Totoro! This is an 8 minute song sped up to fit the 4 minutes the program allowed as they didn't want to cut anything. The actual studio version is still insane with the big difference being cleaner guitar riffs, and not seeing the singers facial expressions. You may be slightly better at whistling than I. Focus is a Dutch band with an extensive catalog. I mainly only know this song. So they hay have more flute based songs.
@@gerritjanstelpstra8174 absolutely yes,saw them on Yt recently,I'll do the same now.Aangenahm/Pleasure/Piacere🇮🇹🖐️Yodel in South Tirol/Alto Adige/Ober Etsch too(Oberetsch)
I think the guitarist (Akkerman) was playing those squeaky sounds during the flute solo. - There are better 'flute songs' from Focus like "House of the King" and "Love remembered". The whole "Hamburger Concerto" is also worth of checking.
I thought I was the only person in the world who ever heard "Hamburger Concerto." What an amazing piece of work. When that came out there were other bands who were combining classical and rock styles together like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Yes. The big difference to me was they took it so seriously while Focus just seemed to be having fun.
@@jimvandemoter6961 Thijs Van Leer always said that Focus isn't prog because "Prog doesn't swing." BUT all the same with Prog musicians he's regarded as a grand master of Prog.
Yes. It's Ackerman accompanying Van Lear's flute. Here's the studio version without the Ackerman accompanyment. Ackerman in particular seemed to benefit from the "extra" time allotted on the studio version --- he's ***shredding***. ruclips.net/video/MV0F_XiR48Q/видео.html
@@jimvandemoter6961 Not quite my friend Focus did it in 1970 and Yes, Emerson Like & Palmer started a little earlier. With respect to Focus, I really like their music :)
The band were told to do their 7min track in up to 3 mins for the show an hour before this is the result. The flute player has many classical albums out that are worth hearing.
the Midnight Special was on late 11:30 -12:00 on saturdays. this was before MTV or any other music channel .there also was Don Kirchsner's Rock concert.
The squeak sound is actually Jan Akerman's guitar. what saddens me about all the reviews of this track is no one appreciate Jan The greatest guitar player ever. This Is played fast because they had a time limit on the performance
This is fun. The song (on the album) is actually 6 minutes 43 seconds long. The producers of the TV show wanted them to cut some time off the song to fit into the TV formula. Rather than remove a portion of their song, they played it REALLY fast and came in at around 4 minutes.
@@sportysp That call and response between flute and guitar was probably a spur of the moment decision. I read somewhere that the guys never perform this piece the same way twice - it's always improv on a well-rehearsed theme. That, and the fact that they played it crazy fast to fit a 7 minute piece into the 4 minute timeslot the showrunner gave them, make this performance insanely impressive. That's why Gladys Knight introduced them the way she did. These guys are TIGHT!
They said theyd play it faster, but then, not only did they play it WAY faster, they get faster each time around and ad lib and do extra stuff. They still did a 6:08 version, and the album version from 1971 was 6:45, but much slower. This is the shortened, edited version. The 6:08 version is out there, and many reactors have covered it, including vocal coaches such as TheCharismaticVoice and FairyVoiceMother, all of whom have an absolute field day with this.
I LOVE the guitar screams between the flute pitches. Amazing band. This track is played at like 50% speed, the "original" was much slower. The TV shows time slot did not allow for an eight minute track, so Focus cranked the tempo, refusing to cut out the solos. Epic. And yup.. I prefer the faster version.
Me too! And I grew up in the outskirts of Norway with one radio station and one tv-channel (black and white until 1974) - funded by the government and too 'grown-up' to play commercial music for young people. The yodeling of Hocus Pocus I heard on Radio Luxembourg at nights and when I finally heard the single played on a descent stereo system a year or two later, I understood how limited radio on the medium range frequencies really was - but loved the song that much more. Classic.
The "squeaks" you are referring to is the guitar player stretching his "b" string while playing a note on his high "e" string so the notes match. It's a technique used by many lead guitarists.
This is a 7minute version played in a 3minute time slot, the short version doesn't have the flute among other solos. So they played fast! The flute effect is him sucking air in over the mouthpiece or embouchure? instead of blowing air out over it.
