Epitaph

Epitaph belonged to a small circle of 1970s German groups that included Lucifer's Friend and Blackwater Park and revolved around British frontmen. The unit came together in Dortmund toward the end of 1969 when vocalist and guitarist Cliff Jackson joined forces with fellow Briton James McGillivray and Dortmund-born bassist Bernd Kolbe. Originally billed as Fagau's Epitaph, the musicians shortened the name after relocating to Hanover and securing a contract with Polydor. Midway through the recording of their self-titled first album, which appeared in 1971, second guitarist Klaus Walz entered the lineup. Both that release and its follow-up, Stop, Look & Listen (1972), favored extended pieces that fused post-psychedelic progressive rock with jazz inflections and interlocking dual-guitar lines. Commercial impact remained minimal, prompting McGillivray's departure by the close of 1972; German percussionist Achim Wielert stepped in as the quartet began shifting toward tighter, more straightforward hard-rock material. Two 1973 singles previewed the change in direction, yet Polydor ended the relationship, and the band promptly accepted an offer from the fledgling Chicago-based independent Billingsgate.

The resulting third album, Outside the Law, was tracked in Chicago in 1974 and earned the strongest reviews of their career. Ex-Karthago drummer Norbert Lehmann replaced Wielert for the ensuing American tour, which collapsed when Billingsgate declared bankruptcy. Discouraged by repeated setbacks and relieved merely to return to Germany free of financial liability, the members disbanded in January 1975. Cliff Jackson nevertheless reassembled Epitaph only months later, slowly restoring their standing until a refreshed lineup featuring guitarist Heinz Glass, keyboardist Michael Karch, bassist Harvey Janssen, and drummer Fritz Randow surfaced with Return to Reality in 1979. This heavier, metal-leaning configuration issued two further, poorly received efforts—See You in Alaska (1980) and the concert recording Live (1981)—before Jackson reconvened the Outside the Law personnel for Danger Man in 1982. That release, also unsuccessful and rooted in harder rock, effectively closed the band's original run aside from infrequent later reunion shows.