"Q65 - SINGLES A's & B's" (POWERFUL RHYTHM'n'BLUES HOLLAND 1966-1974) cd 2

see also "Q65 : SINGLES A's & B's" (POWERFUL RHYTHM'n'BLUES HOLLAND 1966-1974) cd 1

1967 starts off very well.
Music magazine Popfoto includes a giant color poster of the band.
On January 21st "From Above" / "I Was Young" (Decca AT 10 248) is released as a double A-side.
During the single session, "Q65" records another four Blues songs: one by "Jimmy Reed", "Ain't That Lovin' You Babe", a Garage-Punk classic worthy of the best American bands, one by "Howlin' Wolf" ("No Place To Go") featuring "Peter Vink" on contrabass, one of the Q65's own compositions called "80% O" (referring to hash mixed with 80% pure opium), and the traditional "Rambling On My Mind"; their version of "Rambling On My Mind" thunders and surges with ferocious energy.


These tracks are featured on the EP "Kjoe Bloes" (Decca BU70025).
Q65 continued trying to make it as a Blues-Rock band for most of 1967.
Their sound began to change late in the year, just as music was turning Psychedelic, and around the time just before "Wim Bieler" was drafted into the army.
His exit heralded the end of the Q65's classic period.

Nuyens, Baar, and Roelofs hooked up with "Herman Brood" (piano, vocals) and "Henk Smitskamp" (vocals, bass) to form a new, more Psychedelic oriented outfit, which eventually evolved into a group called Circus, which lasted, in varying line-ups, for the year of 1968.
"Peter Vink", meanwhile, joined a group called "Big Wheel", whose line-up included future "Focus" member "Cyril Havermans".
In 1969, a second Q65 album was released, entitled "Revival" and made up of singles and latter-day tracks.
The music was still POWERFUL and very intense—perhaps too much so—if not as accessible.

Had the line-up stayed intact, the group might even have found an audience.
They still played well, even if it was experimental in nature (and what Blues they played was more Psychedelic than classic style).
They might've given bands like "The Creation" a run for their money, but the Q65 split up at just about this point.
The Q65 reformed in 1970 with "Beer Klaasse" on drums, and signed to "Negram Records", staying together for one year and two LPs, "Afghanistan" and "We Are Gonna Make It", which had a slightly more Psychedelic orientation.

On April 11th, new single "World Of Birds" / "It Came To Me" (Decca AT 10 263) is about the influence of being stoned, is full of hidden meaning.
Besides changing their music, their drug use gets them involved with the Justice Department.
The single "So High I've Been So Down I Must Fall" / "Where Is The Key" (Decca AT 10 286) is also clearly about mind-expanding drugs and its periphery.
B-side sounds almost prophetic, as if singer Bieler is at a loss himself.

In November, "Jay Baar" goes to jail in The Hague for possession of hash.
Things are not well with the Q65 and the band members drift apart because of personal differences.
At that time, "Wim Bieler" is drafted into military service a second time, and this time he cannot postpone it.
In December, the band is in the studio one more time to work on a totally new sound.
As soon as Jay is released from prison, they record an instrumental version of "Mother Mutha's Great Sundance", with Bieler and Roelofs on percussion and Vink on bass.

Despite a great number of problems, the band still manages to continue until the end of the year, before finally falling apart.

see also "Q65 – THE BOOK" by Pim Scheelings Manufacturer: UT Publishing.