Jan Akkerman - ...and on guitar (2001)

I've already covered Jan Akkeran's early years in my 'Minstrel' post, which took him up to the solo albums that he released in 1972 and 1973, so this collection of guest appearances follows on nicely from that one, as it starts in the early 70's and includes his collaborations with fellow musicians over the next 30 years. His solo career actually dated from 1968, though his attempt at a solo album, later titled 'Guitar For Sale', and which contained his covers of numbers such as 'What'd I Say', 'Ode to Billy Joe', and 'Green Onions', was so primitive by the standards of the time that it was deemed unreleasable until Akkerman started topping reader surveys as best rock guitarist in the mid-'70s. Although it's unlikely that it would have been heard much in the UK, you can hear his early prowess on 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer & Ritmo Natural from 1970, which came out two years before his first real solo album, 1972's 'Profile'. The music on that album was actually recorded in 1969, while he was still a member of Brainbox, and so it wasn't util 1974's 'Tabernakel' that the music reflected his interests at the time, which included the lute. Having finally acquired a medieval lute of his own, he taught himself to play it, and the results comprise more than half of the album, with authentic medieval music mixed with originals composed in a medieval style. After leaving Focus in 1976, Akkerman began releasing a stream of solo albums, beginning with the concept offering 'Eli', and this also gave him more time to offer his services as a guitarist for hire, mostly appearing on records by fellow Dutch artists such as The Tielman Brothers, The Joachim Kuhn Band, Mark Nauseef, and André Hazes. His own albums frequently embraced classical, jazz, and blues, and much of his work during the 1980's wasn't released officially outside of Holland, but in 1990 he issued the album 'The Noise Of Art' in the US on Miles Copeland's I.R.S label, and this revitalized him in terms of releases, becoming more active than he had been in over a decade, although this caused the guest appearances to slow down as a consequence. When he did show up on someone else's album his guitar-work was as fluid and emotive as ever - just listen to him on Ange's 'Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis' from 2001. Akkerman's first two albums of the new century, 'Jazzah!' in 2000 and 'I'm In The Mood' in 2002, were self-released, but gained much acclaim from critics and the public alike, and 2003's 'C.U. On Coast To Coast' even earned him a place in the Dutch charts. He continues to record and release albums to this day, and I mentioned 2019's 'Close Beauty' in the last post, so enjoy this celebration of his contribution to Dutch music over the years, both as a solo artist, with his bands, and with these collaborations with his fellow countrymen. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 The Morning After The Third (from 'The Morning After The Third' by Hans Dulfer 

                                                                                                                 & Ritmo Natural 1970)
02 The Sky Has Called Us Out To Dance (from 'Scarecrow's Journey' by Robin Lent 1971)
03 Get Out Of My Fridge (from 'Two Sides Of Peter Banks' by Peter Banks 1973) 
04 Be-Bop-A-Lula (from 'Rock And Roll, Our First Love' by The Tielman Brothers 1976)
05 Orange Drive (from 'Sunshower' by Joachim Kuhn Band 1978) 
06 Don't Want Nobody (from 'J.D. Drews' by J.D. Drews 1980) 
07 Doctor Marathon Parts I & II (from 'Personal Note' by Mark Nauseef 1982)
08 Volgens Mij Ben Ik Getrouwd (from 'Dit Is Wat Ik Wil' by André Hazes 1989) 

Disc Two
01 Atlantis (from 'Atlantis: Bilder Från En Ö' by Björn J:son Lindh 1983)
02 I Lose Again (from 'The Talisman' by Forcefield 1988)
03 Stealth (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1990) 
04 Blij En Bang  (from 'Mijn Hart Slaapt Nooit' by Henny Vrienten 1991)
05 Soul Detective (from 'Soul Detective' by Bernard Oattes 1995)
06 Autour D'Un Cadavre Exquis (from 'Culinaire Lingus' by Ange 2001)

Bernie Marsden - ...and on guitar (2003)