Some tv show. Yes the Midnight Special was a great tv show that helped expose a young country boy to a variety of some of the best acts of the early 70's.
The tv show wanted them to edit the song to suit their format. they thought it was too long. "No problem" thought the band, "We'll just play it twice as fast"! And how did the audience react? With a standing ovation!!
They had a five minute song and three minutes to play it, so they increased the tempo and went for it. This is the fastest they played it, at least on video. Their album version is much clearer.
They played it (split in two parts) on their "Live at the Rainbow" from 1973, and they did it that fast, but I think the first time they did it that way was at that TV show, and for the reason you just said. The studio song was a little shorter than 7 minutes, and the producers of the show told them they only had about 4 minutes, so they would have to shorten it. The band said "Hell, no ! We're going to play the whole song, but at double the speed !" Rock'n'Roll Attitude at its best ! Another funny anecdote : back in the eighties, while on vacations in Thailand, I bought a few cassettes for my walkman from a guy from the streets, and one of them was a "Best Of" the Sex Pistols, and imagine my surprise when I heard Focus's "Hocus Pocus" live version at the end of the tape !!! Hey, you can say that it was in fact some "proto-punk" !
It’s almost 8 minutes, they had to do it in 4, so they didn’t cut, but just speeded it up. Btw this is the best version to watch, the studio recording is the best to listen to.
@@ptr250 sorry, no. Listen to the original album--much slower. The show only gave them 4 minutes and they refused to cut their song, so they just (!) played it faster. The Mid. Special is a great video to watch, and a testament to how great they were as musicians that they could play at basically double speed, but the album version is the best to listen to.
To me, the most impressive part of his singing is in the second yodelling round where he hits some really low notes and jumps 47 ;) octaves into the high notes. Insane.
He wanted to show the other bands how proficient at everything he was without taking himself too seriously, other bands were making themselves such big deals back then, hence the weird shirts, the crazed look on his face and over the top vocals, whistling and yodleing. every musician in his band also were masters of their instruments. Great era of rock.
They had to keep the 6 minute song under 4 minutes for the TV show, so they decided to play the entire song in double time. The studio version is slower and smoother. Impressive they could play so quickly.
I remember that Thijs van Leer (the singer/organ/flautist) had a couple of albums of classical flute, called Introspection. For me it was chill out music in between rock albums when I was a teenager. That was a long time ago and I’ve no idea how it stands up as classical flute nowadays.
You already responded to "Focus - Hocus Pocus", but as a flautist, the song "Focus - House of the King" is much more interesting. In this piece of music Thijs van Leer plays the flute! It's also my favorite piece of Focus music.
the studio recording reigns supreme. it's on their Moving Waves release. Flautist Thijs Van Leer is classically trained and he has many fine (mainly classical) solo records. Well worth a listen. Guitarist Jan Akkerman was no slouch either. Focus is still around.
They are from Amsterdam and this is their appearance on Midnight Special. Awesome show!!! They were also on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Also, a great show!!
You should check out the solo career of Thijs van Leer (flautist of Focus). His 'Introspection' albums are a great starting point. It shows his classical foundation (he studied the flute at the Conservatorium of Geneva). Bach's 'Erbarme Dich' is one of my favorites, but all cuts are very enjoyable. Of course, also check out some other stuff he did with Focus, like House of the King, Love Remembered and Janis (and others).
If you are looking for flute ... Thijs van Leer (singer-organist-flutist) have made several albums with flute... The squeek sound was Jan Akkerman on guitar... Yep they're that good in timing
Thijs is such an evil genius/mad scientist it's prolly a bit frightening for you, Heline. But of all the videos people respond to, this is my favorite to watch.
You have to check out the studio version of this. Midnight Special made Focus squeeze a 7+ minute song into less than 4 minutes, ergo the speedy tempo of the song.
