He has a certain sense of humour. I just finished reading his biography and there are some stories. In this part he is joking on the original singer and especially on his accent. People from the Hague have a very funny way of talking. Some of the bands from the Hague had singers who sang their English in Hague accent. Most clear example is Willem Bielen from Q65. Talking about Frans Krassenburg, Winter Harvest was his last Earring album. He does some backing vocals on "The Sound of the Screaming Day" but than he is replaced by Barry Hay. He had a brief solo career in which he recorded the song that the band named themselves after.
Unfortunately for me Barry’s book is in Dutch Pity for me coz I picked up a copy in a bookstore and the photos alone looked like they had interesting back-stories- there was one with the actress Gillian Anderson pre-X-files. We’re they in a relationship? Would like to have read the book and also the one about the band’s fortunes in the states called The American Dream ( or Dutch equivalent).
The rogue! I bet Barry has some great music stories. They toured with so many famous bands. Many of whom, talent-wise, are not fit to carry the Earring’s plectrums to the trucks.
Winter Harvest I’ve listened to ‘Winter Harvest’ twice today and here are some comments which I’ve got to make about it: I agree with Edwin regarding the sound of the album - it is far more accomplished and far more cohesive as an album than ‘Just Ear-rings’. The addition of keyboards is a smart move as the subtle addition of organ and harpsichord offset the interplay between the bass and George’s guitar. Unlike later releases by Golden Earring where track composition is often by George Kooymans alone or George with Barry Hay, this album features six compositions by the team of George and Rinus. And these work quite well on a number of songs. Onto the music, there are a number of highlights for me: ‘Smoking Cigarettes’, which is a George composition, and ‘In My House’ which is a shared composition between George and Rinus. These songs boast strong production and good arrangements and ‘In My House’ is the longest track on the album clocking in at just under four minutes. I find it difficult to enjoy the vocals on some tracks and this is the case on 'In My House' as well as some others. This is of course because Frans as the lead singer is, in my opinion, straining to reach the notes on several tracks. I think Frans struggles to sing this and in later years so does Barry - see the Ziggo Dome concert film. Maybe the band could have changed the key to help the guys? I like ‘Tears and Lies’ which is composed by Rinus and ‘Dream’ which has a Motown-style bass part, a bit reminiscent of that on ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’, but it’s a particularly catchy number with brass and horns also featuring. ‘You Break My Heart’ features harpsichord and other keyboards as well as acoustic guitar and this is another decent pop song which works quite well, helped by the nice arrangement. This one is written by Rinus. ‘Baby Don’t Make Me Nervous’ is a standard beat group dance song during which I can visualise a crowd of people dancing along a La Davy Jones from The Monkees. Again, keyboards add subtle touches mostly organ on this one however, the guitar sound is very thin and although the intention is to have fuzzy guitar it is very weak and unfortunately it sounds more like a wasp in a jam jar. Sorry. Two compositions which jump out at me later on on the album are tracks 12 and 13 ‘Happy And Young Together’ and then ‘Lionel The Miser’ both of these tracks remind me of The Who musically, perhaps not vocally, but the drums are to the fore and lots of space is left for to play a few drum fills. ‘Happy’ in particular has got a great Who-ish vibe. ‘Lionel the Miser’ - what a strange track title - however, I suppose it brings to mind ‘Happy Jack’ or ‘Arnold Layne’ - whatever, I like this track and again it doesn’t do it any harm to have a Who-ish feel. To end the album ‘There Will Be A Tomorrow’ this is a very dreamy song and is also very short. This time the Herman’s Hermits references return if only in the style of the vocals. Again some nice tracks but the weakness of the singing is something the band clearly had to address. And did.
The Golden Earrings – Winter-Harvest (1967, Vinyl) Also have this The Golden Earrings – The Golden Earrings (1974, Winchester Press, Vinyl)
July 15 1967 sees the release of another single: The Sound of the Screaming Day. Recorded in England, composed by George and Rinus. It is the last recording with Frans Krassenburg who sings backing vocals. Before the relase Frans is replaced by Barry Hay, former singer with the Haigs. At the time Barry was rehearsing for a month with a new band formed by Robbie van Leeuwen, guitar player and main composer of the Motions. This was an early incarnation of Shocking Blue, and when Barry told he decided to join the Earrings, Robbie van Leeuwen said the words "You'll regret this for the rest of your life". Barry is already present in the promotion video and also got a crash course flute playing to be able to perform this song live. The song reached number 4 in the Dutch charts and can still be found in the yearly top 2000 in the Netherlands
Reason Barry was asked was his natural English (most of the native English speakers here might have heard that so far the pronunciation of English was not really perfect) as well that he was less of a pop singer. His first contribution to the band was the b-side of Sound of the Screaming Day: "She won't come to me" which indeed sounds a bit as things to come (listen closely to George's guitar) but is also regarded as typical b-side quality. Most early Earring songs had a Kooymans/Gerritsen credit, like Lennon/McCartney, but most were written by George Kooymans. This seems to be an example of a Rinus Gerritsen composition (source: Golden Earring en de lange adem - The Velvet VoxThe Velvet Vox)
And a more modern live version by the guys themselves. This is recorded at one of the theatre tours that spawned from the Naked Truth project.
