THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,560) The Golden Earrings — “Call Me”
Don’t call Debbie Harry, call the Golden Earrings (see #63, 163, 319, 1,215, 1,504)! They gave us this uncannily Beatlesque ballad on their second LP — Winter Harvest — written by founding guitarist George Kooymans. The Earrings are my favorite British beat group . . . from the Netherlands! But not only could they sound just as if they had washed up on a bank of the Mersey, a feat in and of itself, they also wrote great songs. Unlike some groups, they didn’t have the luxury of having Lennon and McCartney donate to the cause. The Earrings have earned a lot of good will in my book — everything that happened in the 70’s is forgiven! As Mark Deming writes:
Golden Earring were hailed as one of the hottest new bands in America when the song “Radar Love” . . . was released in 1973. Funny thing was, Golden Earring were hardly a new band; while they weren’t well known outside the Netherlands, in their native Holland they were major stars who had been scoring hits for eight years.
Deming writes of Winter Harvest that:
[T]he Golden Earrings still sounded like a crack British Invasion-era outfit who had made a wrong turn somewhere when they cut . . . Winter Harvest, but they were inarguably a stronger and more ambitious group a year after releasing their debut. All 14 songs on Winter Harvest were originals (primarily written by bassist Rinus Gerritsen and guitarist George Kooymans) and the stylistic range of this collection is noticeably wider . . . exploring sounds and styles the band had not pursued before. [and t]hey could also rock harder than ever before . . . . The Golden Earrings clearly had the confidence to try new things when they recorded Winter Harvest, and with good reason — they sounded good on Just Earrings, but they’re tighter and sharper here, hitting a more consistent groove and making the most of the possibilities of the studio. Gerritsen began playing keyboards as well as bass on these recordings, and the added tonal colors serve the material well, and vocalist Frans Krassenburg had picked up a lot of nuance after a year of steady recording and performing. If Just Earrings was [their] Please Please Me, Winter Harvest is their Rubber Soul, an album that masterfully consolidates their old strengths while revealing many new ones. . . . [It] remains impressive more than four decades after it was released.
Of the Earrings, Kieron Tyler tells us:
They were always melodic . . . their music combined the tough chunkiness of The Who and The Kinks with the minor-key, brooding melodies of The Zombies. . . . Where bands like the rough-hewn Outsiders [see #615, 664, 1,218] defined the edgy sound of Amsterdam, the more polished Golden Earrings defined the sound of The Hague. . . . The[ir] roots . . . lie in The Tornados, a band formed by 13-year-old George Kooymans and 15-year-old Marinus Gerritsen in 1962. . . . An instrumental outfit, their repertoire included Shadows and Ventures numbers. . . . The Hague . . . was stuffed with rock ‘n’ roll bands and competition was tough. . . . [The] boom was fuelled by bands made up from Indonesian immigrants. Indo-Rock had been born. . . . After the British Tornados’ Telstar became a Dutch hit in late 1962 . . . . the band chose The Golden Earrings, from the standard that Peggy Lee had a hit with in 1948. . . . [B]y the end of 1963, it became clear that the shifting musical climate meant the band would have to incorporate vocals. Frans Krassenburg became their singer in early 1964. . . . The[ir] break came in July 1965 . . . . Freddy Haayen saw the band at their regular venue Club 192 . . . . [and] said he worked for Polydor Records and that he wanted to record them. Actually, he was an architecture student who also worked as a trainee at Polydor’s warehouse. The Golden Earrings didn’t know this and duly turned up . . . to record four tracks . . . . Haayen had made good on his bluff and scored a deal with Polydor. Released in September, “Please Go” . . . reach[ed] number 10. . . . In September they played with The Who; November saw them teamed up with The Kinks. . . . [T]he band[‘s] first album, Just Earrings[, r]eleased [in] November 1965 . . . showcased the band’s supreme confidence. . . .
The Golden Earrings were riding high in 1966. Their first three singles had been massive Dutch hits, and the previous year had seen the release of their classic debut album . . . . [They] were already making records that should have been heard beyond the borders of their native Holland. . . . Winter Harvest marries a tough mod-beat approach to sensitive minor-key melodies, merging The Small Faces’ kineticism with the moody sensibilities of The Zombies. The sound was unique to The Golden Earrings, a band that carved their own niche from the start While other Dutch legends like Q’65 [see #108, 557, 913, 1,164, 1,227, 1,356] and The Outsiders were unhinged and freaked-out, The Golden Earrings focused their energies on structure and songwriting. . . . A year [after Just Earrings] they were riding high after three hit singles[, a]ll . . . kinetic numbers that relied on driving rhythms to make their mark. When the next single arrived in late August 1966 it became clear The Golden Earrings were absorbing the new textures that could be applied to pop. . . . [with] “Daddy Buy Me A Girl” [see #163]. . . . [I]n late November when it was announced that rhythm guitarist Peter de Ronde had left the band. . . . Continuing as a four piece . . . the band immediately began recording . . . Winter Harvest . . . . [which] was a quantum leap. There were no cover versions, and no songs that had already been issued as singles. . . . Overall . . . the sound was of a band that were in total control and utterly confident. . . . They played dates in Stockholm and Hamburg just before the release of Winter Harvest, and also licensed the album to Capitol Records in America. . . . But they didn’t find an American audience . . . . Back home, “In My House” and “Smoking Cigarettes” were extracted . . . as a single coupling in April 1967. As usual it was another massive Dutch hit. The single was followed by the departure of vocalist Frans Krassenburg. His replacement was Barry Hay, the frontman of Hague band The Haigs [see #138] . . . .
https://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2011/11/the-golden-earrings-just-ear-rings-1965.html, https://rockasteria.blogspot.com/2011/12/golden-earrings-winter-harvest-1966.html
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They morphed into an amazing hard-rock band after Barry Hay joined, but they were always good. Probably my favorite band from continental Europe, in fact.
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The Netherlands had a magical rock scene in the 60’s.
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