Focus
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1969-70) - Hans Cleuver -- drums, percussion - Martin Dresden
-- bass
line up 2 (1970-71) NEW - Jan Akkerman -- guitar - Hans Cleuver -- drums, percussion - Martin Dresden -- bass - Thijs Van Leer -- keyboards, flute, percussion
line up 3 (1971-72) - Jan Akkerman -- guitar NEW
- Cyril Havermans -- bass (replaced Martin Dresden) NEW - Pierre Van der Linden -- drums (replaced Hans Cleuver)
line up 4 (1971-73) - Jan Akkerman -- guitar NEW
- Bert Ruiter -- bass, percussion (replaced Cyril
Havermans) - Pierre Van der Linden -- drums (replaced Hans Cleuver)
line up 5 (1973-74) - Jan Akkerman -- guitar NEW - Collin Allan -- drums, percussion (replaced Pierre Van der Linden)
- Bert Ruiter -- bass, percussion (replaced Cyril Havermans)
line up 5 (1974-75) - Jan Akkerman -- guitar NEW - David Kemper -- drums, percussion (replaced Collin Allan)
- Bert Ruiter -- bass, percussion (replaced Cyril
Havermans)
line up 6 (1976-78) NEW - Eef Albers -- lead guitar (replaced Jan Akkerman) NEW - Philip Catherine -- rhythm and lead guitar (replaced Jan Akkerman) - Thijs van Leer
-- keyboards, flute
line up 7 (1978) - Eef Albers -- lead guitar (replaced Jan Akkerman) - Philip Catherine -- rhythm and lead guitar (replaced Jan Akkerman) NEW - Richard James -- drums, percussion (replaced Steve Smith) - Thijs van Leer
-- keyboards, flute
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- Jan Akkerman
(solo efforts) - Eef Albers (solo
efforts) - Earth & Fire (Bert Reuiter) - Ekception (Pierre van der Linden)
- Forcefield II (Jan Akkerman)
- Hunters (Jan Akkerman, Pierre van der Linden) - Journey (Steve Smith) - Pedal Point (Thijs van Leer)
- Jean Luc Ponty (Philip Catherine and Steve
Smith) - Trace (Pierre van der Linden) - Vital Information. (Steve Smith) |
Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: In & Out of Focus Company: Sire Catalog: SASD-7027 Year: 1971 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: not yet listed Price: $10.00 |
Still music students at the Amsterdam
Conservatory, classically trained woodwind player Thijs van Leer, drummer
Hans Cleuver and bass player Martin Dresden found themselves supplementing
their incomes working as sessions players. Supporting the likes of Dutch
stars Cyril Havermans and Robin Lent, by 1969 they'd added former Brainbox
guitarist Jan Akkerman to the lineup (see separate entry), paying their
bills by backing the Dutch version of Hair. On their own, the lineup's
intricate hybrid of classic, jazz and art rock attracted the attention of
Polydor Records which subsequently signed them to a recording contract.
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Moving Waves Company: Sire Catalog: SASD-7401 Year: 1972 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5913 Price: $12.00
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Largely on the strength of the fluke top-40 hit
'Hocus Pocus', 1971's "Moving
Waves" proved the group's biggest American seller. It
also stood as their most artistically fulfilling release. Exemplified by the
24 minute, side long 'Eruption' the collection offered up a
seamless combination of classical, jazz and rock influences. While the
entire group was given an opportunity to display technical virtuosity,
Akkerman's contributions were particularly noteworthy. Less impressive were
the group's stabs at vocal numbers. Exemplified by the title track vocalist
van Leer sounded as if he'd overdosed on helium snappets. The group's
biggest American hit, the album went gold, hitting # 8. Unfortunately,
shortly after the collection's release the group underwent the first of a
stream of personnel changes with drummer Cleuver and bassist Dresden
leaving. They were quickly replaced by former Akkerman associates Cyril
Havermans and Pierre Van der Linden.
