Cuby & the Blizzards
Encyclopedia
Cuby + Blizzards – also known as Cuby & the Blizzards – are a Dutch
blues
group that formed in 1964 around Harry Muskee
(vocals) and Eelco Gelling
(guitar). This band is completely different from another Dutch band in the same time period, Peter & the Blizzards.
The spelling of the name varies, with 'Cuby' also written as 'QB' and the ampersand (&) also written as 'and' or '+' and the 'and sometimes left out. The spelling 'Cuby + Blizzards' was used on the first albums.
after he had left Them
), recorded an album, ' Praise the Blues ' with U.S blues musician Eddie Boyd
and scored a hit with "Window of my Eyes". That year, John Mayall
stayed at their farm and the next year they regularly played with the 'king of British blues' Alexis Korner
.
The line-up of the band changed regularly, but founders Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling remained at the core of the band until 1976. Herman Brood
was the pianist for a short period during 1967 (which kick-started his career) and again in 1976. Also in 1976, Muskee and Gelling left, Muskee to form the Harry Muskee Band, while Gelling joined Golden Earring
. The band continued with the line-up of Herman Deinum (bass guitar) and Hans Lafaille (drums), who had both joined the band in 1969, together with vocalist Rudy Van Dijk, Paul Smeenk (guitar) and Jeff Reynolds (trumpet). This line-up remained constant into the 1980s.
In the early '90s Cuby + Blizzards re-formed. In 2004 they went on a theatre tour to honor John Lee Hooker
.
"Window of my Eyes" was later featured over the ending credits for the 2010 film The American, and the band received an Edison award for the song.
Harry Muskee died on 26 September 2011.
Late sixties line-up:
1976 – line-up:
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
group that formed in 1964 around Harry Muskee
Harry Muskee
Harry "Cuby" Muskee was the singer of the blues band Cuby + Blizzards, which he co-founded with Eelco Gelling.Muskee was born in Assen, and died in Rolde aged 70.-Biography:...
(vocals) and Eelco Gelling
Eelco Gelling
Eelco Gelling is a Dutch blues guitarist. He and Jan Akkerman are stated as the two top notch guitar players from the Netherlands. Gelling played with Cuby + Blizzards till 1976. Then he joined Golden Earring where he played for several years...
(guitar). This band is completely different from another Dutch band in the same time period, Peter & the Blizzards.
The spelling of the name varies, with 'Cuby' also written as 'QB' and the ampersand (&) also written as 'and' or '+' and the 'and sometimes left out. The spelling 'Cuby + Blizzards' was used on the first albums.
Career
The band's first single, a blues-based track bearing similarities to The Pretty Things output, was "Stumble and Fall" in 1965. Right from the start they were a big hit in the Netherlands. In 1967 they toured with Van MorrisonVan Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
after he had left Them
Them (band)
Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...
), recorded an album, ' Praise the Blues ' with U.S blues musician Eddie Boyd
Eddie Boyd
Edward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
and scored a hit with "Window of my Eyes". That year, John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
stayed at their farm and the next year they regularly played with the 'king of British blues' Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
.
The line-up of the band changed regularly, but founders Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling remained at the core of the band until 1976. Herman Brood
Herman Brood
Hermanus "Herman" Brood was a Dutch musician, painter and media personality. Initially a musician who achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, and called "the Netherlands' greatest and only rock 'n' roll star," later in life he became a well-known painter.Known for his...
was the pianist for a short period during 1967 (which kick-started his career) and again in 1976. Also in 1976, Muskee and Gelling left, Muskee to form the Harry Muskee Band, while Gelling joined Golden Earring
Golden Earring
Golden Earring are a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as the Golden Earrings . They had international chart success with the songs "Radar Love" in 1973, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. In their home country, they had over 40 hits and made over 30 gold and...
. The band continued with the line-up of Herman Deinum (bass guitar) and Hans Lafaille (drums), who had both joined the band in 1969, together with vocalist Rudy Van Dijk, Paul Smeenk (guitar) and Jeff Reynolds (trumpet). This line-up remained constant into the 1980s.
In the early '90s Cuby + Blizzards re-formed. In 2004 they went on a theatre tour to honor John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
.
"Window of my Eyes" was later featured over the ending credits for the 2010 film The American, and the band received an Edison award for the song.
Harry Muskee died on 26 September 2011.
Line-ups
Early line-up:- Harry "Cuby" MuskeeHarry MuskeeHarry "Cuby" Muskee was the singer of the blues band Cuby + Blizzards, which he co-founded with Eelco Gelling.Muskee was born in Assen, and died in Rolde aged 70.-Biography:...
, vocals - Eelco GellingEelco GellingEelco Gelling is a Dutch blues guitarist. He and Jan Akkerman are stated as the two top notch guitar players from the Netherlands. Gelling played with Cuby + Blizzards till 1976. Then he joined Golden Earring where he played for several years...
, guitar - Hans Kinds, guitar
- Willy Middel, bass
- Dick Beekman, drums
Late sixties line-up:
- Harry Muskee, vocals
- Eelco Gelling, guitar
- Herman Deinum, bass guitar
- Hans Lafaille, drums
- Helmig van der Vegt, piano
1976 – line-up:
- Rudy Van Dijk, vocals
- Paul Smeenk, guitar
- Herman Deinum, bass
- Hans Lafaille, drums
- Jeff Reynolds, trumpet
Albums
- 2009: Cats Lost
- 2000: Travelling with the Blues
- 1983: Please no 'moke (as support act for Van Morrison)
- 1981: Live
- 1979: The Forgotten Tapes
- 1979: Live' Featuring Herman Brood Live
- 1977: Old Times Good Times
- 1976: Kid Blue
- 1975: Red White & Blue
- 1974: Cuby's Blues (Best of…)
- 1974: Attention!
- 1973: Ballads
- 1972: Sometimes
- 1971: Simple Man
- 1970: King Of The World
- 1969: Too Blind To See
- 1969: Cuby's Blues (double album)
- 1969: Appleknockers Flophouse
- 1968: Trippin' Thru' A Midnight Blues
- 1968: On The Road *
- 1968: Live! At the Rheinhalle Düsseldorf (with Alexis KornerAlexis KornerAlexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
) - 1967: Praise The Blues (with Eddie BoydEddie BoydEdward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
) - 1967: Groeten Uit Grollo (German version known as Soul)
- 1966: Desolation (British version came out in 1968)