THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
2,158) Boudewijn de Groot — “Naast Jou”/”Next to You”
The Dutch Master Boudewijn de Groot (see #107, 161, 305, 989, 1,216, 1,446) — and I’m not talking cigars — is a “[t]roubadour with a Dylan-esque impact, who shoots to fame in [the Netherlands in] the ’60s and ’70s”. (https://en.muziekencyclopedie.nl/action/entry/Boudewijn+de+Groot) Here is a beautiful song, composed with his collaborator Lennaert Nijgh, from his ’66 LP Voor De Overlevenden (For the Survivors), “so recognizable and timeless later on for adolescents taking their first steps on the path of love . . . . [with] the feeling associated with that event . . . portrayed with such integrity and beauty.” (Roxy6 (courtesy of Google Translate), https://www.musicmeter.nl/album/1252/info/filtered). It has “a beautiful text [that] Boudewijn delivers . . . so beautifully. For me, as a —too young— teenager, it was educational. I didn’t really grasp what it was about. Now I am a ‘pensioner’ and, unfortunately, I know all too well what it is about.” (vhjmvn, (courtesy of Google Translate) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbxBQSBdbOs)
The lyrics — even in Google translation they cut like a knife:
“En ik voel de warmte van je lichaam stralen al heb je mij dan ook in de kou gezet.”/”And I feel the warmth of your body radiating even though you have left me out in the cold.”
As to Voor De Overlevenden, Edwin Wendt writes (courtesy of Google Translate) that “[w]ith songs like ‘Naast Jou’ . . . it is one of the best Dutch pop albums of all time.” (courtesy of Google Translate), https://writteninmusic.com/albumrecensie/boudewijn-de-groot-a-en-b-kanten-1964-1980/) De Groot recalls (courtesy of Google Translate) that:
Unattainable love, the eternal theme and subject of many highlights, especially in literature, has always been a source of inspiration for Lennaert [Nijgh, his frequent lyricist]. He met her in the Waagtaveerne . . . . Her name was Joke and she had long blond hair and dreamy eyes. But she was unreachable and a few years later she would move permanently to England. . . . [H]e dedicated a complete song cycle to her and called it “For the Survivors”. Not all songs are about her, but they all come from the same feeling. The cycle, and thus the album, is dedicated to her. . . . [T]he feeling from which he wrote the text was, as he once put it, “a feeling from six floors out the window”. Mainly despair, despair and longing. And both of those concepts set the tone of the entire record, from “For the Survivors” to “Do You Know That Country”. It also somewhat foreshadows what would erupt in full force a year later: the mysticism and ‘shangri-la’ of the flower power era. . . . Our method was simple. Lennaert wrote a text, I pinned it to the wall, stood in front of it with my Spanish guitar and whistled a melody, I put it on a tape . . . then I waited for the next text, after which the ritual was repeated; When everything was on the tape, I took it to Tony Vos, who said it was beautiful; then we went to Bert Paige, where we played the tape. Then I explained to Bert how the arrangement should be, uttering shouts such as “here twelve trombones and there six cellos and then a male choir” and I occasionally whistled something when I knew what an instrument should play. Finally, I gave him the texts, after which Tony and I left, probably leaving Bert in despair. Our arranger would disappear into his office, sit behind the piano or writing desk and come up with one beautiful arrangement after another. He was responsible for at least three quarters of the atmosphere, feeling and expressiveness of our repertoire.
As to de Groot through the 60s, his website states (courtesy of Google Translate) that:
Boudewijn de Groot was born on May 20, 1944 in the Japanese internment camp Kramat in Batavia (now Jakarta) ithe former Dutch East Indies. A few months later . . . the family was transferred without the father to the Tjideng women’s camp . . . where his mother died . . . . In May 1946, Boudewijn left for the Netherlands with his father, sister and brother, where he lived with an aunt in Haarlem. . . . Lennaert Nijgh, a school friend of Boudewijn’s stepbrother . . . also lived in the same street. . . . In 1961 . . . both of them were interested in film. After graduating, Boudewijn began studying at the Dutch Film Academy in Amsterdam . . . . In 1963 Lennaert wrote and directed a short 8 mm feature film . . . . Boudewijn played the role of troubadour, for which he wrote two songs himself. The video was shown at home and the then newsreader Ed Lautenslager was present at one of those performances. He was particularly impressed by the two songs, especially the singing and the music, and he advised the pair to do something together in that direction: Lennaert the lyrics, Boudewijn music and singing. Lautenslager was able to arrange a recording through a relationship with the record company Phonogram. Four songs were recorded there . . . . [and] were released on two singles, both of which flopped, but did result in an invitation to the television program Nieuwe Organisatie . . . . Boudewijn won first prize from the professional jury. . . . The record company tried to achieve success by combining the two singles and releasing them on an EP . . . . When there turned out to be no market for that either, producer Tony Vos presented Boudewijn with a choice: quit or record a commercial song. For the latter, Tony had “Une enfant” by Aznavour in mind. After much hesitation and with great reluctance, Boudewijn agreed to this, after which Lennaert provided a Dutch translation. The single was released and became a success. After working for a year and a half as a warehouse clerk . . . to support his family . . . Boudewijn was finally able to make a living from his career as a singer. After the success of “A girl of sixteen” [see #305], an LP was . . . put together . . . including “Good night, Mr. President” . . . an indictment of the war in Vietnam . . . [and] . . . President Lyndon B. Johnson[. It] was released as a single in ’66 and was the first self-penned hit by the duo De Groot/Nijgh. . . . In 1966 the first LP was released with exclusively the De Groot/Nijgh duo’s own material. . . . For the Survivors, received a gold and a platinum record and also an Edison. “Het Land van Maas en Waal” was released as the second single. . . . [and] became the first Dutch-language record to reach number 1 in the Top 40. It was 1967 and the hippie era was beginning. The LP Picnic, inspired by the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, . . . was a success, achieved gold and platinum and a second Edison. . . . Boudewijn thought he could continue experimenting. Together with a friend from the film academy he wrote the quasi-mystical epic “Witches’ Sabbath”, the main component of the LP Nacht en ontij (1968). . . . After some wanderings in Belgium and the Netherlands, Boudewijn decided in November 1969 to retire to a farm . . . with a number of musicians to start a beat band and sing English songs. This formula turned out to be unsuccessful. . . . Boudewijn . . . renew[ed] artistic ties with Lennaert. . . . Between 1971 and 1975 he produced records . . . . In ’73 he himself made a new LP . . . which includes the song “Jimmy”, named after his son born in ’72. This LP went platinum and Boudewijn received an Edison for this.
Live ’96 with Jan Rot:
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