1.) Hocus Pocus (side 2)
1.) Eruption
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: At the Rainbow Company: Polydor Catalog: 2383 229 Year: 1973 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gimmick, fold out sleeve; German pressing Available: SOLD Catalog ID: SOLD 6390 Price: SOLD $10.00
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Recorded before an enthusiastic crowd at a May 1973 performances London's Rainbow Theater, "At the Rainbow" was released as a stopgap set when plans for a studio follow-up to 1972's "Moving Waves" fell apart amidst a bout of personnel infighting. Produced by Mike Vernon (interesting choice given his blues-rock roots), the album showcased what many folks think is the classic Focus line up - guitarist Jan Akkerman, keyboardist/flute player Thijs Van Leer, bassist Bert Ruiter and drummer Pierre Van Der Linden. Musically the collection offered up a decent mixture of ''hits' ('Sylvia' and of course 'Hocus Pocus' was on the album, though most folks would be hard pressed to recognize it given the hyper speed rendition), and lesser known album tracks. With the exception of 'Hocus Pocus' none of the live arrangements were drastically different from the studio versions, but that wasn't meant as a criticism given how good these performances were.
1.) Focus III (instrumental) (Thjis van Leer) - 3:52 rating: *** stars No matter what you think about Focus, the opening instrumental 'Focus III' leaves no doubt that Akkerman deserved all the credit and acclaim that was being directed his way during the mid-1970s. One of the band's prettier and more mainstream compositions, it made for a nice way to start the album. 2.) Answers? Questions! Questions? Answer! (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman - Bert Ruiter) - 11:29 rating: *** stars 'Answers? Questions! Questions? Answer!' was more of a jam number with each member getting a shot at he spotlight. Way too long (you can easily skip the seemingly endless flute solo), it would have been better without van Lee's irritating shrieks in the background. Once again the spotlight was on Akkerman who displayed some amazing speed of light fretwork, and while his performance was dazzling (especially in the second half of the song), the secret ingredients this time around was the Ruiter and Van Der Linden rhythm section. Gawd only knows how they did it, but the pair somehow managed to keep this eleven minute plus piece on track. 3.) Focus II (instrumental)
(Thjis
van Leer) - 4:36 rating: ** stars
(side 2) 1.) Eruptions (excerpt) (instrumental) (Tom Barlage - Thjis van Leer) - 8:28 rating: ** stars i.) Orfeus ii,) Answer iii.) Orfeus iv.) Answer v.) Pupilla vi.) Tommy vii.) Pupilla Side two found the band shifting into their progressive stance with an abbreviated take on 'Eruption' (off of 1972's started with "Moving Waves" LP). With the original 22 minute studio version slimmed down to a mere eight minutes, the performance wasn't bad (once again Akkerman's contributions were stellar), but to get the full effect, this is one where I'd stick with the studio rendition. 2.) Hocus Pocus (Jan Akkerman - Thjis van Leer) (instrumental) - 8:30. rating: **** stars As mentioned above, the live version of 'Hocus Pocus' opened up with an amazing feedback drenched solo from Akkerman and then blasted into a hyper speed take. You were left with the impression they were fed up with the song and just wanted to get it over with. Even with van Leer's extended yodeling and whistling, it made for one of the album highlights. By the way van Leer's 'singing' band introductions were kind of cute. 3.) Sylvia (instrumental) (Thjis van Leer) - 2:47 rating: *** stars True it wasn't as big a hit as 'Hocus Pocus;, but to my ears 'Sylvia' was actually the better song. One of van Leer's prettiest compositions, there was even a bit of yodeling for his fans. 4.) Hocus Pocus (reprise) (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman - Thjis van Leer) - 2:46 rating: ** stars The 'Hocus Pocus' reprise was needless unless you felt the need for a couple of additional minutes of van Leer's yodeling. I certainly didn't feel the need.
Yeah there were a
couple of lulls ('Eruptions'), but for the most part this album sailed by
very quickly. Nice introduction to the band ...
