When
I [HK] joined Negram-Delta at the end of 1965, the record company had
recently taken over the distribution of the Reprise label from Artone.
On the top floor of the building on the Zijlweg in Haarlem were still
piles of EPs from artists such as Frank Sinatra, Trini Lopez and Sammy
Davis jr.
Reprise, by record company Warner Bros. bought from Frank Sinatra, at that time was mainly concerned with the favorite music of older Americans. That changed. Nancy Sinatra, daughter of the former owner, soon had a big hit with "These boots are made for walking" produced by Lee Hazlewood. In the 1970s, the Warner group (WEA), based in California, played a prominent role in pop music from the American west coast. One of their acts on the Reprise label was the Beach Boys. They came to our country in 1972 to record the album "Holland" in the converted Frans Peters studio in Baambrugge.  Beach Boys in Scheveningen When the recordings were over, a party had to be organized of course. Negram invited the media to be there at the Pier in Scheveningen. I was also present when the members of Beach Boys and their families came in. There was no performance by the group that was known for surfing music and songs like "Good Vibrations". Instead, Negram gave a new Dutch group the opportunity to present themselves. The boys called themselves Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers. Seven years later, in 1979, singer Arnie Treffers looked back on their presentation. "The breakthrough of the group," he said in Music Parade, "came to the Beach Boys Party in Scheveningen. There we went terribly, thrown chairs and really knocked the piano apart. The Beach Boys themselves demanded that we stop because all our attention went to the performance of us. But the journalists thought it was wonderful ”. In
the monthly magazine Treffers looked back with multi-instrumentalist
Tony Britnell and (probably) editor Cees Mentink on how it started long
ago.
MP: “The beginning didn't just come. In fact, it was already an old group, but with a different name. It started as The Moans, an Arnhem group founded by none other than Herman Brood. That was around 1963-64. Before that time the group played very progressive music by Wilson Pickett. This group quickly left for Germany to perform for the American soldiers, where they decorated monthly contracts. The group did not have much fame. The group continued to exist in all kinds of occupations over the years. In one of the last line-ups, a new young man joined the group: Arnie Treffers. Herman Brood had been out of the group for years ". But
not entirely, says Arnie. "We were not rid of him," Treffers said about
Herman Brood's second "performance" in the Moan group. “At one point he
was in the juvenile prison in Utrecht. We heard that from his lawyer
who came to check on Herman's return to society as a pianist at Moan.
There was a prospect, the lawyer said, that if he could play in a band,
the judge would decide favorably and then he would be released from
prison.
But Herman was already far back then. He didn't recognize us. He was heavy on the various narcotic things. We have rehearsed with him, but it didn't work out. One moment he was there, the other not. There was absolutely nothing to work with him. But that is about seven years ago. The group still knew the opulence of a small hit ["Health of Freedom", a production by Jack de Nijs] but it did not get any further. The draft came in and the boys kept looking for something new. In fact, they had no face, it was a group of thirteen in a dozen. " Moan Nightmare
The lack of image, having no face, turned out to be an advantage for the boys from Arnhem. After all, you could fill in the image as needed. MP: “The success did not come immediately. That wasn't necessary either, because there was a lot of fun and that was the main thing. But they wanted to continue and born out of necessity, they came up with an act based on the occurrence of a Arthur Brown who had a hit with "Fire" at the time and the fire literally burst at him. " "It was a huge dress up party," Arnie recalled. “We changed into robes. We walked around with some candles. In short, it was the Pink Floyd time in full glory. We also started playing creepy music for half an hour. If only it was shocking. Moan Nightmare emerged from these crazy situations, before the break ordinary music, after the break a horror show, complete with a light show. But it couldn't go on like this and it was a lot of gangs and at that time the singer left the band. I was forced to sing and shortly thereafter the Long Tall Ernie spectacle started to develop. In Moan we sang a number of rock and roll songs from the fifties. We liked that. We had no ulterior motive with it. " Arnie
Treffers in 1979: “In Paradiso in Amsterdam we were asked once to
provide a rock 'n' roll evening. That was the start of Long Tall Ernie
& The Shakers. The name comes from the song "Long Tall Shorty" from
the Kinks and because I was quite tall we immediately thought of Long
Tall Ernie.
The name had a rock "n" roll group, a typical old-fashioned name. “Then
came that peculiar show in combination with Moan. Before the break we
played as Moan and after the break as Long Tall Ernie. That was really
crazy. We played around thirty times a month and that was no longer
possible at a given moment.
