Jan Akkerman at Trading Boundaries

It was my joy to be down in Sussex last Friday at Trading Boundaries to catch the first of three concerts by Jan Akkerman and his band - the first time in a while. The concert was in two halves and was more jazzy for the first half (a nice section Crackers to Angel Watch) and more rocky for the second (though Focus 2 and Anonymous are unique). The bass player has broken his leg and so had to sit and Jan didn't seem quite happy with his two Gibson guitars for some of the time. I got a little lost on Tommy's Anniversary but otherwise it was a great concert. Nice to meet Jan and Mrs Akkerman, looking after the merchandise. Jan seemed tired at the end of a long day. He is 75, of course.

House of the King at Setlist fm

House of the King by Focus

Facts

Total Plays - 125 times by 4 Artists
From the release - In and Out of Focus (Album)
First Played in Concert - May 31, 1971 by Focus at Pinkpop Festival 1971
Most Recently Played - September 23, 2019 by Focus at CLUB CITTA', Kawasaki, Japan

Detailed Statistics by Artist

House of the King stats

Focus Drugi način John Wesley Harding La nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno

See here

Miming to House of the King 1971

New edtion of Focus book

A new (third) edition of the book on Focus by Australian Peet Johnson arrived through my door the other day - Hocus Pocus: the strife and times of rock's Dutch masters. (See details here) Peet must know more about Focus than any man on earth and this new edition brings you right up to date with facts such as the version of Focus 3 done by Outkast and that by Guo Yue of House of the King (both in 1996). It's a bit expensive but hardcore Focus fans will go for it.

Focus live @ Jazz Cafe 2010

These clips show Focus at a recent gig in the Jazz Cafe, London. This was the last gig of the tour. Unusually, the guitarist is Menno Gootjes, the regular guitarist having had to drop out. Here we have House of the King followed by bit of flute and scat from Thijs, a little Cathedrale and the repeated Sylvia finale. Thanks guys! Menno has subsequently become the regular guitarist.

House of the King

Track by track 86 House of the King Live (FLIA)

Archive number: 86

Title: House of the King (Live)

Main Album: Focus Live In America

Track number: 2

Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental

Venue: Patriots Theater, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Length: 02' 53”

Composer: Jan Akkerman

Musicians: Thijs van Leer – Hammond organ, Flute; Jan Dumee – Gibson Marauder Guitar; Bobby Jacobs - Bass; Bert Smaak - Drums

Producer: Gavin Bott/Bob Carruthers

Engineer: Mike Potter (Orion Sound) Mix (Total audio)

Label: Classical Rock Legends Limited

Date of recording/release: October 2002 (part of a two day Uriah Heep led classic rock legend festival that also featured Nektar, Mostly Autumn and Asia). Released on DVD and CD (edited) in 2003.

Alternative version: The oldest and most performed Focus song, this has many versions

Notes: Another competent live version. We go straight into the track (the announcement being on the previous track). It is played in the usual live style, although the Hammond is more prominent than the guitar in the middle eight. We end at 02:35 and amid applause van Leer says thank you and announces “Next piece is called Focus number two”.