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Hamburger Concerto Company: ATCO Catalog: SD 36-100 Year: 1974 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: SOLD Catalog ID: SOLD Price: SOLD $12.00
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1973's "Hamburger Concerto" found Focus teaming with producer Mike Vernon (best known for his work with English blues-rock bands like Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown and as owner of the Blue Horizon label). In theory it should have made for an interesting collaboration with each partner influencing the other, but for what it was worth, Focus won this round with little of Vernon's trademarked production touches standing out in the resulting collection. Guess what I'm trying to say is that anyone expecting to hear Focus-con-Savoy Brown was going to be disappointed by this one. On the other hand, if you were looking for a continuation of the band's earlier eclectic approach to a myriad of musical styles, this was a nice addition to the catalog. As on those earlier releases guitarist Jan Akkerman and multi-instrumentalist Thijs Van Leer dominated the material, splitting the writing chores and taking most of the spotlight moments. This one had a little bit of everything, including stabs at classical, medieval, pop, progressive, and straight ahead rock.
"Hamburger Concerto" track listing:
1.) Delitiae Musicae (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman) - 1:13 rating: *** stars 'Delitiae Musicae' started the album off with one of Akkerman's medieval influenced Lute instrumentals. The track sounded very much like something off of his "Tabernakel" solo album (in may well have been left over from those sessions). At least to my ears it was quite striking, though was one of those genres enjoyed in small doses, rather than stretched over an entire album. The only warning is that the track had absolutely nothing to do with the rock genre. 2.) Harem Scarem (instrumental) (Thijs van Leer) - 5:50 rating: **** stars While you wouldn't be entirely wrong labeling it a 'Hocus Pocus' knockoff, 'Harem Scarem' was a classic slice of Focus rock. Kicked along by Akkerman's screeching lead guitar and van Thjis keyboards, this was one of their more conventional, straight-ahead efforts, making it easy to see why ATCO tapped it as the single. Geez, there was even a little bit of van Leers yodeling in the background.
- 1973's 'Harum Scarum' b/w 'Early Birth' (ATCO catalog number 45-7002)
3.) La Cathedrale de Strasbourg (instrumental) (Thijs van Leer) - 5:00 rating: *** stars van Leer's 'La Cathedrale de Strasbourg' found the band in pseudo-classical mode. The first half of the song was featured a pretty, churchy melody that really didn't make much of a long term impression. The song improved considerably when the French lyrics kicked in. Bolstered by some nice whistling (not kidding) and a great bass pattern from Ruiter, it ushered in one of Akkerman's prettier, jazz-influenced performances. 4.) Birth (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman) - 7:45 rating: **** stars 'Birth' opened up with a harpsichord-powered medieval flourish before morphing into a blazing rocker that showcased Akkerman's lead guitar and van Leer's flute. That probably didn't sound very promising, but the fact of the matter was that this was one of the album's standout performances.
(side 2) 1.) Hamburger Concerto - 20:18 rating: *** stars i.) Starter (Thijs van Leer) ii.) Rare (Jan Akkerman) iii.) Medium I (Thijs van Leer) iv.) Medium II (Jan Akkerman) v.) Well Done (Thijs van Leer) vi.) One for the Road (Jan Akkerman) Side two showcased the multi-part title track suite. Clocking in at about 20 minutes, interestingly the basic 'Hamburger Concerto' melody seemed to have been appropriated from Johannes Brahms 'Variations on the St. Anthony Chorale', though the liner notes variously credited the six segments to Akkerman and van Leer. Kicking the track off, the 'Starter' segment was probably my favorite segment, effortless mixing Akkerman's power chords (which sound like they were borrowed from 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' from "Abbey Road") and van Leer's classical inspired keyboards. Other parts of the suite did less for me, including the 'Hocus Pocus' self parody found on 'Medium I'. I will admit side two flew by quickly.
Executive summary - mid-1970s progressive for those of us who like our music varied with a bit of conventional structure. One of my favorite Focus releases ...