Late reaction I like your reaction a lot Just seen it In 1978 when I was stil a cop We recieved a call from him He had to perform in our city but was lost He drove in a mini cooper So we helped him to get on time for the concert He was a remarkele man I was already a fan from Focus so after the concert he invited us and gave us free tickets for there new concert as VIP's haha Something you will never forget., Great reaction from you Greetings from an Old Dutchman
Hi. Seeing the group play on TV, this is the "play fast to get the next group on the show" There are longer audio recordings, as well as their "Hamburger Concerto". (on the 45 record, there's a part with Mr Flute laughing, so it sounds more like Merlin doing his magic)
The song is about 8 minutes or so normally but the show they were on only had something like a 5 minute slot for them so they had to play it at a greatly sped up tempo.
Thijs van Leer is a Young 74 now and The Band Played at a Festival in Kent England last Saturday another wonderful return and as always were Fantastic - Rock on Focus
Here he is more recently ruclips.net/video/eYSBPiHwmQ0/видео.html - plus check out Introspection - I saw him live a few years ago in the UK, he played a beautiful piece of music on flute and it was the highlight of the night. Legend! Guitar-wise I enjoy playing that, live is much faster than pre-recorded version. Moving Waves is worth a listen too.
I swear there are two versions, there's a part that seems to be missing in this one where he repeats the first half of the yodel over and over until he basically runs out of breath
For some really good flute playing, check out an album called Flight of the Snow Goose by a band called Camel. The entire album is effectively one piece and one story, but it is broken into sections. You want to listen to about the first 10 minutes for some, as I say, really good flute action.
Wow...fun reaction! I happen to be old enough to have seen this episode of Midnight Special. Arguably it and Don Kirshners Rock Concert were were the two most important pop music shows of the era for musicians in that they had a "concert vibe" and really paved the way MTV. Not dissing Dick Clark or Soul train but if you were a wannabe rock star in the early seventies these were what you tried to sneak past your parents as they were late night shows. The lovely presenter was none other than Gladys Knight. She also performed of course. So did Earth Wind and Fire. BB King and Wolfman Jack. There were others that evening as well. The stunt musician is Thijs Van Leer. His father was a conservatory trained flautist and he in turn trained Thijs who showed great promise at an early age but then fell in love with jazz. As Johann Stamitz did at Manheim, Van Leer recruited an "Army of Generals" to form Focus. Amazingly they sprung from a show band... Jan Akkerman, guitarist, is widely considered by other virtuosi to be one of the most important and influential players of the seventies. He is certainly one of the least known outside of players circles. As a young teen he was awarded a five year scholarship at the Amsterdam Music Lyceum. He cites legendary classical guitarist Julian Bream as one of his greatest influences. In 1973 he won the Melody Maker Poll as "Best Guitarist in the World". Some guy named Eric Clapton took second... The story behind this performance is remarkable. Focus was informed at the last minute that they only had four minutes. As recorded, Hocus Pocus is seven minutes long. Could they edit it? Perhaps cut out a verse? Of course not... They just adapted and played it really fast. I have always loved the song...especially this version of course. These guys were serious musicians who demonstrated serious skills and yet managed not to take it too seriously. Don't mind the six string acoustic piccolo bass in the avatar..I am actually a classically trained bassist. Cheers!
I would also recommend House of the King from this Dutch group. Early the seventies you had a lot of bands experimenting to renew old classical aria's into rock versions. Some of them also with flute sessions mentioning Focus, Jethro Tull, and so on. Nowadays Ayreon for instance in the Netherlands is familiar with flute sessions in several songs with Arjan Lucassen as the projectleader of this band.
There is a 7 min. flute jam from 2019 with this man, Thijs Van Leer, and Rachel Flowers on her Y.Tube channel. She is a blind multi instrumentalist primarily known for being able to play difficult Emerson Lake And Palmer pieces on the keyboard. She plays one Keith Emerson piece that has parts where she plays flute with one hand and piano with the other.
The solo's of Akkerman are amazing. Thijs is clasical music man. Your reaction is like most. Some are blown away. Listen to "Sylvia" of this same band. You will deffinately be pleased.
