Andy Tielman was an influential
Indo (Eurasian) artist. He was recognised as frontman of
Indorock, a musical style, for which he received the nickname "Godfather of Indorock" died he was 75..
[3] He is considered one of the most important figures in
Dutch Pop music.
[4]
He was known for his wide
vocal range (5 octaves) and
virtuoso guitar playing as well as his
showmanship. Many Dutch musicians, including
Jan Akkerman of
Focus and
Barry Hay of
Golden Earring have cited him as an major influence.
[5][6]
(30 May 1936 – 10 November 2011)[1][2]
He has been acknowledged as having made the first Dutch
Rock and Roll single in 1958 and leading the first Dutch rock band with international appeal. He led the Timor Brothers, the Four T's, the
Tielman Brothers,
and Andy Tielman and the Tielman Brothers. His career spanned from the
1950s to his death in 2011. During Tielman's heyday in the 1950s and
1960s, his band the Tielman Brothers was hailed as the best live act in
Europe and received the highest fees.
[7]
In 2005 he was awarded a Royal decoration in the
Order of Orange Nassau.
[8] In 2011 Tielman died of gastric cancer.
[9]
Dutch East Indies
Andy Tielman was born in
Makassar,
Celebes,
Dutch East Indies on 30 May 1936. Both his father, a
KNIL captain named Herman Tielman, and his mother, Flora Laurentine Hess, were
Indo-European. Aside from Andy, the couple had 5 children: Reggy, Phonton, Loulou (Lawrence), and Jane (Janette Loraine). When the
Japanese invaded the Indies,
the elder Tielman was imprisoned; Andy and his siblings were taken care
of by his mother. He later recalled "When war came the world was
broken. My whole world just fell apart."
[10]
After the
Japanese surrendered in 1945, the family was reunited. By that time, Andy and his siblings were performing
jazz
standards at private functions using the musical training their father
had given them. Within half a year they were performing throughout
nascent
Indonesia, which had
proclaimed its independence after the Japanese surrender. The siblings' repertoire included both American and traditional Indonesian music.
By the time the Netherlands formally recognised Indonesia's
independence in 1949, the Tielman siblings had become a household name;
they even performed for President
Sukarno at his palace in
Jakarta. In 1951 they were introduced to the song "Guitar Boogie" by
Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith.
In an interview Tielman recalled: "This was the first song which my
brothers and I converted into rock ‘n roll by adding drums to it." The
band began playing rock and roll music by
Les Paul,
Elvis Presley,
Little Richard,
Bill Haley,
Fats Domino,
Chuck Berry and
Gene Vincent.
Aside from the family band, Andy also played with Dolf de Vries' band
The Starlights in Jakarta, as well as Freddy Wehner's Hawaiian band in
Sumatra.
[11]
In the late 1950s anti-Dutch rules and regulations increased, leading up to an escalation of the
Dutch New Guinea conflict; it was feared that the
Bersiap
violence would be repeated. Dutch businesses and other properties were
seized, Dutch social services were stopped, Dutch schools were banned
and the last Dutch nationals were expelled.
[12]
Anti-Dutch sentiments also affected Indo celebrities, including the
Tielman siblings, and when they were pressured into forgoing their Dutch
nationality the family repatriated to the Netherlands.
[11]
Europe
In 1957 the Tielman family moved to the Netherlands, first to a boarding house in
Breda and later to
The Hague.
Their initial years in the Netherlands were difficult. Tielman later
recalled that their first boarding house was "really sad" and said that
music was the only thing that kept them going. The siblings, who
required new instruments, went into a music shop to replace Andy's
broken guitar. The owner forbid him to touch anything, until the
siblings played some Elvis tunes for the owner and his family.
Afterwards, Tielman received a guitar at a discount and only a small
down payment.
[13]
Andy and his brothers began playing at a hotel for only 2,50 guilders
a week. They were able to slowly acquire a fan base among rebellious
youth and fellow musicians; however, they were not appreciated by the
Dutch establishment or mainstream press.
