Biography
Bavarian liedermacher Hans Söllner draws equal notoriety for outspoken political defiance and recognition for reggae-tinged folk music. In Austria his records routinely reach the charts, suggesting a stronger following there than in his German homeland, where certain listeners view his stance unfavorably. Broad and occasionally blunt critiques of authority, together with open advocacy for marijuana, brought mounting financial penalties that led him to describe the measures as staatlichen Repressalien. Above all else he thrives as a stage performer, an orientation reflected in the many live albums that define his catalog, because he favors direct touring over major-label deals and studio releases. Later he shared bills repeatedly with the Austrian reggae band Bayaman'Sissdem.
Johann Michael Söllner came into the world on December 24, 1955, in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany, was raised Catholic, attended classes in Marzoll, and defied expectations by wearing long hair through his teenage years. Between 1970 and 1973 he trained as a cook yet found no steady work; a short mandatory military service stint also failed to suit him, as did an apprenticeship in auto repair. After drifting through periods of unemployment in Munich he turned to music, mastering guitar on his own and composing original material. Eventually the independent PPM label offered a contract, resulting in the 1982 debut Nachdenkliches zum Schmunzeln, also known as Endlich eine Arbeit, a complete concert set captured in Munich. Over the ensuing five years grassroots sales through live shows pushed the title past 10,000 copies.
PPM issued additional Söllner material whose precise release dates remain unclear because of extreme rarity. Two scarce 7-inch singles shared nearly identical cover photographs. One, the two-track Mei Vadda, pairs “Mei Vadda Hat an Marihuanabaum” with “Mama Ziag dei Schürz'n Aus” and draws from the same Munich performance preserved on Nachdenkliches zum Schmunzeln. The other, Söllner Spezial, contains four studio tracks: “Endlich eine Arbeit,” “Der Rasenmäher,” “Mei Vadda Hat an Marihuanabam,” and “Für die Beate S.” In 1986 the label put out Für Marianne und Ludwig, recorded live in Dorfen, Bavaria, and followed it in 1987 with another Dorfen concert document, Wos Reimt Se Scho auf Nicki... Söllner’s last PPM year, 1988, saw the 7-inch ...Sogar der Wind Liagt together with the best-of compilation Endlich eine Arbeit!, which gathers highlights from the three full-length PPM releases plus the two songs from the new single.
Söllner then moved to Munich’s respected independent Trikont and debuted on the roster with Hey Staat! in 1989. Widely regarded as his finest work, the album confirmed his status both as protest singer and emerging figure on the alternative circuit. He next delivered Bayerman Vibration in 1990, a studio reggae project recorded with Peter Schneider, Sebastian Thorer, and himself, then the live follow-up Live mit Bayerman Vibration in 1991. The 1992 release ...Der Charlie, another concert album drawn from May dates in Ulm and Tübingen, stands beside Hey Staat! among his strongest and most polarizing statements; it features an extended spoken account of his 1986-1987 Jamaica journey and its effects on his music, cannabis practices, politics, and faith, while the artwork depicts him amid marijuana plants in the manner of Peter Tosh’s Legalize It from 1976 and was pressed on green vinyl.
Unexpectedly ...Der Charlie reached the Austrian Top 30, elevating Söllner’s profile. He drew additional notice in August 1993 by declaring his departure from Roman Catholicism in favor of Rastafarianism, announcing vegetarianism and pacifism at the same time he issued the live mini-album Fang Ma Do o Wo Ma Neilich Aufg'heat Ham, taped in Tübingen. The subsequent studio album Grea Göib Roud from 1995, a restrained solo effort dedicated to a deceased friend, became his strongest commercial showing yet, climbing to number 26 in Austria and number 50 in Germany. Its 1997 successor A Jeda, also recorded in the studio, improved on those figures by entering Austria’s Top Ten at number eight and Germany’s chart at number 67.
Throughout the late 1990s, even as each new album sold better than the last, Söllner faced criminal charges for Marihuana-Anbau and Beamtenbeleidigung. He maintained that Rastafarian belief entitled him to use cannabis, yet the defense failed; substantial fines and legal costs followed. Amid the surrounding publicity Trikont reissued his first three PPM albums in 1998 after they had disappeared from print following the label’s closure.
Returning to the marketplace in 2000 after a three-year gap, Söllner offered the double live set 241255 compiled from the previous year’s shows; it reached Austria’s Top 20. Babylon arrived the next year, another concert recording now backed by Bayaman'Sissdem. In 2004 he resurfaced with multiple projects, the most prominent being the studio album Oiwei I, his first in seven years and again featuring Bayaman'Sissdem; it peaked at number 22 in Austria and number 61 in Germany. That same year he published the book Bloß a Gschicht and issued two DVDs, Wer Bloß Lacht, Is Ned Frei! and Der Bayerische Rebell, the latter originally issued on VHS in 1995 and 1996. A CD/DVD package capturing the Oiwei I tour, Live im Regen mit Bayaman'Sissdem, appeared in 2005.