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Mother Focus Company: ATCO Catalog: SD 36-117 Year: 1975 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5912 Price: $12.00
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Having enjoyed a taste of commercial success with 1973's 'Hocus Pocus', 1975's self-produced "Mother Focus" found Focus still trying to figure out what to do next. The resulting discussions apparently put the band into two camps; one favoring a return to a more progressive stance; the other group wanting to continue with a more commercial orientation. Judging by the majority of these tracks, the commercial faction led by bassist Bert Ruiter apparently won out. The result was a collection of shorter, more mainstream numbers that largely abandoned their earlier progressive moves in favor of shorter, more focused pop and lite jazz moves. The change in direction also saw a shift in writing with Ruiter responsible for almost half of the songs; Akkerman and van Thjis splitting the rest. Needless to say, longstanding fans were confused and appalled by the change in direction. At the same time the since the album lacked anything as commercial as 'Hocus Pocus' pop fans proved uninterested. The end result was an album that failed to please either crowd and left their recording label less than thrilled. To my ears the big disappoint was the lack of airtime for Akkerman. With the exception of 'Hard Vanilla' he was all but absent on side one. His growing frustrations with the band became apparently when he handed in his resignation shortly after the album was released. Adding to the personnel problems during the recording sessions drummer Collin Allan bailed (the liner notes credited him with playing on 'I Need a Bathroom'). David Kemper was quickly brought in as a replacement.
1.) Mother Focus (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman - Bert Ruiter - Thijs van Leer) - 3:04 rating: **** stars Propelled by Thjis van Lerr's mini-moog and background yoodles (yeah they were there, just not as prominent as on 'Hocus Pocus'), 'Mother Focus' started the album off with one of their most commercial offerings. I never would have expected to hear a funky Focus song, but this one certainly came close. Great melody helped out by a nice voice box guitar solo from Akkerman ... My favorite performance on the album. 2.) I Need a Bathroom (Bert Ruiter) - 3:05 rating: **** stars Written and sung by bassist Bert Ruiter, 'I Need a Bathroom' was a slinky blues-rocker. Showcasing Akkerman's guitar, the tune itself was quite good - one of their best straightforward rockers, though the lyric was questionable. One could only assume there was a translation issue on this one. 3.) Bennie Helder (instrumental) (Thjis van Leer) - 3:32 rating: ** stars Showcasing van Thjis synthesizers 'Bennie Helde' was a pretty pop instrumental. The melody actually would have made for a nice pop song which probably drove the band's progressive fans into spasms of despair ... 4.) Soft Vanilla (instrumental) (Bert Ruiter) - 3:03 rating: ** stars Another Ruiter composition, the instrumental 'Soft Vanilla' was a breezy instrumental that actually sounded like something off of a mid-1980s lite jazz station. Quite relaxing in a dental office kind of fashion. 5.) Hard Vanilla (instrumental) (Bert Ruiter) - 2:35 rating: ** stars 'Hard Vanilla' was basically a continuation of the earlier song, the major difference being this time out the focus shifted to Akkerman's voice box guitar. While better than 'Soft Vanilla', the results were still awfully MOR. 6.) Tropical Bird (instrumental) (Bert Ruiter) - 2:43 rating: ** stars Another pretty, but instantly forgettable instrumental that spotlight van Thjis tasteful synthesizers, 'Tropical Bird' sounded like it had been written for a television soundtrack.