I am just an armature musician, self-taught bass and guitar player who has played in countless bands over the last 30-35 yrs. in outdoor summer music festivals and venues in Canada. This was one of the songs I played as a young bass player in my early learning stage of my journey. I chose songs like this and Iron Maiden, Rush, etc. as they were technically more challenging and these are the times I learned to respect the talent and hard work it takes to get to the stages that these musicians are. I'm a little surprised at the lack of comment in this video for the musicianship this entire band displayed. Being a musician yourself I almost expected a respectful mention even though of course you were here for the flute part. I did enjoy your video though, I loved your expression during the "squeal" part of the flute part. He wasn't mouthing/voicing those sounds BTW, I've seen a flutist do it and it was sort of like a "harmonic" but on a wind instrument. He had to blow hard to create that sound... Peace from Canada... *: )*
"Happy Cause I'm Going Home" by Chicago is another; has an extended flute solo and the live version from the Carnegie Hall album is really good: ruclips.net/video/zDWHM-uMkps/видео.html
The flaute noise is for the eco return in microphone. Not enough time to cancel the volume. It happens something like the blues Harp when you are near.
Also back into seventeens there were some kind of rivarly between Focus and Jethro Tull, at least via media anyways, but Thijs playing flute is one kind of mark of that...
Given how much I love the “normal” speed version of this song, I actually hate that they were put in this position. BUT, the fact that they could pull it off is very impressive. Still not something I want to listen to, but impressive as heck!
They were given only a few minutes to play, but is was their own decision to do the whole song speeded up instead of playing only part of it in ormal speed, as many other bands in had done until then.
Heline, from the look of your reaction you weren't blown away by Thijs's flute playing, I suggest you give him another try. Have a listen to any of his 'Introspection' albums. There are also many examples of him playing just flute with an orchestra.
Jan Akkerman worked with Peter Banks original guitarist in Yes on Pete's Two Sides Of Peter Banks album, the guitarist here in Focus, Pierre Van Der Linden left Focus to join Rik Van Der Linden (not related) in Trace. Colin Allen drummer from Stone The Crows Scottish Rock Band joined Focus on Hamburger Concerto, interesting all the connections to Focus, I'm sure there is far more!!! 🙂 Trace second album had future Marillion drummer Ian Mosley replacing Pierre Van Der Linden, Ian worked with former co-founder of Curved Air Darryl Way in his group Wolf, then Ian appeared on some Renaissance songs in the 80s, the irony of all these connections!!!
The album track is a bit less of a manic speed. For this TV studio spot they didn't give them enough time for the performance, so, rather than cut anything, the band decided just to take the tempo up to fit the full arrangement in to there alotted time.
check out the 2002 hocus pocus thjis plays a flute solo at the begining that is awsome before they get into the main riff he does some incredible things with his voice the he does another flute solo this guy is a genius
A recent concert by Focus the organ player and drummer still going strong. Video starts with flute improvisation showing how to play flute with one hand and organ with the other. ruclips.net/video/cJpGIzp1PuI/видео.html Following Hocus Pocus a drum solo of eight minutes!
LOL! I can't get enough of watching first time reactions to this performance. How on Earth a session flautist can be unaware of Thijs is beyond me. If you were knocking around European studios, I don't know how you never came across the man in person! Also, van Leer has released at least two million-selling albums of classical flute you may want to ferret out. He's 73 this year, and i don't know what he's been up to for the past 10 or so years, but it may still be possible to catch a show, somewhere....
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Totoro!
This is an 8 minute song sped up to fit the 4 minutes the program allowed as they didn't want to cut anything. The actual studio version is still insane with the big difference being cleaner guitar riffs, and not seeing the singers facial expressions.
You may be slightly better at whistling than I.
Focus is a Dutch band with an extensive catalog. I mainly only know this song. So they hay have more flute based songs.
React to Revelation Song by Black Bonzo, 2007
Yodels, sings, screams, whistles, plays the flute with amazing dexterity and range. Genius.
Eh,Zappa!
