I don't even know where to begin with the Tielman Brothers. They were from Indonesia, and moved to the Netherlands at an early age. Credited with being one of the very first Dutch rock n' roll bands, they were a scrappy bunch. Early on, they used radios for amplifiers, and on one occasion sang to a music shop owner in exchange for down payment on instruments. They arrived in the Netherlands with one suitcase between them, containing all of their clothes ("thin tropical cloths"). Musically, they borrowed liberally. Their first single "Rock Little Baby of Mine" sounds an awful lot like they were trying to cop Eddie Cochran, but other stuff sounds like Elvis, Duane Eddy, and others of the same era. Lead singer (and guitarist) Andy Tielman had a four octave vocal range, perfectly suited for their cover-heavy repertoire. But their sound is really just a part of the package.
The Tielmans were showmen, complete and total showmen. Watch the video below, and take into consideration that this was 1960. In one song, hotshot Andy plays half a dozen solos, and few are played in a normal fashion. Though in most parts the solos are standard licks (rockabilly type, with a touch of maybe Chet Atkins and/or Les Paul), it's the performance that gets me. Behind the head solos, over the head solos, solos with the drummer hitting the strings, solos played with feet, and, what must be his specialty, the tour de force, playing behind his back while standing on the stand-up bass. Sure, at the time T-Bone Walker had already played behind his head, but all the other oddball solos? Keep in mind that this is seven years before Hendrix arrived. Watch the video. It's almost comical how, just when you think the song might end, another crazy solo appears. You might expect a song of that vintage to be in the three minute range. This sucker is almost six minutes long, and is a study in complete solo saturation. Guitar, bass, drums; they all get solos. It's exhausting.
From all appearances, the Tielman Brothers, as a band, crapped out some years ago. But Andy Tielman is still at it, bless his crazy ass solo soul.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
The Tielman Brothers - Rock Little Baby of Mine mp3 at De Wereld volgens ARFThe Tielman Brothers - Love So True mp3 at Nicomokveld.com
The Tielman Brothers - Tahiti Guitars mp3 at Klepiosask.free.fr
The Tielman Brothers - Little Bird mp3 at C2Itmedia.com
The Story of the Tielman Brothers at Indorock
Tielman Brothers photo gallery at Indorock
Andy Tielman - Official site (in Dutch)
Long first hand account of meeting Andy Tielman at Amazon.com (scroll to "customer reviews")
NOTE: The title of this post refers to the definition of nazi as "a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to control a specified activity, practice, etc.: a jazz nazi who disdains other forms of music; tobacco nazis trying to ban smoking." (Definition 3, as found here.)
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