Söllner and Bayaman'Sissdem reunited for the studio album Viet Nam in 2007, which charted at number 12 in Austria and number 90 in Germany. An extensive tour supporting the record stretched well into summer 2008, alternating between full-band and solo dates.
Johann Michael Söllner came into the world on December 24, 1955, in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, Germany, was raised Catholic, attended classes in Marzoll, and defied expectations by wearing long hair through his teenage years. Between 1970 and 1973 he trained as a cook yet found no steady work; a short mandatory military service stint also failed to suit him, as did an apprenticeship in auto repair. After drifting through periods of unemployment in Munich he turned to music, mastering guitar on his own and composing original material. Eventually the independent PPM label offered a contract, resulting in the 1982 debut Nachdenkliches zum Schmunzeln, also known as Endlich eine Arbeit, a complete concert set captured in Munich. Over the ensuing five years grassroots sales through live shows pushed the title past 10,000 copies.
PPM issued additional Söllner material whose precise release dates remain unclear because of extreme rarity. Two scarce 7-inch singles shared nearly identical cover photographs. One, the two-track Mei Vadda, pairs “Mei Vadda Hat an Marihuanabaum” with “Mama Ziag dei Schürz'n Aus” and draws from the same Munich performance preserved on Nachdenkliches zum Schmunzeln. The other, Söllner Spezial, contains four studio tracks: “Endlich eine Arbeit,” “Der Rasenmäher,” “Mei Vadda Hat an Marihuanabam,” and “Für die Beate S.” In 1986 the label put out Für Marianne und Ludwig, recorded live in Dorfen, Bavaria, and followed it in 1987 with another Dorfen concert document, Wos Reimt Se Scho auf Nicki... Söllner’s last PPM year, 1988, saw the 7-inch ...Sogar der Wind Liagt together with the best-of compilation Endlich eine Arbeit!, which gathers highlights from the three full-length PPM releases plus the two songs from the new single.
Söllner then moved to Munich’s respected independent Trikont and debuted on the roster with Hey Staat! in 1989. Widely regarded as his finest work, the album confirmed his status both as protest singer and emerging figure on the alternative circuit. He next delivered Bayerman Vibration in 1990, a studio reggae project recorded with Peter Schneider, Sebastian Thorer, and himself, then the live follow-up Live mit Bayerman Vibration in 1991. The 1992 release ...Der Charlie, another concert album drawn from May dates in Ulm and Tübingen, stands beside Hey Staat! among his strongest and most polarizing statements; it features an extended spoken account of his 1986-1987 Jamaica journey and its effects on his music, cannabis practices, politics, and faith, while the artwork depicts him amid marijuana plants in the manner of Peter Tosh’s Legalize It from 1976 and was pressed on green vinyl.
Unexpectedly ...Der Charlie reached the Austrian Top 30, elevating Söllner’s profile. He drew additional notice in August 1993 by declaring his departure from Roman Catholicism in favor of Rastafarianism, announcing vegetarianism and pacifism at the same time he issued the live mini-album Fang Ma Do o Wo Ma Neilich Aufg'heat Ham, taped in Tübingen. The subsequent studio album Grea Göib Roud from 1995, a restrained solo effort dedicated to a deceased friend, became his strongest commercial showing yet, climbing to number 26 in Austria and number 50 in Germany. Its 1997 successor A Jeda, also recorded in the studio, improved on those figures by entering Austria’s Top Ten at number eight and Germany’s chart at number 67.
Throughout the late 1990s, even as each new album sold better than the last, Söllner faced criminal charges for Marihuana-Anbau and Beamtenbeleidigung. He maintained that Rastafarian belief entitled him to use cannabis, yet the defense failed; substantial fines and legal costs followed. Amid the surrounding publicity Trikont reissued his first three PPM albums in 1998 after they had disappeared from print following the label’s closure.
Returning to the marketplace in 2000 after a three-year gap, Söllner offered the double live set 241255 compiled from the previous year’s shows; it reached Austria’s Top 20. Babylon arrived the next year, another concert recording now backed by Bayaman'Sissdem. In 2004 he resurfaced with multiple projects, the most prominent being the studio album Oiwei I, his first in seven years and again featuring Bayaman'Sissdem; it peaked at number 22 in Austria and number 61 in Germany. That same year he published the book Bloß a Gschicht and issued two DVDs, Wer Bloß Lacht, Is Ned Frei! and Der Bayerische Rebell, the latter originally issued on VHS in 1995 and 1996. A CD/DVD package capturing the Oiwei I tour, Live im Regen mit Bayaman'Sissdem, appeared in 2005.
Söllner and Bayaman'Sissdem reunited for the studio album Viet Nam in 2007, which charted at number 12 in Austria and number 90 in Germany. An extensive tour supporting the record stretched well into summer 2008, alternating between full-band and solo dates.
Albums
