Boudewijn De Groot.
Boudewijn de Groot (born 20 May 1944) is one of the most famous Dutch singer/songwriters. He is known for the songs "Welterusten Meneer de President" (1966), "Land van Maas en Waal" (1967), "Jimmy" (1973) and "Avond" (1996) among others. On 19 January 2007 he issued his latest album Lage Landen (Low Countries).
Youth
Boudewijn de Groot was born in Indonesia in 1944 in a Japanese concentration camp close to Batavia (today known as Jakarta) where his mother died in June 1945. In 1946, he and his family returned to the Netherlands. De Groot's father, however, was obliged to return to Indonesia, so De Groot went to stay with his aunt in Haarlem. In 1951, his father came back and in 1952, the family moved, with his new stepmother, to Heemstede. De Groot lived in Heemstede in the same street as his future lyricist, Lennaert Nijgh, who was a friend of De Groot's stepbrother.
Early years in music
In 1960, De Groot met Nijgh at the Coornhertlyceum in Haarlem. At that time, De Groot was already singing that sounded a lot like the work of Jaap Fischer and Jacques Brel. Lenneart Nijgh wrote his lyrics. After their high school-period they both decided to go to a film academy. In their last year, Nijgh made the short movie "Feestje Bouwen", for which De Groot wrote two songs. During one of the presentations of the movie, television journalist Ed Lautenslager became impressed with De Groot's talent, and subsequently helped him to get a contract with record label Philips. De Groot's first single, "Strand", appeared in 1964 and led to some media attention. He followed it up with "Elegie prenatale" and "De morgen", and his recurring appearances in the television show "Kaberet Kroniek" made De Groot a minor national celebrity. The single "Noordzee" in February 1964 was a much bigger hit, but the huge breakthrough came in 1966 with Lenneart Nijgh's adaptation of a song from Charles Aznavour's "Une enfant de seize ans", retitled "Meisje van 16". This was De Groot's first song to appear in a music chart. He soon quit his job to become a full-time singer. After a while, his first album Boudewijn de Groot, recorded with the Frans de Kok orchestra, was released by record label Decca.
Years of fame
Much of Nijgh's lyrics included social criticism, so after the release of his first album in 1966 De Groot was labeled as a protest singer, an image confirmed for the mainstream audience by the success of his song "Welterusten Meneer de President". De Groot's second album Voor de overlevenden was released later in 1966. The arranger and conductor for this album, Bert Paige, continued to work with De Groot until the 1970s. However, during carnival 1967, "Land van Maas en Waal" was released and became De Groot's third hit. Under the name "Baldwin", an English version of these songs appeared in the U.K. (The land at rainbow's end). The next single, "Onder ons", just made it into the charts. By this time, De Groot had already recorded songs like "Verdronken vlinder", "Testament" and "Beneden alle peil", which would later become successful but would never enter hit charts. De Groot and Nijgh became influenced by the Flower Power movement during that time and created the album Picknick. The songs sounded a lot like a mix of George Harrison's work on The Beatles albums and their own work. The album was well received, and the single "Picknick" was a hit. The duet "Meester Prikkebeen" (together with Elly Nieman) entered the charts two months later. Two other songs, "Waterdrager" and "Als de rook om je hoofd is verdwenen" were minor hits in 1968.
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