Focus In The 1970s
eBook - ePub

Focus In The 1970s

The Music Of Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Focus In The 1970s

The Music Of Jan Akkerman and Thijs Van Leer

About this book

For a few short years in the 1970s, the unique music of Focus entertained the world. Built around the prodigious instrumental talents of Dutch masters Jan Akkerman (guitar) and Thijs van Leer (keyboards and flute), the band produced three classic hit albums in quick succession, at the same time scoring two worldwide hits with 'Sylvia' and 'Hocus Pocus'. The latter piece is as ubiquitous as tunes from the 70s get, distinctive for Akkerman's famous riff and van Leer's yodelling. Musical and personal tensions between the two lead to a split in early 1976 and the band limped on until 1978. However, the decade also saw other many projects, with Akkerman moving into jazzier territory while van Leer had huge success with his Introspection series of light classical, flute-orientated albums.
Stephen Lambe's book guides the reader through the band's early history year by year, dealing with all eight Focus albums song by song, while also giving the same treatment to Akkerman and van Leer's other work during the decade. It is an important potted history of the band and an insight into the tensions which lead to such a creative - if short lived – peak. But it also acts as an essential guide to the astonishing music the two men made while at the apex of their powers.

Stephen Lambe is an author, publisher, festival organiser and journalist. An acknowledged expert on progressive rock, his books include: Yes - on track (Sonicbond, 2018) and the best-selling Citizens Of Hope and Glory: The Story Of Progressive Rock (Amberley, 2011). He lives in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK.

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Yes, you can access Focus In The 1970s by Stephen Lambe in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medios de comunicación y artes escénicas & Historia y crítica de la música. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
  6. Full Page Image
  7. 1. Jan Akkerman and Thijs van Leer
  8. 2. The Stars Align
  9. Full Page Image
  10. 3. 1970 – Focus Play Focus
  11. 4. 1971 – The Bridge
  12. 5. 1972 – Questions and Answers
  13. Full Page Image
  14. Full Page Image
  15. Full Page Image
  16. Full Page Image
  17. 6. 1973 – Focus Mania
  18. Full Page Image
  19. Full Page Image
  20. Full Page Image
  21. Full Page Image
  22. 7. 1974 – Fast Food
  23. 8. 1975 – More Drummers Than Spinal Tap
  24. 9. 1976 – Catherine Wheel
  25. 10. 1977 – Solo Success
  26. Full Page Image
  27. Full Page Image
  28. Full Page Image
  29. Full Page Image
  30. 11. 1978 – Did Proby Con Focus?
  31. 12. 1979 – End Of An Era
  32. Full Page Image
  33. Full Page Image
  34. 13. What Happened Next?
  35. 14. Buying Focus and the van Leer / Akkerman solo albums
  36. 15. Selected Compilations
  37. 16. Focus Discography 1986 onwards
  38. 17. Bibliography And Other Resources