Cuby + Blizzards, also known as Cuby & the Blizzards, were a Dutch

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

group, founded in 1964 by vocalist Harry Muskee and guitarist Eelco Gelling.Larkin C ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) p 137 During the 1960s, the band's mixture of sound, drawing upon a variety of

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

s which included

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

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, gave them a pioneering sound which was completely different from any other Dutch band in the same period. The spelling of the name varies, with 'Cuby' also written as 'QB' and the ampersand (&) also written as 'and' or '+' and the 'and' sometimes left out. The spelling 'Cuby + Blizzards' was used on the first albums.

Career

Cuby + Blizzards originated from the Drenthe village of Grolloo with members Harry Muskee (whose dog was called Cuby), Eelco Gelling, Nico Schröder and Hans Kinds. The band's first single, a blues-based track bearing similarities to

The Pretty Things ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

output, was "Stumble and Fall" in 1965. They had their first top 40 hit with "Back Home" in the Netherlands 1966. In 1967 they toured with

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

(after he had left

Them Them or THEM, a third-person singular or plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fict ...

), recorded an album, ''Praise the Blues'' with U.S. blues musician

Eddie Boyd Edward Riley Boyd (November 25, 1914 – July 13, 1994)Dahl, Bill. Eddie Boyd: Biography AllMusic. Retrieved October 13, 2016. was an American blues pianist, singer and songwriter, best known for his recordings in the early 1950s, including the ...

and scored a top 10 hit with "Window of My Eyes". That year,

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

stayed at their farm and the next year they regularly played with the 'king of British blues'

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, who is featured on their album ''Live in Düsseldorf'' (1968). The line-up of the band changed regularly, but founders Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling remained at the core of the band until 1976. Herman Brood was the pianist from early 1967 until mid-1969 (which kickstarted his career) and again in 1976. Also in 1976, Gelling left to join

Golden Earring Golden Earring were a Dutch rock music, rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ...

. Muskee then decided to drop the name C+B and to form the Harry Muskee Band. This band recorded one album before Muskee decided to leave the music business. In 1980 he formed the Muskee Gang with a line-up of Herman Deinum (bass guitar) and Hans la Faille (drums), who had both joined C+B in 1969, together with saxophonist Rudy van Dijk, Paul Smeenk (guitar) and Jeff Reynolds (trumpet). Among the best known songs released by the band were "Another Day, Another Road", "Distant Smile", "Window of My Eyes" and "Appleknockers Flophouse". In 1996 Cuby + Blizzards re-formed without Eelco Gelling, who was replaced by Erwin Java on guitar. In 2004 they went on a theater tour to honor

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

. C+B came to an end when Harry Muskee died of cancer on 26 September 2011. The band received an

Edison award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

for their debut album ''Desolation''. The song "Window of My Eyes" (a Top 10 hit in The Netherlands in 1968), was featured over the ending credits for the 2010 film '' The American''.

Line-ups

; Early line-up: * Harry "Cuby" Muskee, vocals * Eelco Gelling, guitar * Hans Kinds, guitar (replaced by Herman Brood, piano) * Willy Middel, bass (replaced by Jaap van Eik) * Hans Waterman, drums (replaced by Dick Beekman) ; Late sixties line-up: * Harry Muskee, vocals * Eelco Gelling, guitar * Herman Deinum, bass guitar * Hans la Faille, drums * Helmig van der Vegt, piano ; 1983 – line-up: * Harry Muskee, vocals * Rudy Van Dijk, tenor sax * Paul Smeenk, guitar * Herman Deinum, bass * Hans Lafaille, drums * Jeff Reynolds, trumpet ; Reunion line-up 1996–2011: * Harry Muskee, vocals * Erwin Java, guitar * Herman Deinum, bass guitar * Hans la Faille, drums * Helmig van der Vegt, piano

Discography

Albums

* ''Desolation'' (1966) * ''Praise The Blues'' (with

) (1967) * ''Groeten Uit Grollo'' (1967) * ''Trippin' Thru' A Midnight Blues'' (1968) * ''Appleknockers Flophouse'' (1969) * ''Too Blind To See'' (1970) * ''Simple Man'' (1971) * ''Sometimes'' (1972) * ''Red White & Blue'' (1975) * ''Kid Blue'' (1976) * ''Forgotten Tapes'' (1979) * ''Dancing Bear'' (1998) * ''Hotel Grolloo'' (2000) * ''Boom Boom Bang: In the Spirit of John Lee Hooker'' (2003) * ''Cats Lost'' (2009)

Live albums

* ''Live '68'' (1968) * ''Afscheidsconcert'' (1974) * ''Old Times, Good Times'' (1977) * ''Live' Featuring Herman Brood Live'' (1979) * ''Travelling with the Blues'' (1997) * ''Live in het Oude Luxor'' (2005) * ''Grollo Blues'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuby and The Blizzards Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Dutch blues musical groups Nederpop Herman Brood 1964 establishments in the Netherlands 2011 disestablishments in the Netherlands