George Kooymans (Golden Earring Related)

George Kooymans - Jojo - 1971 - Polydor

This is the solo debut of George Kooymans, a performer best known for his work as a guitarist and songwriter for Dutch rock legends Golden Earring. Surprisingly, the material on Jojo is totally lacking in the hard rock bombast and prog-rock tendencies that characterized Golden Earring's work around this time. Instead, it goes for a low-key but occasionally punchy rock sound that is somewhat reminiscent of Neil Young's early 1970s work. The focus of the songs is craftsmanship, with the band's efforts (plus occasional touches of orchestration) working towards placing the tuneful melody of each song in the spotlight. Good examples of this technique include "South Side Lady," which enhances its languid melody by slowly raising the tempo and layering in soulful background vocals, and "For Gail," whose dynamic arrangement pits drum-driven verses against a more relaxed chorus to highlight the song's catchy hooks. The problem with Jojo is that, while all its songs are well-crafted, none of them are of the insidiously catchy variety that would make the album appeal to anyone beyond Golden Earring fans. Also, the album tends toward a similar sound on most of its tracks instead of experimenting with the kinds of varied styles and sounds that might have won over non-fans. The end result is an album that has limited appeal beyond the Golden Earring fanbase, but remains a solid and tuneful batch of songs guaranteed to appeal to those fans. © Donald A. Guarisco © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0xftxq90ld0e

George Kooymans, born 11 March 1948, in The Hague, Netherlands is best known for his guitr and vocal talents with the Dutch hard rock group, Golden Earring. In 1971 George released "Jojo", which should not be compared to any of Golden Earring's work. This is early 70's rock, at times reminiscent of George Harrison and Neil Young. Don't expect any screaming guitar solos, or hard rock tunes. There are touches of soul on some of the tracks. It is not "soft rock", and there is some good guitar, sax and piano work throughout. Nothing groundbreaking here, but the album is a collection of ten songs, some average, some good, but no bad tracks, with good vocals, and good musicianship. . An album with musical merit. Search this blog for some Golden Earring releases, if you want to hear the hard rock side of George Kooymans

TRACKS / MUSICIANS

SIDE A

1 South Side Lady

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Piano: Hans Hollestelle; Vocals: George Kooymans; Organ: Paul Natte; Background vocals: Cesar Zuiderwijk, George Kooymans

2 Day And Night

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Rhythm guitar: Hans Hollestelle; Lead guitar/ All vocals: George Kooymans

3 Lay It On Me

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Guitar: Hans Hollestelle; Fender Piano: Helmig v.d. Vegt; Lead guitar: Eelco Gelling; Acoustic guitar/ All vocals: George Kooymans

4 For Gail

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Lead Guitar: Hans Hollestelle; Lead guitar/ All vocals: George Kooymans; Organ: Rinus Gerritsen

5 Lovin' And Hurtin'

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Piano: Helmig v.d. Vegt; Vocals: George Kooymans

SIDE B

6 Low Rider

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Piano: Paul Natte; Rhythm guitar, Lead guitar, All vocals: George Kooymans; Saxophone: Bertus Borgers

7 We're Just Marking Time

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle;Fender Piano: Hans Hollestelle; Acoustic-Electric Guitars, Lead guitar, Vocals: George Kooymans

8 A Drifter's Love

Drums: Louis Debij; Bass: Jan Hollestelle; Acoustic Guitar: Hans Hollestelle; Acoustic Guitar, Vocals: George Kooymans; Pedal Steel Guitar: Frans Doolaard

9 Spending All My Time With You

Stringbass: Jan Hollestelle; Acoustic Guitar: Hans Hollestelle; Acoustic Guitar, Vocals: George Kooymans

10 Don't Be Lonely

Drums, Vocals: George Kooymans; Bass: George Kooymans; Guitar: Eelco Gelling; Piano: Helmig v.d. Vegt


All songs composed by George Kooymans, except "Lay It On Me" by G. Kooymans, & J. Voisin, and "We're Just Marking Time", and "Spending All My Time With You" by G. Kooymans/ B. Kirkman



BIO

George Kooymans was the guitarist and co-founder of Golden Earring, the longest-lived and most successful rock group the Netherlands ever produced. Kooymans was born on March 11, 1948, in The Hague, and co-founded an instrumental rock & roll combo, the Tornados, with childhood friend and bassist Rinus Gerritsen in 1961. Not long afterward, a British group of the same name had an international hit with "Telstar," and Kooymans and Gerritsen changed the band's name to the Golden Earrings, after a Peggy Lee song. In 1965, having adopted a British beat style, they became the first Dutch rock group to record a full-length album, Just Earrings, and landed their first hit in their home country, the Top Ten "Please Go" (co-written by Kooymans and Gerritsen). Three years later, they scored their first Dutch number one with "Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Gi-Dong," and followed it with another chart-topper, the Kooymans-penned epic "Just a Little Bit of Peace in My Heart." In 1970, Kooymans branched out into songwriting for other groups, penning Earth & Fire's Dutch hit "Seasons." Meanwhile, his main band shortened its name to Golden Earring and set about revamping its sound to keep up with the times, eventually settling on a straightforward, hard-rocking brand of AOR. Kooymans (like lead singer Barry Hay) made a brief detour into solo recording in 1972, cutting an album called Jojo that was released on Polydor. Hay and Kooymans subsequently co-wrote much of Golden Earring's material, including the international smash "Radar Love," which broke them in America in 1974 and remains an album rock radio staple. Golden Earring's overseas momentum slowed as quickly as it had picked up, but they continued to record prolifically in their home country. Punk and new wave forced them to retool their sound once again, and they returned to international prominence in 1982 with the album Cut and the U.S. Top Ten hit "Twilight Zone," a Kooymans composition that had actually been planned as a solo release at first. In 1987, Kooymans and Hay briefly formed their own label, Ring Records, and issued solo albums; Kooymans' was aptly titled Solo. Golden Earring returned to a major label in 1990 and recorded a string of successful albums and singles that lasted right up into the new millennium. In 1995, Kooymans and Hay discovered female rock singer Anouk, and wrote material for her 1997 debut album, Together Alone, which made her a star in the Netherlands. Golden Earring celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2001. © Steve Huey © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jjfexqe5ldte~T1