We were booked as Moan and Long Tall Ernie and most people also thought they were two different groups. After a performance they often came to us and we had to hear how bad that first band had been. At first we thought they were kidding, but that really wasn't true ”. Moan also manifested itself as the "Arnhem" group and Dutch as the Spijkerkwartet. It couldn't go on. Successful costume change  Arnie: “At a certain point we wanted to make an album. That was still in Moan's time. We then had photos taken one afternoon. We had wet the long hair, combed back and tied it with rubber bands, and we took pictures of it. With a self-made demo in the studio of Hank The Knife [Henk Bruysten] we went to Negram. Well, it really appealed to them, those photos and those demos. It all looked a bit mean and a nice story was added to it later. We played the first single with Jaap Dekker. There were also the most insane stories. They came to the world through a VPRO film reportage. But the report itself already showed that it was one very big dress up party, that black, violent appearance, so that we portrayed pimps from the Spijkerbuurt from Arnhem. Only at the end we showed that we were completely dry drying the hair and putting on normal clothes. That has really passed everyone by. We also never understood why it was never realized that it was a persiflage. It was a joke. We had made that clear. OK, something in the room sometimes broke, but measured over the years that has been relatively low. It was never a fight either. Most came from the publications. The room owners were a little afraid of us. However, we have never thickened the stories. We just kept insisting that it was a dress up party. Our first single didn't work out in the beginning. So we went after it ourselves. We first went to Radio Noordzee. Ferry Maat did not like us at all and locked himself in his cabin. Then we went to Radio Veronica in a large American sled. The drummer started peeing against a tree and Tom Collins faded again. So that didn't go well. Later, the single went into release and sold well.  Negram played the game. In the Veronica magazine you could read in 1972: “The record company recently circulated a press release with threatening content. It was stated that no responsibility could be accepted for any damage caused by the rock & roll group Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers. Director Hans Kellerman had already been admitted to hospital with a double leg fracture because he did not want to give the group an advance on the sale of 100,000 singles. The message ended with: "You have been warned about these devastating gangsters." The approach of Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers is somewhat reminiscent of that of Normal, not much later, also from the east of the province of Gelderland. The "west" was won with some laughing bluff. Rock
& Roll Revival
A performance by the American group Sha Na Na during the filmed Woodstock festival had contributed to the renewed interest in the original pop music. According to the editor, it was the manager of the Shakers who had come up with the plan for the act. "Rein Muntinga must have thought: you have to do something to stand out and therefore devised this stunt, so that no one forgot the name of the group". In the article it was made clear that the image was bursting with work because of this approach.  There was also work to be done when Moan had to be transformed into Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers in a short time. “When Moan has performed, the boys go back to the dressing room and a nice ritual takes place there. The main concern is of course to get the crest in shape. And that goes as follows. In the middle of the room is a bowl of water, into which the head is placed as deep as possible to get the hair as wet as possible. Then a crest is worked on for a long time in front of the mirror, after which a can of spray makes it shine beautifully. The boys then change the t-shirts for black shirts, except for Ernie, who puts on a white shirt, trimmed with a shiny edge. Dark sunglasses finally complete the outfit and there is a completely different group in front of you. Bass guitarist Hank the Knife completes the formation and they walk one after the other to the stage. Along the way a few girls make dirty faces when they see the fat hair. Then a rock and roll show breaks loose, which is unparalleled in the Netherlands. A series of well-known rock and roll songs are being played at breakneck speed, such as' Johnny Be Good ',' Roll over Beethoven ',' Sweet Little Sixteen ', Jailhouse Rock', 'One Night' and a few songs from their new album and recent single. The pianist Jumpin ’Johnny [Jan Rietman] is the most demanding attention. In the most insane positions, he still manages to make music, whether he is sitting squatting, kneeling behind the piano or on top of it, or on his stomach, kicking his legs backwards. If he is right on his hips, Johnny also jumps on the keys in a staggered position. He also sits down on the floor once and then plays with his heels. At the end of the performance, he throws his chair to the floor a few times, which really does not survive that thing ”. In an interview, drummer Alan Macfarlane explained the power of rock & roll. “I believe that rhythm and spontaneity are the big secret in music. In addition, they are usually simple, tight sizes with a not too difficult text. That time of fifteen, twenty years ago was also not that difficult, at least people did not live with so many problems. Almost all Chuck Berry texts are about fast cars, motorbikes and women. It was just that then. We will also make texts with such content on our LP. " And the audience? "For the public, it is extremely exciting and people can react." Is it currently such a success because you can speak of a malaise in pop music? Alan: You can say that. If things go bad, people go back to old material. Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis now regularly perform. However, youth sentiment also plays an important role. And if contemporary music isn't that great, you go and listen to old records and that is usually the rock and roll music. By the way, I believe that if a new pop shape comes and the rock and roll comes back into the background, one will get a rock and roll revival after a while. You can't get the rock and roll away ”. Macfarlane loved the music of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. “I have always admired Elvis Presley. Not for his personality or because he is still running. Elvis just started something new. He has revived country and western music and later switched to rock and roll. I always liked Chuck Berry as well. Although he plays rhythm and blues rather than rock and roll. It is always sad for that boy that he has never received the recognition that he absolutely deserved. Lately, that has changed, and that is about time ”. Polydor attracted them in 1975. The top ten was reached for the first time with ‘Get yourself together’. Other successes from that time were "Rockin" Rocket "," Operator "," Allright "and" Ballerina ", early 1977.  Jaap
Eggermont in 1966
When Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers existed for five years, a striking single was due. That is how the idea arose to revive the musical past in the form of a medley consisting of classics from the history of pop music. "In the beginning we were a little hesitant about the idea of making such a collage," Treffers told Willem Jan van de Wetering, editor of the Hitkrant. The idea had come from Eggermont. “Picking out the numbers has taken a lot of time. First we browsed through old charts. Afterwards everyone was allowed to enter their favorite number. It had to fit in terms of rhythm, it had to sound authentic and still have the sound of today. " Arnie had come up with the Everly Brothers herself. “I was an Everly Brothers fan. Fifteen years ago you had a business in the Kinkerstraat in Amsterdam, where you could record a paper plate. That was for overseas family or something. With a friend I had saved two weeks to get those two peaks together. I was eleven years old. You were allowed to sing the picture in a small box. Playing the guitar was hardly possible. Then we recorded "Devoted to you" from the Everly Brothers. Great, I still have that album! ”  On the single "Do you remember", released in the summer of 1977, you heard successively "Peggy Sue" (Buddy Holly), "Helly Mary Lou" (Ricky Nelson), "Lucille" (Little Richard), "Bird Dog" (Everly Brothers), "Rubber Ball" (Bobby Vee), "Whole Lotta Shakin" Goin "on" (Jerry Lee Lewis), "Diana" (Paul Anka), "Bread and Butter" (Newbeats), "That's all right Mama '(Elvis Presley),' Rip it up 'and' Jenny Jenny Jenny '(Little Richard). At the end of the festive anniversary single, Tony Britnell played a long solo on the saxophone, a characteristic pop instrument in the 1950s. 'Do you remember' reached the top of the top 40 and also reached the number 5 position in the list with the biggest hits of 1977 - behind Boney M. (Ma Baker), Father Abraham (Smurfs song), Supertramp (Give a little bit) and the Guys & Dolls (You're my world). Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers were top of the bill with their nostalgia act. ‘Golden
Years of Rock & Roll’
"Golden Years of Rock & Roll" achieved the top ten, but not the top. The news was over. The group would never appear in the top 40 and soon fell apart. Hank
The Knife
Was it about the songs? In 2007, Bruysten stated: “It was a matter of money. When I joined the Shakers I received 75 guilders per performance. When the band started playing better and could get much higher gages because of the hits, I still got 75 guilders. So I told Arnie I wanted a hundred. "About my corpse," Arnie said. To which I said that I would then start my own band ". Bruysten reflected himself on the rock music of guitarists such as Duane Eddy and Jet Harris. With his own group, Hank The Knife & The Jets, he was not only successful in the Netherlands but also with the eastern neighbors. Pierre Beek (1945-2009) was responsible for the vocals in the new group. Their hits were "Guitar King" and "Stan the Gunman". Bruysten invested the income in its own sophisticated studio in the east of the country. But that went wrong. Bruysten touched on drinks and on the lower shore, you can read in all kinds of articles from a later time. Little abroad for the Shakers
Partly due to the Dutch successes, people looked across borders. That wasn't easy, Arnie recorded in 1977. "Our" hangup "is the policy in the rest of Europe. Polydor Germany is extremely difficult to influence and when you see that when they release the last album they put an old photo of us in the press folder again, you will get sick. We will not talk about Belgium at all. "Allright" has been in the charts for eight or nine but from t.v. or something they have never heard there. I don't think we were released in France. When Freddy Haayen became director of Polydor-England, we thought that we would finally be released there, but forget it, hardly anything. We are now going to pound ourselves in England through what relationships we have there ourselves. Then you will be released by a small crap, the main thing is that your record is in the store. " But that too was disappointing. “We once again had the plan to focus primarily on England. We completely abandoned that. No dry bread can be earned in that country. You cannot even pay your hotel costs for a tour. That is why all those English groups also want to play here and in Germany for lower prices than we ask. No, they can take it from me ”. Tony Britnell added: “When we wanted to do TV in England it didn't