Looking at the music of Dutch rock band Focus, started in the late sixties by Thijs van Leer (b /31/03/48) with Jan Akkerman (b 24/12/46). Van Leer still performs and records under the name today (official site here). Akkerman's site here.

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20240314

200 Tracks

According to our records, Focus have by now released 200 official recordings. That number is slightly misleading in that three tracks have been released twice - Clair-Obscur, Winnie and Victoria.
So the exact number is 197.
There are
44 live tracks
We include four live albums (Rainbow, BBC, America and Rio), leaving 153 studio tracks.
So 153 studio tracks.
20 or so re-recorded tracks
Sometimes tracks have been re-recorded, the obvious examples being the 9 tracks on Golden Oldies and 11 of the 12 tracks on Completely Focussed leaving 133.
So about 133 fairly unique studio tracks.
First period - 49
There are 49 tracks from the first period, the Akkerman period - In and out (7) House of the King (1) Moving Waves (5) Focus 3 (9) Hamburger Concerto (6) and Mother Focus (12) plus the "Left overs album" Ship of Memories which featured 9 tracks.
That leaves 84.
Second period - 16
There are 16 tracks in what we might call the middle period, namely the albums Focus con Proby (9) and the album that Akkerman and van Leer did together in 1985 Focus.
That leaves 68.
Third period - 68
Those 68 are from the most recent period and include 11 on Focus 8, 5 on an obscure album dubbed 8.5/Old skin, 13 on Focus 9, 10 on Focus X, 11 on Focus 11, the track Focus 12  and 17 unique to the album Focus Family album.

20240229

Track by track 200 Focus 12 (Introspective Duet Between Menno & Me - A Well-Deserved Pause For Pierre & Udo!)

Archive number: 200
Title: Focus 12
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 12
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:13
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Piano; Menno Gootjes – Guitars
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: None
Notes: This new track is again perfored in a minimalist style with only two instrumentalists

Track by track 199 Focus 11 (Another wordless song)

Archive number: 186
Title: Focus 11 (Another wordless song)
Main Album: Focus 50 Comoletely Focussed Disc
Track number: 11
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:34
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Focus 11
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original Focus number with full band but with some changes of instrumentation..

Track by track 198 Focus 10 (Sophisticated)

Archive number: 185
Title: Focus 10 (Sophisiticated)
Main Album: Focus 50 Comoletely Focussed Disc
Track number: 10
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:15
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Focus X
Notes: This swinging jazz number is shorter than the original but similar otherwise.

Track by track 197 Focus 9 (Classic Dream)

Archive number: 184
Title: Focus 9 (Classic Dream)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 9
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:25
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Piano; Menno Gootjes – Guitars
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Focus 9/New Skin
Notes: This minimalisitc version of the track drops the bass and drums and the flute.

Track by track 196 Focus 8 (Rondo)

Archive number: 183
Title: Focus 8 (Rondo)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 8
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 5:50
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Focus 8
Notes: A much improved version of the track, chiefly due to the drums of Pierre van der Linden, which starts the track off and closes it.

Track by track 195 Focus 7 (Inner Joy)

Archive number: 182
Title: Focus 7 (Inner Joy)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 7
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 5:18
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release:  June 2021
Alternative recording: Focus 9 and the live albums Focus Live in America and Live at Trading Boundaries (van Leer solo)
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original Focus number with full band. SOme nice violied guitar at the close.

Track by track 194 Focus 6 (Thinking and Drinking)

Archive number: 194
Title: Focus 6 (Thinking and Drinking)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 6
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:40
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release:  June 2021
Alternative recording: None
Notes: This rare track often threatens tot turn into one of the other tracks in the series but is ts own beast.

Track by track 193 Focus 5 (Impressionistic ...)

Archive number: 180
Title: Focus 5 (Impressionistic ...)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 5
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:54
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Ship of Memories
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original Focus number with full band. No flute this time.

Track by track 192 Focus 4 (Rock Ballad)

Archive number: 179
Title: Focus 4 (Rock Ballad)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 4
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:30
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Piano, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: Mother Focus
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original Focus number with full band but no Hammond organ or synthesiser.

20240227

Track by track 191 Focus 3 (Song without words)

Archive number: 178
Title: Focus 3 (Song without words)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 3
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:42
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: It was first on the third album. Van Leer and Akkerman have nice versions on solo albums.
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original with full band.