Jan Akkerman: the eastern element

In an interview in Odessa, Ukraine, in 2005 Jan Akkerman said “I think I have Russian roots. My aunt told me that one of my great-grandmothers was from the Akkerman region (a nearby fortress does have the name Akkerman) where were then living the Dutch merchantmen who traded between South Russia and Holland. My last name seems to be very eloquent in this respect, though sometimes I think I can't be completely certain in that. All in all, I don't have a wish to delve into my genealogy, but I believe my ancestors were from here.” No doubt he was not wholly serious but if you listen to Akkerman's music you will see that there is something in what he says. Eastern music is notoriously difficult to define but something definitely happens to harmony and rhythm east of a point somewhere in line with Vienna that is quite distinct. This eastern element can be found in several places throughout Akkerman's work. In recent years Akkerman and his band have played live in Mumbai, in Japan, in the middle east and other places east of Vienna and he has sometimes deliberately brought out this eastern element in these places. The current very eastern version of House of the King (Palace of the King) typifies it. If truth be told, however, House of the King always did have something eastern about it, something first declared unequivocally in the electric sitar version found on the solo album Tabernakel. Like many others in the UK my first introduction to Akkerman's music was the album Moving Waves with Focus. One feature of that album was its unique sound. It was quite different to much of the rock music around at the time. Its European sound was often referred to. However, not only did it sound pretty European but in certain places there was an undoubtedly eastern feel to it. Think of a track like Janis for example, with its distinctly eastern flutes or certain parts of the long track Eruption, especially Dayglow. Hocus Pocus and the title track also share this eastern feel. (Vanessa Mae's version of Hocus Pocus brings out the eastern element very well). This was the early seventies, of course. The Beatles and others had already blazed a trail to India and back so this element was a very contemporary one. Jan appears on the original cover, if you remember, wearing a state of the art khaftan. A similar phenomenon is faintly recognisable on the first and third Focus albums (although to be fair, both albums contain tracks firmly in the Caribbean tradition and so no corner of the globe is entirely neglected). Check out Black Beauty or Love Remembered for example. Harem Scarem and parts of Hamburger Concerto (especially Medium 1) also contain quite eastern elements. Akkerman's eastern credentials go back a long way. His art was cradled in the very beginnings of Dutch rock in the fifties, when the Tielman brothers from Indonesia and their Indo-rock style dominated the Dutch scene. In a recent interview Akkerman has said that there were “a lot of Indonesian kids in the area where I grew up, and we played blues and rock & roll”. That surf rock sound always did have an eastern leaning and the influence can be detected in the early music of Akkerman and others. (The eastern influence on Dick Dale for example is widely acknowledged). Akkerman also admits freely to other early eastern influences from gypsies and from Balkan music. Before his Focus days the eastern element can also be detected in the Jewish traditional, Hineimatov, on the first solo album, on the Russian styled hits with The Hunters The Russian spy and I and Janosh (revisited on Russian Roulette with Van Leer in 1985) and quite obviously on the Brainbox track Dark Rose. By the time we come to the solo album Tabernakel Akkerman is featuring, at certain points, both the electric and the acoustic sitar. For some reason the sitars are not credited on the original album but it is an open secret that in the seventies and eighties Jan often used a Coral electronic sitar. This sitar also apparently features on the later Focus track Glider (on Ship of Memories). Jan also played it in public at the end of 1974 at a Brainbox reunion concert, later shown on Dutch television. With regard to the early solo albums Profile and Tabernakel, it is interesting that Akkerman plays the oudh-like lute rather than, say, a banjo! In the seventies Akkerman played and recorded a lot with Neppie Noya the Indonesian born percussionist and son of Japanese Taiko drummer Fusao Nakato San. Later on, the legendary 1981 album Oil in the family features a very eastern style cover, reflecting the strong presence of eastern style melodies on most tracks. Jan actually credits A. Rab (!) as composer on certain tracks in an effort to acknowledge his borrowings from unknown middle-eastern musicians. Some live performances of this material actually featured the use of a belly dancer. The album apparently went down very well in Turkey. With subsequent albums the eastern element is perhaps excluded, though in 1985 on the track Indian Summer with Thijs Van Leer an Indian tabla player based in Holland (Ustad Zamir Ahmad Khan) is brought in and some have detected it, for example, on some of the percussion for The noise of art (1990), the track Saudade on Focus in time (1996) and the opening track See you! on CU (2003). How much direct Akkerman influence there may be in the Forcefield tracks Year of the Dragon and Tokyo (on their second and third albums of 1988 and 1989) we do not know. The more one is aware of this eastern element, however, the more one can hear it perhaps.

Shortest Focus Tracks

Though famed for their many longer tracks, Focus have plenty of shorter ones, many under 3 minutes. These are the top 10 stand alone tracks:

1 Delitae Musicae (1:12)

2 Father Bach (1:30)

3 Ship Of Memories (1:48)

4 Le Clochard ("Bread") (1:55)

5 House of the King (2:20)

6 Spoke The Lord Creator (2:28)

7 Moving Waves (2:30)

8 Hard Vanilla (2:36)

9 Tropic Bird/Crackers (both 2:38)

Also note: Focus vocal (2.43) Love Remembered (2:45) Sylvia Live (2:47) No Hang Ups, Early Birth (both 2:54) Janis, Soft Vanilla (both 3:00).

Place Titles

Places specific or not are sometimes mentioned in Focus titles.

Specific

La Cathedrale de Strasbourg

Sugar Island (Cuba)

Vesuvius (See Out of Vesuvius on Ship of Memories)

Rio in Brazil (See Rock and Rio and Brazil Love)

Heaven

Mare Nostrum

Non-specific

House of the King

Endless Road

The Bridge

Crossroads

As of 2024 add Positano

Track by track 65 House of the King (Live) BBC

Archive number: 65
Title: House of the King (Live)
Main Album: Live at the BBC
Track number: 6
Genre: Live Progressive Rock Instrumental
Venue: New Victoria Theatre, 17 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LL (now Apollo Victoria)
Length: 03' 10”
Composer: Jan Akkerman

Musicians: Philip Catherine - Electric guitars; Thijs Van Leer – Flute, Hammond organ; Bert Ruiter – Bass; David Kemper – Drums
Producer: BBC

Engineer: BBC

Label: Hux Records

Date of recording/release: Recorded March 21 1976 but only released (on CD) June 1 2004
Alternative versions: Several other versions of this early Focus favourite exist
Notes: This is a fairly brisk run through beginning with Catherine's strummed electric guitar (00:00-00:07) and continuing with the band in unison. The slow movement (01:18-01:56) features a pretty jazz oriented effort from Catherine. The band end on a triumphant note (02:47). This is followed by applause, sounds of tuning up for the next track and the obligatory 'thank you' (02:49-03:10).