[14] On national radio and television influential opinion makers such as
Mies Bouwman and
Willem Duys criticised and dismissed the brothers' music.
[15]
After a successful show at the
World Exhibition in
Brussels,
Belgium,
in 1958, the Tielman Brothers were signed by a Belgian company to
record the first Dutch rock 'n' roll single, "Rock Little Baby Of Mine".
[16]
The band's flamboyant showmanship, acrobatic stage antics and rowdy
sound were unheard of in the Netherlands. The band soon began performing
internationally.
[17]
Tielman later recalled "In the Netherlands we did not feel accepted. It
seemed like Rock and Roll was forbidden here. On television we were
totally torn apart publicly [...]. They [even] called us music rapists."
[7]
In
Germany the band found popularity and recorded some German-language songs. They played many live venues in the
Reeperbahn area of
Hamburg,
a city with many American GIs and a lively music scene. Andy Tielman
made an impression on both the German and British musicians playing
there. In a later interview with
Rolling Stone,
George Harrison reflected on his Hamburg period, enthusiastically referring to "Andy, the Indo man".
[citation needed] Tielman and his band enjoyed a successful musical career throughout Europe until the emergence of British
beat music headed by
The Beatles.
[17]
Asia Pacific
Although he enjoyed success in Europe, Tielman became upset over
hysterical actions by fans, which included cases where women slit their
wrists in front of the stage to get his attention. In the 1990 TV
interview with
Sonja Barend
Tielman said: "That’s nothing to be proud of. [...] It’s just very,
very sad. [...] I just could not stand it anymore. [...] Maybe the
Beatles could deal with that kind of thing. Not me."
[18]
In the late 1970s Tielman abruptly ended his music career and left
his family and property to live as a hermit in the jungles of
Kalimantan among the
Dayak people.
In the Tv interview with Sonja Barend he recalls: "The Dayak hunted
monkeys for food. I just hunted wild chicken." For over 2 years he lived
a low profile and meditated until a female fan tracked him down in the
Bali
backwoods. For over a year the young German woman, who later became his
wife, Carmen Tielman, stayed with him there until he decided to return
to the "civilised" world and resume his career.
[19]
Tielman then moved to Australia and lived there for 5 years. In the
1980s he toured Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. Occasionally he
would return to the Netherlands, where he gradually restarted his
recording career. After the influential book
Rockin Ramona was
published in 1989, the Netherlands was re-discovering and rehabilitating
its musical pioneers and Tielman was getting more and more recognition
as a founding father of Dutch pop music.
[5]
Netherlands
Tielman eventually returned to the Netherlands full time. In 1990 he played in a reunion concert with the Tielman Brothers.
[citation needed] The same year he releases a solo album, entitled
Now And Forever, followed in 1994 and 1995 by tours to the
Caribbean and
North America. In 1997 he released the album
Loraine Jane, named after his only daughter.
[17] That year he also headlined a festival commemorating Elvis Presley at the
Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre.
[7]
In 1998 the album
Loraine Jane was presented at the
Pasar Malam Besar in the Hague. On 31 October 1998 Tielman celebrated his 50th anniversary as an artist with a show at The Hague Houtrusthallen.
[17] Leading up to this anniversary Andy Tielman received much publicity in the Dutch media; Established Dutch artists like
Herman Brood and
Wally Tax expressed their admiration for his musical legacy.
[20] In 1999 Andy Tielman toured the
USA.
[7]
In 2003 Andy Tielman recorded a new album in Amsterdam. In 2004 he recorded a live DVD at the
Kurhaus in
Scheveningen called
It's My Life. In 2005 the DVD was officially presented at the Pasar Malam Besar in The Hague.
[17]
In 2005 Tielman was named to the
Order of Orange-Nassau.
[17] Following the
tsunami off Aceh in 2004, he made an appearance at the Dutch national benefit for the victims with two other Indo artists,
Dinand Woesthoff (of
Kane) and René van Barneveld (formerly of
Urban Dance Squad), performing the traditional Indonesian songs "
Rayuan Pulau Kelapa" and "Ole sio sayang e".