Track by track 190 Focus 2 (Mini-opera)

Archive number: 177
Title: Focus 2 (Mini-opera)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc?
Track number: 2
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:39
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: June 2021
Alternative recording: It was first on the second album. Van Leer and Akkerman have nice versions on solo albums.
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original with full band. Some nice double tracked flute early on.

Track by track 189 Focus 1 (Statement)

Archive number: 176
Title: Focus 1 (Statement)
Main Album: Focus 50 Completely Focussed Disc
Track number: 1
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:34
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release:  June 2021
Alternative recording: In and Out of Focus, Golden Oldies, etc
Notes: This is a pretty much live re-recording of the original Focus number with full band. There is no vocal.

20240226

Track by Track 176--188 Focus Live in Rio

Archive number: 176-188
Titles disc 1: Focus 1, House of the King, Eruption, Sylvia, Song for Eva, All hens on deck,
Titles disc 2: Le Tango, P's March, Focus 5, Harem Scarem, Hocus Pocus, Focus 3, Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers!
Main Album: Focus 50 Live Rio (Two disc audio and single disc Blu Ray)
Track numbers: 1-12
Genre: Live Progressive Rock Instrumentals
Venue: Teatro Municipal João Caetano, Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro Brazil
Length: c 01.59.27
Composers: Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman, 
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, melodica, flute, vocals, whistling; Menno Gootjes– Guitars; Udo Pannekeet - Bass; Pierre van der Linden - Drums
Producer: Geert Scheijgrond
Engineer: Geert Scheijgrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Records
Date of recording/release: September 14 2017.June 2021
Alternative version: These tracks are found on various Focus albums
Notes: This is a fairly complete recording with at least some of the introduction to songs incuded

20240224

Track by track 175 Focus 11

Archive number: 175
Title: Focus 11
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 11
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 6:11
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano, flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: Focus 50 Album Complelely Focussed
Notes: This stand out track is in several parts. We begin with with a beautiful guitar led slow melody that takes us to 1:15. Something more brisk then breaks in, introdiced by the piano but led by the guitar, flute and piano. This goes on until 1:47, ending on a long drawn out note that is succeeded by a further part based around a very catchy 10 note tune on guitar. At 3:07 there is a flute led bridge as far as 3:31 when the catchy melody comes back in. This meanders on until 4:38. From there to 5:41 we have a guitar led tune, again very catchy and ending on a long drawn out note. The final section is a repeat of the second brisk element from before again featuring piano and flute. The track ends with a flourish on solo flute.

Track by track 174 Final Analysis

Archive number: 174
Title: Final analysis
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 10
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 3:51
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes The track begins with 35 seconds of rhythmic drums and rhythm guitar work as it builds up an atmosphere (slightly reminiscent of the track Birth). A screaming guitar then comes in as the geat continues. At 54 seconds things skow slightly as the piano leads for a short while. A clear but slightly dissonant guitar leads briefly after that. The chugging beat continues then until at 1:31 the guitar leads again with a series of descending lines. The piano can still be heard behind it. At 3:13 the beat we began with resumes until 3:22 and again 3:32 when the piano motif is heard briefly twice more. The tracl=k then fades.

Track by track 173 Mare Nostrum

Archive number: 173
Title: Mare Nostrum
Main Album: Focus Family 11
Track number: 9
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 5:08
Composer: Udo Pannekeet
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: The whole band begin together with a laconic guitar-led melody slightly changing arouf the one minute mark. At about 1:53 the drums energetically lead into a jauntier section. The guitar work  grows increasingly more energetic. At around 4:32 it slows before quickly closing with drums and the whole band.
Mare Nostrum is the Latin for "Our Sea" and was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In the decades following the 1861 unification of Italy, Italian nationalists and Italian fascists who saw Italy as the successor state to the Roman Empire attempted to revive the term.