Track by track 30[U] House of the King (Live)

Archive number: 30[U]
Title: House of the King (Live)
Genre: Live Progressive Rock Instrumental
Venue: Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, 232 Seven Sisters Road, N4 3NX (recorded using Pye Studios Mobile Unit and edited from the two performances).
Length: 02' 45”
Composer: Jan Akkerman
Musicians: Jan Akkerman – Electric guitar (Gibson Les Paul Custom); Thijs van Leer – Flute, Hammond organ; Bert Ruiter - Bass; Pierre van der  Linden – Drums
Producer: Mike Vernon
Engineer: Phil Dunne
Date of recording/release: May 4, 5 1973, unreleased

Alternative version: This track was originally a single and appeared on In and out and Focus 3
Notes: ("Anonymous 2" was also played but not recorded). This track appears to have followed Hocus Pocus but may have come later. Van Leer stands away from the organ at the beginning, playing the flute. The track begins with Akkerman's strummed guitar (00:00-00:09) then the whole band join in at a slightly faster rate than on the original. At 01:11 van Leer moves to the organ for a guitar-led 'middle eight' that is slightly different to the original (to 01:48). Van Leer then stands behind the organ with his flute again for the final main theme, which begins with Akkerman's strummed guitar (01:49-01:51) followed by a caesura at 01:52 and the flute-led finale (01:53-02:40) with its ritartando ending. This is followed by applause and cheering (02:41-02:45).

House of the King Versions

The third great Focus track is House of the King. It too is available in several versions by the band or by Akkerman or van Leer and has been covered once or twice too.

1. The original track on In and Out also issued on the original Focus 3 and as a single (1971) [The track was played live at the Rainbow concert but not issued on CD]

2. Jan Akkerman's version on Tabernakel also issued as a single (1974)

3. The live version featuring Philip Catherine on Live at the BBC (1976)

4. The acoustic version by Thijs van Leer and others on Joy to the World (1996) and Hommage aan Rogier van Otterloo (1998) The reformed Focus can also be heard on at least two live recordings

5. Focus (with Jan Dumee) Live in America (2003)

6. Focus (with Jan Dumee) Live in South America (2004)

Also check out the very eastern version on

7. Jan Akkerman Band Live in Concert (2007)

Covers have been done by some rather obscure bands Cafe Noir, Gruppo Autonomo Suonatori and Flairck.

Track by track 9 House of the King

Archive number: 9
Title: House of the King
Main Album: In and Out of Focus (Left off the American album, it is on the album Focus 3. It was a single in 1970, 1971 [2], 1972, 1976, 1977, 1981 [12”] and 2001)
Track number: 5 (not on the Sire release)
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental (mainly acoustic)
Studio: EMI-Bovema Studios, Heemstede, Netherlands
Length: 2' 20"
Composer: Jan Akkerman
Musicians: Jan Akkerman - Acoustic guitars, Electric guitars (Fender telecasters), Handclaps; Thijs van Leer - Flutes, Handclaps, Piano; Martijn Dresden – Bass, Handclaps; Hans Cleuver - Drums
Producer: Tim Griek
Engineer: Andre Hooning
Label: LP - Imperial, Sire, Polydor; CD - EMI Bovema, IRS, Red Bullet
Date of recording/release: Late Summer/Autumn 1970 (1973 in the US. In 1974 the album appeared in Brazil as Pop Giants). CD – 1988, 1993, 2001.

Alternative version: Akkerman has produced more than one alternative version beginning with that on his solo album Tabernakel. Van Leer (who claims a disputed co-writing credit) has also tackled it more than once without Akkerman (eg on Hommage aan Rogier Van Otterloo).
Notes: This is one of the band's best known songs. It was recorded without producer Hubert Terheggen knowing and he was furious at first but he was impressed with the result. A very early original, it has often been re-recorded by the band and individual members in various forms. It has been covered by some minor bands and more than once used as introductory music on TV in the UK (Don't ask me – a popular science programme in the 70s; Saxondale – a more recent comedy). It predates the comparable work of Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson.
The piece begins with 12 seconds of double tracked acoustic guitars before going into the main theme, played on acoustic guitars, (reverbed) flute and bass with the percussion provided by drums on one channel and percussive hand claps on the other (00:00-01:25). At 00:34-00:44 and 01:06-01:16 the electric guitar can be heard with the flute (there are also an extra few flute trills between). Then comes the soaring 'middle eight' led by the electric guitar with acoustic guitars, bass and drums providing the rhythm (01:26-01:50). Piano chords are also heard in the mix. The piece closes with a brief half minute reprise of the main theme (01:51-2:20). The whole ends in unison on a final sustained note that suggests the gong eventually used by Akkerman for his Tabernakel version. Lyrics were written for the piece by Mike Hayes but never used. They can be seen in Peet Johnson's book.