[21] In 2007 Tielman played with Chris Latul (formerly of
Massada) in
Utrecht, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
Pelita Foundation, the longest running social service organisation for Dutch
Indos.
[22]
For the 50th anniversary of the single "Rock Little Baby Of Mine" in 2008, the 50 Years of Nederpop Foundation in
Groningen held a weekend long festival. On 3 October he performed at the
Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam during the 50 Years of Nederpop Live festival. He headlined the national 5 May
Liberation Day celebrations in The Hague in 2008. With Indorock band Tjendol Sunrise, he recorded the album
21st Century Rock
which includes new versions of hits from the Tielman Brothers, several
new songs, as well as a new version of "Rock Little Baby Of Mine". At
the
Tong Tong Fair he teamed with guitarist
Jan Akkerman for a one off concert.
[citation needed]
By the fall of 2009, Tielman had fallen ill and canceled a scheduled
tour when he was diagnosed with cancer. In November he was operated on.
By 19 December he had recovered enough to give a short performance in
Drachten,
[17] and in March 2010 played a show at the Benidorm Palace in Spain, supported by other acts such as Riem de Wolff of the
Blue Diamonds.
[23]
During the 2011 edition of Indo festival the Tong Tong Fair, Tielman
celebrated his 75th birthday and held a sold-out farewell concert at the
Bintang Theatre.
[24][25] On 10 November 2011 Tielman died of cancer.
[2][1]
Line up
The Timor Rhythm Brothers (1945–1957)
Reggy Tielman (Reginald)(banjo, guitar, vocal)- Surabaya, 20 May 1933
Ponthon Tielman (double bass, guitar, vocal)- 4 August 1934 - 29 April 2000
Andy Tielman (Herman Hendrik Aadrian) (guitar, vocal)– 30 May 1936
Loulou Tielman (Herman Lawrence)(drum, vocal)– 30 October 1938 - 4 August 1994
Jane Tielman (Janette Loraine)(vocal)- 17 August 1940 - 25 juni 1993.
The Four Tielman Brothers — The 4 T's (1957–1959)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, vocal)
Ponthon Tielman (double bass, vocal)
Loulou Tielman (drums, vocal).
The Tielman Brothers (1960–1963)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, vocal)
Franky Luyten (rhythm guitar, vocal)
Ponthon Tielman (bass guitar, 6 string bass, vocal)
Loulou Tielman (drum, vocal)
The Tielman Brothers (1963–1964)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Alphonse Faverey (lead guitar) ex-stringers to The Four Beat Breakers > The Time Breakers
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, 6 string bass, vocal)
Franky Luyten (rhythm guitar, vocal) to The Four Beat Breakers > The Time Breakers
Ponthon Tielman (bass guitar, 6 string bass, vocal)to Tielman Royal; afterwards back to Indonesia
Loulou Tielman (drum, vocal)
Jane Tielman (vocal)
The Tielman Brothers (1964–1969)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, 6 string bass,vocal)
Robby Latuperisa (bass, guitar, 6 string bass)
Hans Bax (rhythm guitar, vocal)
Loulou Tielman (drum, vocal)
Jane Tielman (vocal)
Andy Tielman and his Indonesians (1969-1971)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, 6 string bass, vocal)
Rob Latuperisa (bass guitar, 6 string bass)
Loulou Tielman (drum, vocal)
Benny Heynen (tenor saxophone, rhythm guitar)
Maurice de la Croix (bariton/tenor saxophone)
Leo Masengi (tenor saxophone, rhythm guitar)ex-The High Five
Jane Tielman (vocal)
Ilse Uchtman (vocal)
Andy Tielman & The Tielman Brothers (1975–1981)
Andy Tielman (lead guitar, vocal)
Reggy Tielman (2nd lead guitar, rhythm guitar)
Loulou Tielman (drum, vocal).
Rob Latuperisa (bass guitar)
Maurice de la Croix (bariton/tenor saxophone)
Leo Masengi (alt/tenor saxophone, rhythm guitar)
Benny Heynen (tenor saxophone, clarinet, guitar)
To see more of who died in 2011
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