Gunter Gabriel
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Gunter Gabriel (born Günter Caspelherr; 11 June 1942 – 22 June 2017) was a German singer, musician and composer. Gabriel became famous in Germany as a singer of Schlager songs. Gabriel lived in
Harburg, Hamburg Harburg is a borough of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It is also the name of Harburg quarter in the borough, which used to be the capital of the Harburg district in Lower Saxony. The borough of Harburg lies on the southern banks of the river Elb ...
. He was a friend of
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
and introduced American
Country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
to German audiences, even covering some of Cash's songs in German.


Background and education

Gunter Gabriel, 2008 Günter Caspelherr, later known as Gunter Gabriel, grew up with his younger sister in
Bünde Bünde (; ) is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Bünde is situated between Osnabrück (west), Hannover (east) and Bielefeld (south). Waterways The town is crossed from west to east by the River Else ...
and
Kirchlengern Kirchlengern (; ) is a municipality in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Kirchlengern is situated on the river Else, approx. 10 km north of Herford. The Brandbach flows into the Else in Kirchlengern. ...
. His mother hanged herself when he was four, after his father had pressured her to have an abortion with a knitting needle. when Caspelherr was four. His father remarried after a year, and often beat his son. He dropped out of elementary school early to get a job, working at various positions in different countries of Central Europe. He eventually obtained his vocational high school diploma and studied mechanical engineering at the Hanover University of Applied Sciences, but dropped out of his studies. He then devoted himself entirely to music, working as a DJ and eventually becoming a promoter at a
record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...
. This brought him into contact with various artists for whom he began to write songs.


Musical career

After Gunter Gabriel composed his first song for Norman Ascot in 1970, he came up with an album in December 1973 with the "track-driven" song "Er ist ein Kerl (der 30 Tonner Diesel)" his first hit. It got the Golden Europe and paved the way for German-language hits in the
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
style with artists such as
Truck Stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...
,
Tom Astor Tom Astor (born 27 February 1943) is a Germanic peoples, German singer and composer. He is noted for his extensive country music, country and western recordings. He has worked with Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, John ...
, or Linda Feller. In the mid-1970s, Gabriel began working with
Juliane Werding Juliane Werding (born 19 July 1956 in Essen) is a German singer and alternative therapy practitioner (''Heilpraktiker''). Her recordings include "Am Tag, als Conny Kramer starb" (1972) and "Nacht voll Schatten" (1983) (German cover of Mike Old ...
, writing for her the songs "Wenn du denkst, du denkst, dann denkst du nur, du denkst", "Wer nichts mehr zu verlieren hat", "Man muß das Leben eben nehmen wie das Leben eben ist" and "Meine alte Stadt". In 1976, the song "...and therefore Mr. Judge" was released , about a broken couple who have to justify their divorce to the judge. Gabriel again acted as the author for this song and sang the piece with Werding as a duet for their fourth studio album "Oh Man, oh Mann...". In 2003, at Johnny Cash's studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, he recorded an album of Cash songs in German, "Gabriel Sings Cash - The Tennessee Project", which was produced by Cash's son
John Carter Cash John Carter Cash (born March 3, 1970) is an American country singer-songwriter, musician and author. He is the only child of Johnny Cash and his second wife June Carter Cash. He is the grandson of Mother Maybelle Carter. Biography John has ...
. Already suffering from a serious illness, shortly before his death Cash contributed a spoken intro which appeared on ''Liebe, Autos, Abenteuer''—a tribute album to Cash featuring 54 artists performing in a wide variety of musical genres. Gabriel's 2009 album ''Sohn aus dem Volk'' was another tribute to Cash and is subtitled "German Recordings", a counterpart to Cash's "American Recordings". The album was a turning point in Gabriel's career, as well as his Living Room Tour, which he began in 2007 and played for anyone who asked for an initial fee of €1,000. It was discussed in press, praising his ability to overcome his economic difficulties. Posthumously, Gabriel's daughter Yvonne released the album ''Denkmal'' in February 2023, which contains several unreleased tracks by Gabriel, some of which his daughter had expanded with her own lyrics and
arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
s. ''Denkmal'' placed at number 92 of the
GfK Entertainment charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...
.


Other activities

In August and September 2010, Gabriel played his first major theatrical role as the title character in the stage play "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" (director and writer: Volker Kühn), alongside the singer
Helen Schneider Helen Schneider (born December 23, 1952) is an American singer and actress working mainly in Germany. Life and career Helen Leslie Schneider was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of Dvora and Abraham Schneider. Schneider studied ...
, who took over the role of Cash's wife
June Carter Cash Valerie June Carter Cash (June 23, 1929 – May 15, 2003) was an American country singer and songwriter. A five-time Grammy Award–winner, she was a member of the Carter Family and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. Prior to her marria ...
. Gunter Gabriel was the narrator of the TV show ''Asphalt Cowboys'' on DMAX. In January 2016, he was a contestant on the show ''
Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus! ''Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!'', also known colloquially as the ''Dschungelcamp'' (''Jungle Camp''), is a German reality television show, based on the British reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''. The ...
'', from which he left prematurely at his own request after five days.


Personal life

At the height of his success in the 1970s, Gabriel lived in a 10-room old apartment on Katharinenstraße in Berlin
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf () is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in an administrative reform with effect from 1 January 2001, by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf. Overview Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the ...
. In the mid-1980s, economic ruin followed for him. He had lost millions in real estate investments, his marriages failed, and professional successes did not materialize. Gabriel was married four times and had four children. He fell down a flight of stairs a couple of days before his death and died of complications that occurred after multiple surgeries to fix his broken neck.


Books

* 2009: Gunter Gabriel, Oliver Flesch: ''Wer einmal tief im Keller saß. Erinnerungen eines Rebellen.'' Edel, Hamburg 2009, .


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabriel, Gunter 1942 births 2017 deaths German male singers German composers German schlager musicians Accidental deaths from falls People from Harburg, Hamburg Musicians from Hamburg