Whatever became of obscure 70s pianist & composer Hermann Szobel?

If you follow the link to the fan-made myspace page, you can hear a few tracks. The LP is worth tracking down – especially for fan’s of Zappa’s Hot Rats. Hermann seems to have fallen off the face of the earth though.

A lead:

http://www.cyberpages.com/minidb?program=persons&year=2002&month=3&pos=160

First entry with a picture.

This sort of paints the picture of what his life was like after the mid-seventies. It sounds like he bounced around the world with his talent and problems like the classic scattered genius / recluse.

I did in fact track down a copy of his album on vinyl (there is no CD as of yet & likely never will be), which I will have converted to digital ASAP.

Many thanks for the tip on this guy. Not sure how his name escaped my notice before now, but when I listened to his music, the Zappa influence was so obvious it was like being hit with a Thing-fish in the Grand Wazoo.