20230729

Track by track 172 (154) Clair-Obscur

Archive number: 172
Title: Clair-Obscur
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 8
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: Unknown
Length: 3:14
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: Focus Family Album
Notes: This is the same recording as is found on The Focus Family Album

Track by track 171 Palindrome

Archive number: 171
Title: Palindrome
Main Album: Focus Family 11
Track number: 7
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 5:34
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: The track begins with drums then a guitar riff plus a discordant organ sound that cuts through the melody. This pattern continues for the first 49 seconds when a lighter pattern comes in for 15 seconds before reverting to the previous pattern. At 1:26 we are back to the new lighter pattern for another 15 seconds before reversion to the first pattern. At 2:02 a new stately slow march comes in. This lasts down to 2:36 when the original pattern repeats punctuated with a series of short drum breaks (at 2:58-3:05, 3:16-3:23, a longer one at 3:34-3:5, 3:56-4:03 and the longest at 4:14-4:45). The stately slow march comes in again at 4:46 to end the track.
A palindrome is a word, number, phrase or other sequence of symbols that reads the same backwards as forwards, eg madam or racecar, the date and time 12/21/33 12:21 and the sentence: "A man, a plan, a canal – Panama". The 19-letter Finnish word saippuakivikauppias (a soapstone vendor), is the longest single-word palindrome in everyday use, while the 12-letter term tattarrattat (James Joyce Ulysses) is the longest in English.
The word was introduced by English poet and writer Henry Peacham in 1638. It is derived from the Greek roots πάλιν 'again' and δρóμος 'way, direction'; a different word is used in Greek, καρκινικός 'carcinic' (lit. crab-like) to refer to letter-by-letter reversible writing. The concept of a palindrome can be dated to the 3rd-century BC, although no examples survive; the first physical examples can be dated to the 1st-century AD with the Latin acrostic word square, the Sator Square (contains both word and sentence palindromes) and the 4th-century Greek Byzantine sentence palindrome nipson anomemata me monan opsin.
Palindromes are also found in music and biological structures (most genomes include palindromic gene sequences). In music Haydn's Symphony No. 47 in G is nicknamed "the Palindrome". In the third movement, a minuet and trio, the second half of the minuet is the same as the first but backwards, the second half of the ensuing trio similarly reflects the first half, and then the minuet is repeated.
The interlude from Alban Berg's opera Lulu is a palindrome, as are sections and pieces, in arch form, by many other composers, including James Tenney, and most famously Béla Bartók. George Crumb also used musical palindrome to text paint the Federico García Lorca poem "¿Por qué nací?", the first movement of three in his fourth book of Madrigals. Stravinsky's final composition, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, is a palindrome.
The first movement from Constant Lambert's ballet Horoscope (1938) is entitled "Palindromic Prelude". Lambert claimed that the theme was dictated to him by the ghost of Bernard van Dieren, who had died in 1936. British composer Robert Simpson also composed music in the palindrome or based on palindromic themes; the slow movement of his Symphony No. 2 is a palindrome, as is the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 1. His hour-long String Quartet No. 9 consists of 32 variations and a fugue on a palindromic theme of Haydn (from the minuet of his Symphony No. 47). All of Simpson's 32 variations are themselves palindromic.
Hin und Zurück ("There and Back": 1927) is an operatic 'sketch' (Op. 45a) in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer. It is essentially a dramatic palindrome. Through the first half, a tragedy unfolds between two lovers, involving jealousy, murder and suicide. Then, in the reversing second half, this is replayed with the lines sung in reverse order to produce a happy ending.
The music of Anton Webern is often palindromic. Webern, who had studied the music of the Renaissance composer Heinrich Isaac, was extremely interested in symmetries in music, be they horizontal or vertical. 
Just as the letters of a verbal palindrome are not reversed, so are the elements of a musical palindrome usually presented in the same form in both halves. Although these elements are usually single notes, palindromes may be made using more complex elements. For example, Karlheinz Stockhausen's composition Mixtur, originally written in 1964, consists of 20 sections, called "moments", which may be permuted in several different ways, including retrograde presentation, and two versions may be made in a single program. When the composer revised the work in 2003, he prescribed such a palindromic performance, with the 20 moments first played in a "forwards" version, and then "backwards". Each moment, however, is a complex musical unit, and is played in the same direction in each half of the program. By contrast, Karel Goeyvaerts's 1953 electronic composition, Nummer 5 (met zuivere tonen) is an exact palindrome: not only does each event in the second half of the piece occur according to an axis of symmetry at the centre of the work, but each event itself is reversed, so that the note attacks in the first half become note decays in the second, and vice versa. It is a perfect example of Goeyvaerts's aesthetics, the perfect example of the imperfection of perfection.
In classical music, a crab canon is a canon in which one line of the melody is reversed in time and pitch from the other. A large-scale musical palindrome covering more than one movement is called "chiastic", referring to the cross-shaped Greek letter "χ" (pronounced /ˈkaɪ/.) This is usually a form of reference to the crucifixion; for example, the Crucifixus movement of Bach's Mass in B minor. The purpose of such palindromic balancing is to focus the listener on the central movement, much as one would focus on the centre of the cross in the crucifixion. Other examples are found in Bach's cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden, Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem.
A table canon is a rectangular piece of sheet music intended to be played by two musicians facing each other across a table with the music between them, with one musician viewing the music upside down compared to the other. The result is somewhat like two speakers simultaneously reading the Sator Square from opposite sides, except that it is typically in two-part polyphony rather than in unison.
(See Wikipedia)