I really like this one, it’s a great single. It’s the sound of a band finding their feet and their confidence. Good arrangement and instrumentation too. I bet Barry did regret joining the Earring….
This is a very interesting B-side. To me the vocal harmonies are slightly reminiscent of The Hollies but the lead vocal is unmistakably Barry and it sounds pretty confident and assured. The backing arrangement sounds a bit more ambitious and, at times, puts me in mind of The Walker Bros who were very popular around this time.
God bless George, love him and his playing, singing and compositions. I really wish I could have seen the band live in their acoustic shows. The Naked Truth and Live at The Panama DVDs are great shows. Wish the Naked Truth was available on Blu-ray.
Great idea! Needs a big effort from you, EdwinM, but I'm quite optimistic since I checked your location! As for me, I like rather all periods of theirs. I'm not listening to much of their albums in total anymore, but I hope I can say my little somethings here and there. Regarding the early years with Frans Krassenburg, I really dig "Please Go", "Daddy Won't You Buy Me A Girl" and of course "Sound Of The Screaming Day". They all clearly show their influences, but I really think they're well crafted and show here's a band with talent.
It is a original and is a promo, has a stamp in upper right hand corner that says FREE. I will take a closer picture when I get home from work and post it.
Also in 1967, the single Together We Live, Together We Love was released. Lead vocals again by George. The single peaked on number 6 in the Dutch charts. B-side was the more psychedelic song "I wonder Preview together we live and love". Its sound points towards the upcoming Miracle Mirror album. I Wonder Preview Together We Live And Love - YouTube
I'm close enough to the fire and have no language problem. I hope however that more people get active when we reach the Eight Miles High album.
In 1968 the third Earrings album was released: Miracle Mirror. The drastic change of sound is reflected on the album and resulted in psychedelic music instead of beat. All songs written by Gerritsen and Kooymans. Original track listing Side 1 "The Truth About Arthur" – 2:54 "Circus Will Be in Town in Time" – 3:25 "Crystal Heaven" – 3:50 "Sam and Sue" – 1:41 "I've Just Lost Somebody" – 3:05 "Mr. Fortune's Wife" – 3:15 Side 2 "Who Cares?" – 3:44 "Born a Second Time" – 2:38 "Magnificent Magistral" – 2:43 "Must I Cry?" - 2:16 "Nothing Can Change This World of Mine" - 3:22 "Gipsy Rhapsody" - 3:19 The single from the album is the really beautiful Rinus Gerritsen composition : I've Just Lost Somebody. It is about the end of a relationship, but got a much more important meaning later when it was dedicated during a concert to a female fan who was killed in a car accident when someone dropped a pavement tile from a bridge. It has a promotion video which was filmed for the legendary dutch popshow Moef-Ga-Ga. But it's not the only highlight on the album, also The Truth about Arthur (b-side of I've Just Lost Somebody, released as a single in Germany and Greece) and Gipsy Rhapsody are clear highlights. If you like the UK psychedelic scene, this one is a must have. Golden Earrings: "Miracle Mirror" - YouTube
I’ve Just Lost Somebody is a fantastic track in my opinion I really love it! The live version on Naked III Live at The Panama is pretty good too. I will re-visit the parent album over the weekend and chip in with my 2 cents.
In 1968 Henk Smitskamp left the Motions for a solo career. George decided to write a song for him to, alsoto annoy their competitors a bit. However, when he played the song to Freddy Haayen he told the band that the should not give away such a commercial song. Dong-dong-di-ki-di-gi-dong became their first number one single in the Netherlands. The band themselves are not that fond of this song as being much too commercial and not fit for the style of music they wanted to make. On the b-side was the song Wake Up Breakfast.
