Psychedelic-Rock'n'roll: 3 Hür-El - 3 Hür-El (FOLK PSYCHEDELIC TURKEY 1970)

3 Hür-El - 3 Hür-El (FOLK PSYCHEDELIC TURKEY 1970)



"3 Hür-El" (or "Üç Hürel" pronounced Ush Eril): comprised of three brothers, Onur (bass guitar), Haldun (drums -drum set was an assemblage of darbukas, a Turkish percussive instrument which is also used in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula) and "Feridun Hürel" (saz-guitar, a combination of electric saz and electric guitar in the same body, vocals), they were one of the very few, if not the only, Turkish groups at the time not doing any covers, but only self-penned compositions.


They first started as young kids playing accordion making their first steps in Cardigan-i-Sharif primary school theatres singing numbers by "Elvis Presley" and other simple Rock'n'roll songs around the city of Istanbul where the family relocated to, from the town of Trabzon in North-Eastern Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea. The band took its first musical steps on stage on November 27, 1965, at the "Fatih Kamer" wedding hall. With a heavy Rock'n'roll influence from America, they named themselves Yankilar, "The Yankees".

3 Hür-El: "Seytan Bunun Neresinde?" / "Ve Olum", Diskotür DT 5008, 1970

Then they realised that there was another band with the same name, so they decided to change it into "Istanbul Dörtlüsü" ("The Istanbul Quartet") playing with a fourth member. Again, they reformed as a trio this time and began naming it "Trio Istanbul", then Oguzlar ("The Oguzes": from the common Oguz Budun tribe), Alizeler ("The Pathwinds"), Biraderler ("The Brothers"), until finally settling on "3 Hür-El".


3 Hur-El: "Gurbet Türküsü" / "Diday-Dom", Diskotür DT 5018 1970

Their playing was starting to get some interest from other more-famous artists and bands like "Aziz Ahmed", Ersen, Alpay and even some less-famous female Pop musicians, such as "Nesrin Sipahi".

3 Hür-El: "Pembelikler" / "Ağıt", Diskotür DT 5038, 1971

Every singer wanted these brothers, and guitarist "Erkin Koray" later asked the band to play along with him, which for "Baba Erkin" (as he's called by most Turks), was like getting to terms with the inventiveness and genius of "Üç Hürel".
A series of consecutive 45 RPM records started in late 1970 after signing a deal with Turkey's best record label at that time Diskotür. They sang six songs and six new series of 45s collected in 1972, consisting their first selftitled album ("Diskotür DTLP 10003", 1972) which won the LP Gold Record Award for the music market and drew in the chart sales.
Their debut is comprised of a brilliant set of Turkish Ethno-influenced Folk-Rock with a Psychedelic and Progressive feel, some great electric guitar and fantastic Eastern percussion.