 1974's Phenomenon, which spawned such metal classics/Schenker showcases as "Doctor Doctor" and "Rock Bottom" (also of note was the instrumental "Lipstick Traces," a tune which Schenker played entirely with his feet!). It was also around this time that Schenker began playing an instrument that he would become synonymous with for the rest of his career, a Gibson Flying V (which would eventually be decorated with a half-white/half-black paint job). Heavy-duty touring and a pair of further releases, 1975's Force It and 1976's No Heavy Petting, set the stage perfectly for what UFO hoped would be a global commercial breakthrough. The late '70s saw UFO issue a trio of classic hard rock albums -- 1977's Lights Out, 1978's Obsession, and especially 1979's outstanding live set, Strangers in the Night -- all of which made strong showings on the U.S. charts. But UFO's time in the limelight would be fleeting, as alcohol/substance overindulgence and erratic behavior drew a wedge between Schenker and the rest of UFO (the guitarist also became famous for disappearing from the group without any notice, leaving them high and dry mid-tour). 1979 saw Schenker's exit from UFO (who were never the same after his exit) and re-entry into the Scorpions. But, as with his first go around with the group, Schenker's tenure was a fleeting one, only lasting a single album, 1979's Lovedrive, before exiting once more. The same year, Schenker was invited to take the place of the just-departed Joe Perry in Aerosmith. Despite a few jam sessions between Schenker and the others, nothing ever materialized of the Schenker-Aerosmith union (the interesting meeting was discussed by the group in their 1999 autobiography, Walk This Way). Now free of any other obligations, Schenker set his sights on a solo career, forming the Michael Schenker Group immediately thereafter. While the group got off to a promising start with such strong releases as 1980's Michael Schenker Group, 1981's MSG, plus 1982's Assault Attack and One Night at Budokan, interest eventually evaporated, as it became obvious with each subsequent release that Schenker had set his sights at the top of the charts rather than sticking to good old-fashioned hard rock/heavy metal. Constant lineup fluctuation didn't help, either. 1982 saw Schenker get an invite from Ozzy Osbourne to join his group immediately after Randy Rhoads' tragic death, but like the Aerosmith bid several years earlier, it failed to pan out. Despite failing to issue a big commercial breakthrough on his own (although 1989's pop-metal outing, Save Yourself, credited to the McAuley-Schenker Group, came close), the guitarists in such renowned groups as Metallica and Def Leppard were quick to voice Schenker's influence. The early '90s saw Schenker appear with Ratt on a best-forgotten episode of MTV's popular Unplugged series, in addition to participating in a one-off pop-metal "supergroup," Contraband (which included members of such groups as Shark Island, Vixen, Ratt, and L.A. Guns), who issued a lone self-titled debut in 1991. Throughout the '90s, Schenker continued to issue solo albums, including 1993's acoustic-based Thank You and 1999's more rock-based Unforgiven, but the real story of the '90s for Schenker was his re-enlistment into UFO in 1993. Predictably, Schenker's second go-around with UFO was short-lived, yet it did spawn a world tour as well as an all-new studio effort, 1995's Walk on Water. Schenker's pace of issuing solo albums only increased during the early 21st century, as such titles as 2000's all-instrumental Adventures of the Imagination, plus a staggering three albums in 2001 alone (MS 2000: Dreams and Expressions, Odd Trio, and Be Aware of Scorpions) saw the light of day. 2002 saw Schenker sign on with UFO once more for a new album, Sharks. © Greg Prato © 2013 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-schenker-mn0000397545/biography