Bernard John Marsden was born on 7 May 1951 in Buckingham, England, and was inspired to play the guitar as a teenager by such authentic blues players as Howling Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. He later picked up on such 60's white blues players as Peter Green, Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck, and after playing with local Buckingham based groups, he formed Skinny Cat at the age of 17. After playing with them for a while, he got his first professional gig with UFO in 1972, but he left after recording some demos with Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studios, as the rest of the group wanted German guitarist Michael Schenker in the band, who had actually been recommended by Marsden to the other members of UFO. He then joined Juicy Lucy, but once again was ejected before he could record an album with them, following which he played with Glenn Cornick's Wild Turkey in 1973, before he joined drummer Cozy Powell's band Cozy Powell's Hammer, playing on the band's hit single 'Na Na Na' in 1974. Babe Ruth were next in 1975, and he finally managed to record an album with one of his bands, playing on two releases for Capitol Records with 'Stealin' Home' in 1975, and 'Kid's Stuff' in 1976. During his time with Babe Ruth, Cozy Powell recommended him to Jon Lord who was forming a post Deep Purple outfit with Ian Paice and Tony Ashton called Paice Ashton Lord, and Marsden joined the band, along with bassist Paul Martinez, in time to record their 'Malice In Wonderland' album in 1976. While with Paice Ashton Lord he worked alongside saxophonist Howie Casey, who recommended him to Paul McCartney as a replacement for Henry McCulloch in Wings, but the offer never materialised, as after Paice Ashton Lord folded following the release of their sole album, Marsden formed a new band with former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale and guitarist Micky Moody. They started as David Coverdale's Whitesnake, which then became Whitesnake, and Marsden played on their debut EP, their first five studio albums and a live record between 1978 and 1980, co-writing many of the songs with Coverdale, and sometimes Moody. Following his departure from Whitesnake, he formed a short-lived band called Bernie Marsden's SOS, and then not long afterwards he put together Alaska, with Robert Hawthorne on vocals and Richard Bailey on keyboards, releasing two melodic rock albums, 'Heart Of The Storm' in 1984 and 'The Pack' in 1985, before splitting up. In 1986 he formed MGM with former Whitesnake members Neil Murray and his replacement guitarist in Whitesnake Mel Galley, with the band also briefly including former Toto vocalist Bobby Kimball, and while recordings were made they remain unreleased. In 1988 he wrote the song 'South Africa', which was recorded by Ian Gillan and released as a single, and in 1989 he reunited with Whitesnake guitarist Moody to form The Moody Marsden band, recording the acoustic live album 'Live In Hell' in Norway, and an electric live album in England titled 'Never Turn Our Back On The Blues', before releasing their one studio album 'Real Faith' in 1994. Marsden released two solo albums during his time in Whitesnake, and has continued to record and release albums right up to date, with his 'Kings' album coming out a few months ago, and with this post you can hear how he filled his spare time by appearing on a wide variety of albums from other artists throughout his early years.  

Track listing

01 Reality In Arrears (from 'You & Me' by Chick Churchill 1973)
02 Suzanne (from 'Journey's End' by Matthew Fisher 1973)
03 Oh My (Rockfield Studios demo for UFO 1973)
04 Na Na Na (single by Cozy Powell's Hammer 1974)
05 Some Kind Of Beautiful (from 'Jumble Queen' by Bridget St John 1974)
06 The City (from 'Why' by K2 1980)
07 Chance On A Feeling (from 'Before I Forget' by Jon Lord 1982)
08 Head The Ball (from 'Guitar Speak II' 1988)
09 South Africa (single by Gillan 1988)
10 In A Perfect World (from 'Forcefield IV: Let the Wild Run Free' by Forcefield 1991)
11 Check Me Out (from the soundtrack of the TV series 'Frankie' 1995)
12 A Woman Like That (from the soundtrack of the film 'Still Crazy' 1998)
13 Als God Geen Vrouw Is Mam (from 'Pop Model' by Mama's Jasje 2000)
14 On Common Ground (from 'I Eat Them For Breakfast' by Micky Moody 2002)
15 Lady Starlight (from 'Freak Out!' by Chris Catena 2003)