Epitaph (band)
German rock band
Epitaph is an Anglo-German rock band, formed in Dortmund in 1969. Playing initially what AllMusic described as "post-psych progressive rock, spiced with occasional jazz accents and widespread twin-guitar harmonies", in 1973 they started shifting towards more straightforward hard rock stylings. After releasing six studio albums, they disbanded in 1982. In 2000, Epitaph reunited and several new releases followed.
History
The band was formed (originally as Fagin's Epitaph) in late 1969 in Dortmund, by Yorkshire singer and guitarist Cliff Jackson, Scottish drummer James McGillivray, and German bassist Bernd Kolbe. After several appearances as a support band for such acts as Black Sabbath, Rory Gallagher, Yes and Argent, they signed a record deal with Polydor, shortened their name and moved to Hannover. Having enlisted the second guitarist Klaus Walz, the band travelled to Wessex Studios in London to start recording the eponymous debut album which was finished in Windrose Studios, Hamburg, and released in the autumn of 1971. After numerous gigs throughout Germany including a 1972 live appearance in the TV show Beat Club, the band recorded (in Audio Tonstudio, Berlin) the sophomore, Stop, Look and Listen, again for Polydor. Both releases were described by Allmusic as "post-psych progressive rock, spiced with occasional jazz accents and widespread twin-guitar harmonies."
In 1972, McGillivray left and was replaced by Achim Wielert whose style of playing accounted for the band taking a stronger rock direction, showcased by the two 1973 singles, "Autumn '71" and "We Love You Alice". Still, the sales were disappointing and Polydor dropped the band.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q990086. The Library of Congress control number is n2015007138. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1969, 1973, 1982 and 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “Epitaph (band)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.