Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

On Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Popol Vuh guitarist Conny Veit’s ‘other band’, Gila, basically become Popol Vuh, at least personnel-wise, with Florian Fricke joining on mellotron and piano, while Daniel Fichelscher, a member of Amon Düül II, pitches in on drums, percussion and bass. The sessions for this album introduced Fricke to Fichelscher, allowing another piece of the Popol Vuh story to fall into place – Fichelscher would soon become central to Fricke’s music. The album can’t help but shadow some of the ‘parent outfit’, but Veit’s focus within the album, on the plight of the Native American, and guest vocals from his then-partner Sabine Merbach, shade Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee with different colours. It’s a more devoutly psychedelic set of songs, and Veit uses the album to really stretch out on guitar, whipping up great whirlpools of tone from his six strings.