1.) Focus IV (instrumental) (Thjis van Leer) - 3:58 rating: **** stars Opening side two, the van Thjis-penned instrumental 'Focus IV' was easily one of the band's prettiest songs. Simply a gorgeous melody with Akkerman turning in an equally engaging slide guitar solo. 2.) Someone's Crying . . . What? (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman) - 3:19 rating: ** stars Akkerman's 'Someone's Crying . . . What?' came off as little more than noodling. There were fragments of a song here, but the thing never came together in a coherent package. Ironically Akkerman wasn't much of a presence on the track; van Thjis synthesizers and flute taking most of the spotlight. 3.) All Together Now . . . Oh, That! (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman) - 3:42 rating: *** stars Another Akkerman composition, 'All Together Now . . . Oh, That!' started out spotlighted his acoustic guitar on a folky number that recalled something from one of his earlier solo albums. About a minute into the track the song morphed into a country-rock number. Don't cringe since the focus (ha) remained on Akkerman's sterling guitar. 4.) No Hang Ups (instrumental) (Paul Stoppelman) - 2:56 rating: **** stars The lone cover, 'No Hang Ups' served as a showcase for Akkerman's instantly recognizable lead work. His standout performance and one of the album highpoints ... 5.) My Sweetheart (instrumental) (Jan Akkerman - Thjis van Leer) - 3:36 rating: ** stars 'My Sweetheart' almost sounded like a disco number ... Not sure what effect Akkerman was using on his strings, or perhaps it was a Coral electric sitar ... regardless, the sound was pretty cool, though the song sucked. 6.) Father Bach (instrumental) (Thjis van Leer) - 1:33 rating: ** stars van Thjis 'Father Bach' closed the album out with a brief classically inspired piece. This one always make me think of Midnight mass ...
Far from their creative zenith, but not bad for a band that was starting to fall apart at the seams. Critics savaged the set and the buying public pretty much ignored the album. ATCO didn't even bother trying to float a single. (I can clearly recall seeing piles of the album sitting around my local music store with a 99 cent sales tag.)
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Dutch Masters Company: Sire Catalog: SASD-7505 Year: 1975 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 2 Catalog ID: 10237 Price: $9.00
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Like any spurned suitor, when Focus switched their recording allegiance to Atlantic's ATCO subsidiary, Sire management went back to the recording vaults to pull together a 'best of' package. The result was 1976's "Dutch Masters". Pulling together ten tracks from their first three (?) studio sets (and featuring three personnel line-ups), the album included their big hit 'Hocus Pocus' (in the original album format and a strange, hyper-speed accelerated bonus version (funny since the original sounded like it was recorded with the band on speed). along with an entertaining mixture of some of their better album tracks. As a quicky retrospective it certainly did a nice job of highlighting the breadth of influences that powered the band during their creating prime - classical, jazz, hard rock and progressive moves (sometimes in one composition). Hard to pick favorites, but sounding like a Jethro Tull number the Latin flavored 'House of the King' and the Jan Akkerman-powered instrumental 'Sylvia' were worth hearing. A nice introduction for Focus newbies, or early career overview for casual fans. (The artwork was also a hoot.)
"Dutch Masters" track listing:
1.) Hocus
Pocus (instrumental) - 3:18
(side 2) 1.) Focus
II (instrumental) - 4:00
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Genre: progressive Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: Focus Con Proby Company: Harvest Catalog: ST-11721 Year: 1978 Country/State: Amsterdam, Holland / US / Belgium Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5905 Price: $20.00
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Released in the midst of the full onslaught of punk aggression and new wave angst, 1978's "Focus Con Proby" never stood a chance in the commercial arena. Adding to Focus' problems, the album was released in the wake of wholesale personnel changes that saw founding members Jan Akkerman and Pierre van der Linden strike out on their own. That left surviving members Thijs van Leer, Bert Ruiter, and Steve Smith to recruit guitarists Eef Albers and Philip Catherine as replacements for Akkerman along with the addition of Texas-born singer P.J. Proby. In their own ways Albers and Catherine were both quite impressive. In addition to contributing two compositions to the album, Albers handled most of the lead chores, showing himself more than an able replacement for Akkerman with some tasty conventional rock and jazz-rock performances (check out 'Night Flight'). Belgian guitarist Catherine handled most of the rhythm guitar work, but on his composition 'Sneezin' Bill'' he showed himself to have some killer jazz-rock moves. Albers had the speed, but Catherine had the finesse. In contrast, Proby was simply an odd choice to front a progressive-oriented band like Focus. His gruff voice wasn't bad, rather he just seemed uncomfortable with most of the band's progressive catalog. That probably shouldn't have come as a major surprise given his background and earlier successes had come as sort of a pseudo-Elvis rocker.
