![]() ![]() The album took well over a year to complete and talking about it Akkerman says, “The title was inspired from a simple notion, that when you are too close to an object you cannot see the real value. ‘Close Beauty’ can be considered as one of Jan’s most varied works, while this record is his first album in almost 30 years that also gets a vinyl release. The nights that we played together was great, I wish I could play the things that he did.” Whilst Yes guitarist Peter Banks has also lauded him calling him “an almost perfectly formed musician, his classical playing was tremendous and his improvising was second to none.” King has also talked highly of him saying, “How can you forget a guy like Jan, usually with people that are as great as he is, you know of them, but you don’t always get to know them or their music, but you know their reputation. ![]() Including live albums, Jan has released 30 solo albums and has collaborated with a number of musicians including Alan Price (The Animals), Jack Bruce and Ice T and also counts fans in Brian May who said Akkerman was “totally a hero of mine, there are some people in life that no matter how old you are, you feel nervous if you meet someone, he’s one of those, he’s a real role model”. In 1973 Melody Maker declared him the ‘Best guitarist of the world’, above Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Focus toured Europe and the US including shows with Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa and Yes. The song has been covered by a number of other artists including Iron Maiden, Marillion, Helloween, Gary Hoey, The Vandals and Vanessa-Mae. This album spawned the mega-hit ‘Hocus Pocus’ which reached #9 on the US Billboard Chart, #12 in The Netherlands and #20 in the UK singles chart and the song has gone on to appear on numerous TV shows such as Top Gear, Saxondale, Skins, Supernatural, Vinyl, My Name is Earl and Shameless as well we the 2007 film Hot Fuzz, 2014 remake of Robocop, 2017s Baby Driver and numerous TV advertisements including Nike. It has been cited by several sources as one of the best television theme tunes.‘Close Beauty’ is the return of the distinctive ‘Akkerman-sound’, which runs like a thread through twelve compositions acoustic, electric, solo performing and accompanied by his own band, Marijn van den Berg (drums), David de Marez Oyens (bass) and Coen Molenaar (keyboards).Īkkerman gained international fame with Focus from 1969 – 1976 where he recorded a number of breakout albums ‘Focus Plays Focus / In And Out Of Focus’ (1970), ‘Focus II/Moving Waves’ (1971) which reached the album chart in the UK #2, Netherlands #4 and #8 in the US going Gold. It was also used as theme for the Steve Coogan comedy series Saxondale, which befitted the title character's role as a former roadie for rock bands. The track's commercial potential led to it being used as the theme tune for the 1970s ITV television show Don't Ask Me (presented by Magnus Pyke). It was performed live as part of a one-off reunion set for Dutch television in 1990. įocus almost disbanded during 1970, after the song was recorded, but because of the commercial potential for "House of the King", they were persuaded by management to stay together, albeit with a different line-up. Unlike many other Focus songs, which featured extended instrumentals, it is less than two and a half minutes long. Akkerman played acoustic guitar during the main section, and a brief electric guitar solo in the bridge. The recording features group leader Thijs van Leer on flute, which has led to it being compared to the work of Jethro Tull. It was written by guitarist Jan Akkerman and based on an improvised instrumental that the group performed after the plug was pulled on a concert in Majorca in June 1970 because they played over their allotted time. In the UK, it was issued on both the group's first album, In And Out of Focus and the 1972 double album Focus 3. It was released as a single in January 1971 and reached No. 10 on the Dutch charts and sold well across Europe. " House of the King" is an instrumental by the Dutch rock band Focus.
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