Track by track 170 (164) Winnie

Archive number: 170
Title: Winnie
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 6
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: Mosh Studios, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Length: 5:13
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, Flute; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: Focus Family Album
Notes: This is a slightly shorter edit from the version on The Focus Family Album

20230728

Track by track 169 Mazzel

Archive number: 169
Title: Mazzel
Main Album: Focus Family 11
Track number: 5
Genre: Jazz Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:23
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: Mazzel is a Dutch slang word for luck (used in phrases for good luck, also so long or bye) taken from Yiddish (as in Mazzel tov, good luck)
The track is led in by the electric guitar before the whole band joins with choppy jazz type progressions. At 01:33-01:44 (and 03:28-03:42) the guitar becomes a little more mournful and then it is back to the jazz. Plenty of variation but no prgression. From 01:44 flute or synthesiser is introduced.

Track by track 168 How many miles?

Archive number: 168
Title: How many miles?
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 4
Genre: Progressive Rock Pop Song
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:48
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, flute, vocal; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: These are the lyrics to the track

How many miles between
my love and I?
My love, where have you been
all my life?

How many stars have seen
us weep and cry?
With tears of joy that mean
us man and wife?

Let me reflect your energy
that moves my soul to ecstasy.
Let me become your melody
be sung in perfect harmony.

Amazing grace, your face divine,
now let me be your Valentine.
Let me become your bird so free
on wings made for eternity.

How come you shine so bright
you lucky star?
This fragrance of your soul
smells from afar.

How is it possible
your answer's yes?
My deepest joy, my love,
forever jazz …
let me reflect your  energy ...

The track begins (00:00-00:09) with drums before breaking into a bouncing instrumental ensemble with guitar and flute. Then at around 01:09 a slightly cheesy pop song comes in and lasts until around 03:27. We then revert to the bouncing instrumental but this time with a spoken van Leer voice over reiterating the lyric until the fade.

20230609

Track by track 167 Theodora Na na na

Archive number: 167
Title: Theodora Na na na
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 3
Genre: Jazz Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:27
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Key: C#
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano, synthesiser; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: The piano and guitar begin this laid back track with piano and guitar and some sort of synthesiser in the background. At 00:12 the drums and bass come in and then at aound 00:16 the flute too. As the track progresses there are more electric guitar licks and a regular return to the beginning. It is quite meandering on the whole and peters out rather than coming to any definite conclusion, although it does actually end.

20230422

Focus at Bush Hall, W London April 2023


Shortly after arriving home from the conference I headed out again to West London, to a new venue for me, where Focus were playing - Bush Hall. Bush Hall is a lovely old building and it was an all seater gig. Not good with numbers but several hundred filled the place, with few empty spaces. Nice to meet Elias Weine Weg who had come all the way from Norway to be there. Some nice old geezers did a semi-acoustic blues to set things on their way. Then came the mighty Focus - on form with their usual set. The only surprise all evening was when one of Menno's guitar strings snapped and he had to abandon his favourite Gibson for another green one (didn't seem to make any difference). I probably know ths set (complete with solos from all four) too well to enjoy it to the max. It would be nice to hear live some of the other stuff they have on record.

20230218

Track by track 166 Heaven

Archive number: 166
Title: Heaven
Main Album: Focus 11
Track number: 2
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 4:26
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Key: G
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, piano, flute, voice; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: None
Notes: We begin with several seconds of choppy organ with a drum beat at 00:04 and guitar led band joining in. At 00:09 a riff comes in and then is varied a little until 00:37 when a repeated piano trill comes into the mix, the drums becoingmore stilted. Then at around 00:59 we have a four note chanticleer or cockerel sound played on organ then guitar then with flute domnating. That section carries on through to 01:55 where it is superseded by an organ and piano led theme that reverts quite soon to the four note theme. Shortly after a rising theme dominates before, at 02:41 we are back with the organ theme from the beginning. That develops, giving room for some nice guitar work and jazzy piano. At 03:40-03:48 van Leer's voice is heard scatting. The band contonue until 4:05 when a more laid back version of the four note section comes in and we end with a drawn out note on guitar.