"Focus Con Proby" track listing:
1.) Wingless (Thijs van Leer - Roselie van Leer) - 5:32 rating: **** stars While Proby never had a great voice, 'Wingless' was probably his best performance on the album. That said, to my ears he seemed pretty uncomfortable with his surroundings, let alone trying to figure out how to deal with the rest of this multi-national progressive outfit. That was unfortunate since the song itself was quite good. Kudos to lead guitarist Albers who turned in a blazing performance that would have made former lead guitarist Akkerman blush. One of Focus' lost treasure. 2.) Orion (instrumental) (Eef Albers) - 4:06 rating: *** stars One of two tracks penned by Albers, the instrumental 'Orion' featured a pretty, slightly jazzy melody that served as a nice showcase for his tasteful playing. Perhaps not as technically sophisticated as Akkerman's best work, but actually more commercial. Bassist Ruiter turned in some nice moves on this one as well. 3.) Night Flight (instrumental) (Eef Albers) - 3:38 rating: ** stars Albers second contribution, 'Night Flight' was a jazz-rock instrumental. Imagine something out of Jeff Beck's catalog and you'd have a pretty good feel for the track. Like Beck's jazz-rock catalog, this one seemed to have been written as a place to exhibit Albers hyper-speed fret work. Technically quite dazzling, but not really that enjoyable. 4.) Eddy (Thijs van Leer - Roselie van Leer) - 5:53 rating: ** stars
A pedestrian bluesy-ballad, 'Eddy' was clearly better suited for Proby's limited range, but even this one seemed to press him to the breaking point - check out the fractured falsetto screech when he tried to hit the high notes. I will admit to liking van Leer's synthesizers on this one. Inexplicably the song was tapped as a promotional single in Holland:
- 1977's 'Eddy' b/w 'Sneezing Bull' (EMI catalog number ID 07
5.) Sneezin' Bill (instrumental) (Phil Catherine) - 4:27 rating: *** stars Written by newcomer Catherine, with its van Leer flute solo, the instrumental 'Sneezin' Bill' actually sounded like a throwback to 'Hocus Pocus' era Focus. The song's highlight came in the form of Catherine's fantastic lead guitar which may have been the album's standout performance. Shame there wasn't more Catherine and less van Leer on this one ...
(side 2) 1.) Brother (Thijs van Leer) - 5:17 rating: *** stars Side two kicked off with one of the album's stranger performances - against a blues-rocker, Proby turning in his best lounge act crooner impersonation. Seriously, this one sounded like a second rate Frank Sinatra impersonator trying to score a Holiday Inn gig. Catherine's lead guitar, including a voice box solo provided the song's only real highlights. 2.) Tokyo Rose (Roselie van Leer - Steve Smith) - 5:04 rating: ** stars Even weirder was 'Tokyo Rose'. The song started out sounding like a classically-inspired piece an earlier Focus line-up might have churned out and then turned into one very weird Proby narrative that was apparently inspired by English speaking Japanese radio propagandists who broadcast to Allied troops during World War II. Yeah, this is one that you have to hear to understand. 3.) Maximum (instrumental) (Thijs van Leer - Bert Ruiter) - 8:39 rating: ** stars With the title perhaps inspired by the song's tty good, adding a slight funk edge to the proceedings, but other than Catherine's tasteful lead work, there wasn't much to keep you engaged. It made for dandy background music. 4.) How Long (Thijs van Leer - Roselie van Leer) - 5:20 rating: *** stars 'How Long' was a hysterically inept attempt to meld the band's progressive roots with a more commercial pop-sensibility. Kicked along by Proby's earnest attempt to sound serious, the results were so bad they were actually good. Flash back to a Bill Murray lounge act performance.
Definitely a strange late-inning release for these guys. It clearly won't appeal to the band's progressive fans, but for the rest of you ... well it was different.
The band undertook a brief tour to support the album which did nothing for sales and then called it quits with the members scattering all over the musical roadmap - Smith hit the big time as a member of Journey !
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