Editing Scorpions (band) (section)

===Formation and early history (1965–1973)===
Rudolf Schenker, the band's rhythm/lead guitarist, launched the band in 1965. Initially the band had [[Beat music|Merseybeat]] influences and Schenker himself handled the vocals. He played in a band with Lothar Heimberg before he founded Scorpions. Karl Heinz Vollmer left the band in 1967 because of his military obligations; military service precluded him from performing in concerts.<ref>{{cite book|quote=The first members were Joachim Kirchhoff (bass), Rudolf Schenker (guitar), Katty Vollmer (guitar) und Wolfgang Dziony (drums). The band played the songs of the British charts, mainly the songs of the [[Beatles]]|author=Blazek, Matthias|title=Das niedersächsische Bandkompendium 1963–2003 – Daten und Fakten von 100 Rockgruppen aus Niedersachsen, Celle|date=2006|isbn=978-3-00-018947-0|page=8|publisher=M. Blazek|url=http://www.hannover-live.com/urscorpfl.html|access-date=23 April 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032923/http://www.hannover-live.com/urscorpfl.html}}</ref> Things began to come together in 1970 when Schenker's younger brother [[Michael Schenker|Michael]] and vocalist [[Klaus Meine]], who had played together in the [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Taste (Irish band)|Taste]] cover band Copernicus,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Makowskipublished |first=Peter |date=2016-11-06 |title=The Turbulent Story Of The Scorpions |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/scorpions-ted-nugent-told-us-we-had-to-calm-down |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=loudersound |language=en}}</ref> joined the band. With this line-up they won a music contest in 1972 and recorded two songs for a single that was never released on the CCA label, but the songs, "Action" and "I'm Going Mad" were later released on different compilation albums including ''Psychedelic Gems 2.''

In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album, ''[[Lonesome Crow]]'', with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums and re-recorded their CCA songs.<ref name="Music Legends" /> During the ''Lonesome Crow'' tour Scorpions opened for up-and-coming British band [[UFO (band)|UFO]]. Near the end of the tour, guitarist Michael Schenker accepted an offer to play lead guitar for UFO. [[Uli Jon Roth]], a friend of Michael's, was then introduced to the band and he helped them to finish off the tour.

The departure of Michael Schenker led to the breakup of the band. In 1973, [[Ulrich Roth|Uli Roth]], who had helped Scorpions complete the ''Lonesome Crow'' tour, was offered the role of lead guitarist, but turned the band down, preferring instead to remain in the band [[Dawn Road]]. Rudolf Schenker eventually decided he wanted to work with Roth, but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions line-up. He attended some of Dawn Road's rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, [[Francis Buchholz]] (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboards) and [[Jürgen Rosenthal]] (drums). Uli Roth and Buchholz persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join on vocals, which he soon did. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because it was well known on the German hard rock scene and an album had been released under that name.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ulijonroth.com/sky/bands_concepts/scorpions_2.htm |title=Official ULI JON ROTH Website |website=Ulijonroth.com |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410083007/http://www.ulijonroth.com/sky/bands_concepts/scorpions_2.htm |archive-date=10 April 2008 }}</ref>