work. I have been a member of the Musician’s Union for 15 years, but I was not allowed to enter. I telephoned for days and finally I was allowed to send an English group to the Netherlands. You didn't even have to have a real group, as long as it exists on paper. And that while English groups [in the Netherlands] come to watch TV every day. Because of those English situations, "Do you remember" did not really break through. I have canceled my membership ”. Already in 1978 the group fell apart into two parts. In 1979 the album "Meet the monsters" was released under the name Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers, building in a certain sense on the old Moan and their monster act. The group led by Arnie and Tony again became as imageless as before. In the time that I [HK] was operating as Polydor's A&R manager, they ran down the door to be allowed to record a new concept album based on the "Incredible Shrinking Man". It didn't happen. In 1980 I brought them into contact with Pim Koopman (1953-2009), the most successful Dutch pop producer of that moment. However, their single "Let’s do it together" received no media attention at all. The era of Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers was quickly ended. Arnie and Tony mainly manifested themselves as songwriters for others. But that too brought little money. Unnamed, however, as the voice of Roy Orbison, Treffers contributed to the single "Stars on 45", again a production by Jaap Eggermont, which elaborated on "Do you remember". "Stars on 45" reached the number one position in America on June 20, 1981. New life in Denmark
He was first able to survive with royalties he received from "Do you remember" and "Golden Years of Rock and Roll". In his new homeland he made music with a lot of new Danish talent. For example, he produced a picture of Sugar and the Lollipops that became gold in Denmark, then of a group called Heinrich. He was very successful with some. He also wrote and produced songs for old English guys like Billie J. Kramer and Reg Presley, singer of the group The Troggs. Arnie felt like singing again and also noticed that he was enjoying his own voice. That was the first time. He started working with a Danish technician. A cheap studio was arranged and the best musicians from the circle of acquaintances were brought in. When the recordings were finished, he sent the tape to a man from EMI-Bovema in Heemstede. The wife of the man to whom the tape was sent played the tape while vacuuming. She had no idea who sang it or her husband. That's how a deal was made. He maintained a good relationship with the Dutch record managers. A few solo albums were released from him. He also made tours through Denmark and other Scandinavian countries with various Danish Rock-and-Roll acts.  Arnie
and I started an Indonesian restaurant in 1986. It was also the first
Indonesian restaurant in our region. We sold it in 1990 and on 1
September of that year we were married in Aalborg.
After the sale of the restaurant, Arnie was able to devote herself entirely to the music. Writing and producing music for other artists. He made beautiful music such as rock, country and pop. He also edited the music for companies to promote their product. For an exclusive Danish shoe brand, called Bubetti, he made a mini-musical that was given the name "The magic in you". That was a great success for the relevant company in Denmark. It was a great period. The unfortunate suddenly came into our midst. Arnie got sick, had cancer. This disease has been debilitating for the last two to three years. He accepted his illness and had a fantastic sense of humor. A striking and fantastic person. On 25 August 1995, he died in Westeremde in Groningen in the presence of his family. In the Netherlands, Long Tall Ernie seemed to be completely forgotten. In the weekly magazine Story you could read: “Only a handful of family and friends came to Groningen to say goodbye to Long Tall Ernie, Arnie Treffers. No one from the profession had come to pay tribute to the man, who once threw his Shakers international eye on it, the last honor. Fame is impermanent, but the fact that no one from the 'trade' had taken the trouble to make a final greeting must have been a major disappointment for his wife Solveig. The beautiful auditorium of the Groningen crematorium was barely filled. It was all the more striking that many friends and relatives of Solveig had come over from Denmark. At least they had taken the trouble to attend the ceremony. Arnie was only 48 years old. Harry
Knipschild - 10 februari 2020
Clips
*
Moan, Health of Freedom, 1970 Literatuur:
Thijs
Wartenbergh, ‘Moan = Long Tall Ernie & the Shakers = Arnhem = Het Spijkerkwartet’,
Veronica, 9 september 1972
Tim Tyler, ‘Gezellige rock met Long Tall Ernie c.s.’, Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 29 december 1972 Stan Govaard, ‘Hank the Knife & The Jets, Oor, 7 mei 1975 Jos van Woudenberg, ‘Arnie Treffers: wij zijn de lul’, Oor 12 januari 1977 Willem Jan van de Wetering, ‘Als je ziek bent laten ze je gewoon sterven’, Hitkrant, 18 maart 1977 Willem Jan van de Wetering, ‘Vijfjarig bestaan. Long Tall Ernie terug in de tijd’, Hitkrant, 15 september 1977 Ruud van Dulkenraad, ‘Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers vallen in twee groepen uiteen’, Hitkrant, 2 maart 1978 ‘Long Tall Ernie & The Shakers – monstergekken met gein’, Muziek Parade, september 1979 ‘Eenzaam afscheid van Long Tall Ernie’, Story, september 1995 Solveig Treffers, ‘Het leven met een rockstar’, Het Treffertje, 2005 Roland Wetzels, ‘Hank The Knife & The Jets – na dertig jaar nog steeds vlijmscherp’, Fret, januari 2007 Thomas Verbogt, ‘Arnhem Rock’, uit My Generation, uitgeverij L.J. Veen, 2000, in Leon Verdonschot, De beste muziekverhalen van 1945 tot nu, Amsterdam 2008 
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