Brainbox's first (and only) album is regarded as a Dutch Prog Rock classic in some circles. During a recording session, Akkerman, who was fond of jamming and session playing, hooked up with the embryo Focus, and was ejected from Brainbox as a result. In the late 1960s, he formed BRAINBOX, with his old friend Van der Linden on drums, who negotiated a signing to Parlophone. This was an inspiration that was never to leave Akkerman. The Cellar Rockers became the Hunters, and the first hit was scored with a cover of "Mr Tambourine Man", but an even bigger hit came from an original song called "The Russian Spy and I", inspired largely by the Shadows, but with a notable guitar solo from Akkerman.ĭuring the mid 1960s, Akkerman visited England, where he saw the guitarist Julian Bream performing Mediaeval lute music. In 1961, aged 15, he recorded his first single with his current band, Johnny & The Cellar Rockers, which also featured Pierre Van der Linden. He took a keen interest in group music-making, joining local bands The Friendship Sextet and The Shaking Hearts. His father was a guitarist, and his mother played the accordian. Legend has it that he played accordian aged 3, and was entirely self-taught on the guitar, but in actual fact he took classical guitar lessons, studied at Amsterdam Music Lyceum for 5 years and won a scholarship. Jan Akkerman first picked up a guitar aged 5. Born 24 December 1946 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
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