Track by track 165 Who's calling?

Archive number: 165
Title: Who's calling?
Main Album: The Focus Family Album
Track number: 1
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: WedgeView Studios, Netherlands
Length: 5:28
Composer: Thijs van Leer
Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ; Menno Gootjes – Guitars; Udo Panekeet – Bass; Pierre van der Linden – Drums
Producer: Geert Scheigrond
Engineer: Geert Scheigrond
Label: In and Out of Focus Recordings
Date of recording/release: November 2018
Alternative recording: Focus by Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman
Notes: This reworking of the flute led 1985 track begins and ends with distorted staccato solo electric guitar and provides the sort of loud and brash opener that often opens a Focus album. The electric guitar is joined by drums around 04:00 and then the full band. Over the furious paced rhythm an organ backed guitar comes in around 00:22 with a yearning melody that reaches something of a climax around 01:45. The original riff comes in again at 01:50. This riff over the organ cpntinues until 2:22 when the guitar lead comes in again and the previous figure is more or less repeated, coming to a similar climax around 03:45. At 3:50 a more violined theme comes n and the guitar increasingly breaks down as Menno works up and down the fretboard at increasing speed until a fade begins only cut off by the repeated riff from the beginninng.

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Liner notes 8 German In and Out


These liner notes are from the 1970 German pressing of the Focus debut album

We are now living in the progressive rock era of music. Every week, hundreds of albums by new rock groups from England and America flood the market. The percentage of those that are successful is very small, indeed. It seems, therefore, that the last thing that we need is another rock group, especially one with the apparent handicap of being from Holland, which is known primarily for windmills, wooden shoes, and tulips, rather than rock groups.
Focus, however, is a very unique group, and rock music, as we all know, is an international language of its own.
JAN AKKERMAN, the lead guitarist of Focus, is one of the best rock guitarists in the world, and is perhaps the best in Europe at the present time. Jan, who was the leader of the Dutch pop group Brainbox, left that group to help form Focus.
THIJS VAN LEER, the group's organist, HANS CLEUVER, who plays percussion, and bass guitarist MARTIJN DRESDEN, comprise the rest of Focus, and like Jan, all had been successful with other Dutch bands prior to joining forces, in fact, the four were considered among the best musicians in Holland.
All of the material in the album was written and composed by Focus members. The songs are all in English, the only language in which the group writes and performs.
In Europe, fans and critics have already begun to sing the praises of Focus. Many are hailing them as the first continental "super-group", but we will not venture to voice our opinion until the group meets the test of the severe American audiences. This will happen soon, as an American tour for Focus is being mapped as this album goes to print. Who knows, maybe someday Holland will be famous for Focus too.

Liner notes 7 Bojoura


These liner notes by Thijs van Leer originally appeared on the 1970 album The Beauty of Bojoura and the 1972 album Jesus Christ Superstar - the best of Bojoura, which he had a large part in assembling

Asked to think up the title for this new Bojoura album, I couldn't but suggest to entitle it "The Beauty of Bojoura", impressed as I am by her inward as well as her outward beauty. In addition to a talent for singing she also possesses a fine feeling for languages. This not only manifests itself in her fluency when speaking such languages as French, German, English, Bulgarian or Dutch, but also in the remarkable richness of metaphor in the lyrics she writes. This figurative language has been a great inspiration to me when setting a handful of her poems to music. On the other hand, Bo and I have equally enjoyed doing our versions of songs from the repertoire of such groups and singers as Peter, Paul & Mary, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Tim Hardin and Tom Paxton.

Bojoura's inward beauty as well as her outward beauty impress me quite a lot.
In addition to a talent for singing she also possesses a fine feeling for languages. This not only manifests itself in her fluency when speaking such languages as French, German, English, Bulgarian or Dutch, but also in the remarkable richness of metaphor in the lyrics she writes.
The figurative language has been a great inspiration to me when setting some of her poems to music. On the other hand, Bo and I have equally enjoyed doing our versions of the hit songs from the Rock Opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" and songs from the repertoire of such groups and singers as Peter, Paul & Mary, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, Tim Hardin, Tom Paxton, Jo Stafford and Gordon Lightfoot.