One of the first active Krautrock units, Amon Düül grew out of a commune in Munich that mixed radical political criticism with a unique vision of free-form improvisation tied to American psychedelic rock. When originally founded in 1968 however, the group was more of an alternative-living commune project than actual recording artists. Wishing to bring their vision of hippie living to a worldwide audience, the collective named themselves Amon Düül (Amon being an Egyptian sun god, Düül a character from Turkish fiction) and recorded hours of material during what is reportedly one mammoth recording session from early 1969. Even before the recording of the debut album Psychedelic Underground that year, several members - led by vocalist Renate Knaup-Kroaetenschwanz (aka Renate Knaup), guitarist Chris Karrer, bassist John (Johannes) Weinzierl, drummer Peter Leopold and organist Falk U. Rogner - had broken away from the original group to form Amon Düül II.

The 60s was a time for extremism and radical experimentation and nowhere was this more true than in the political communes of the world where kindred souls tuned out, dropped out and hooked up with like-minded individuals where they could nurture a new form of community. While the hippie movement was taking over the streets of places like San Francisco in 1967 as the Summer of Love captured the world's gaze, so too was a similar movement gestating in the Teutonic lands of southern Germany. In the very same year a radical commune formed in Munich and named themselves after the Egyptian Sun God - Amon. Seeking to distance themselves from their Germanic heritage, the commune attached the fictitious secondary Düül to the end and thus a new collective of was born.