I was convinced that I had actually found the holy grail of my book collection. There I was on Amazon UK, thinking that I had finally, after years of searching, found an affordable copy of Julian Cope's out of print KrautRockSampler. I've seen it fetch over $125 on Ebay. It currently sits used on Amazon US for anywhere between $149 and $250. According to my conversion of the American dollar and British pounds, I had found a copy for only $30!
About three weeks after ordering, my package finally arrived. I happened to have a couple hours of free time that I, upon sight of my parcel, set aside for my reading pleasure. I tore the book from its package and immediately opened the book to let my eyes fall upon the first words I saw. "Und so wurde 1972/73 eine sehr erfolgreiche, aber auch alles entscheidende Zeit für Amon Düül II." I smiled and laughed. What was there really to say or do?
I went back online to double check my order. The seller did not bother to mention that the book was in German. And yeah, I know- Krautrock is a German music scene. What did I expect, right? Well, Cope is an English author for fuck's sake. What's the deal? I made myself feel better by reading buyer feedback that expressed the frustration of having experienced the same ruse with the same seller. Such is life. The book looks good on the shelf and has a good story behind it.
I don't know if KrautRockSampler will ever get an English reprint, but I do remember that my buddy Dylan told me that there was a PDF version floating around. It didn't take too long to find, seems that there has been a ton of interest as of late. If you click here, you'll be linked to a site from which you too can download and own your own copy. It's not the best scan in the world, but it will have to do. Unless, of course, you know how to read German or have a chunk of disposable income.
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