Manuel Göttsching

Göttsching died on 4 December 2022, at the age of 70.

In 2000, Göttsching and Klaus Schulze released a studio album and a live album as Ash Ra Tempel. The live album was recorded as part of the Cornucopia concerts curated by Julian Cope at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

As the leader of the groups Ash Ra Tempel and Ashra in the 1970s and 80s, as well as a solo artist, he was one of the most influential guitarists of the Krautrock (also known as Kosmische Musik) genre. He also participated in the Cosmic Jokers sessions. His style and technique influenced dozens of artists in the post-Eno ambient and Berlin School of electronic music scenes in the 1980s and 1990s.

As Göttsching and his bandmates moved from song-based music to free improvisation, Ash Ra Tempel was born in 1970. "We didn't play blues," Göttsching recalls. "We used some elements of it but tried to keep the freestyle of improvisation and using some blues themes." Along with Göttsching, the group included Klaus Schulze (who had just left Tangerine Dream) and Hartmut Enke. Just after Ash Ra Tempel released its self-titled debut album in 1971, Schulze left to pursue what became a successful solo career which included the influential E2-E4 album.

As a child, Göttsching was exposed to the music of Verdi and Puccini by his mother, who was a fan of opera. He also listened to radio stations run by American and British allied forces. Too young for early rock and roll, it was not until the 1960s that Göttsching found the music that really inspired him such as Motown music from the United States, as well the Rolling Stones and British blues bands. Originally a classical guitarist, the music he heard inspired him to switch to the electric guitar.

Manuel Göttsching (9 September 1952 – 4 December 2022) was a German musician and composer.