The man was possessed! 😃
@@michelelaraia7358 Dutch Delight
@@gerritjanstelpstra8174 absolutely yes,saw them on Yt recently,I'll do the same now.Aangenahm/Pleasure/Piacere🇮🇹🖐️Yodel in South Tirol/Alto Adige/Ober Etsch too(Oberetsch)
He also "scats" in the second verse @ 2:30
I think the guitarist (Akkerman) was playing those squeaky sounds during the flute solo. - There are better 'flute songs' from Focus like "House of the King" and "Love remembered". The whole "Hamburger Concerto" is also worth of checking.
I thought I was the only person in the world who ever heard "Hamburger Concerto." What an amazing piece of work. When that came out there were other bands who were combining classical and rock styles together like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Yes. The big difference to me was they took it so seriously while Focus just seemed to be having fun.
@@jimvandemoter6961 Thijs Van Leer always said that Focus isn't prog because "Prog doesn't swing."
BUT all the same with Prog musicians he's regarded as a grand master of Prog.
Yes. It's Ackerman accompanying Van Lear's flute. Here's the studio version without the Ackerman accompanyment. Ackerman in particular seemed to benefit from the "extra" time allotted on the studio version --- he's ***shredding***. ruclips.net/video/MV0F_XiR48Q/видео.html
@@donaldpetersen3513 *Thijs van Leer and Jan Akkerman.
@@jimvandemoter6961 Not quite my friend Focus did it in 1970 and Yes, Emerson Like & Palmer started a little earlier. With respect to Focus, I really like their music :)
They had a limited time slot so they sped up the song to fit. Holland's finest band. Brilliant!
The lady who introduced them was Gladys Knight of Gladys Knight and the Pips.
amazing!
@Jerry Vdm Actually, I'm a Vice Procurement Officer !
One of the most underappreciated bands in history!
Wery sad, indeed
But still one of my favourite bands
By whom?
The band were told to do their 7min track in up to 3 mins for the show an hour before this is the result. The flute player has many classical albums out that are worth hearing.
The flute went back and forth with the guitar, amazing timing. Especially in the tempo they play.
I've never seen anyone watching this with a sad face. :) Can I just say what a god on that guitar, wow.
the Midnight Special was on late 11:30 -12:00 on saturdays. this was before MTV or any other music channel .there also was Don Kirchsner's Rock concert.
And don't forget ABC's 'In Concert' as well.
The squeak sound is actually Jan Akerman's guitar. what saddens me about all the reviews of this track is no one appreciate Jan The greatest guitar player ever. This Is played fast because they had a time limit on the performance
He plays the flute for real in many numbers on various albums. They do Classically-inspired numbers as well.
This is fun. The song (on the album) is actually 6 minutes 43 seconds long. The producers of the TV show wanted them to cut some time off the song to fit into the TV formula. Rather than remove a portion of their song, they played it REALLY fast and came in at around 4 minutes.
The song Focus done with the flute is called House of the King that's my favourite
that sound you heard was the guitar hitting those high notes
The whistling that complements the flute part is the guitar 😆. These Dutch people are funny guys😆
Extremely well timed. These guys are top notch
@@sportysp That call and response between flute and guitar was probably a spur of the moment decision.
I read somewhere that the guys never perform this piece the same way twice - it's always improv on a well-rehearsed theme. That, and the fact that they played it crazy fast to fit a 7 minute piece into the 4 minute timeslot the showrunner gave them, make this performance insanely impressive.
That's why Gladys Knight introduced them the way she did. These guys are TIGHT!
They said theyd play it faster, but then, not only did they play it WAY faster, they get faster each time around and ad lib and do extra stuff. They still did a 6:08 version, and the album version from 1971 was 6:45, but much slower. This is the shortened, edited version. The 6:08 version is out there, and many reactors have covered it, including vocal coaches such as TheCharismaticVoice and FairyVoiceMother, all of whom have an absolute field day with this.
I LOVE the guitar screams between the flute pitches. Amazing band.
This track is played at like 50% speed, the "original" was much slower. The TV shows time slot did not allow for an eight minute track, so Focus cranked the tempo, refusing to cut out the solos. Epic.
And yup.. I prefer the faster version.
Me too man. Such a great band. What you say, epic.
people who didn't grow up in the 70s really missed out. :-)
i used to hear this on the radio about 6 times a week when i was 15.
Me too! And I grew up in the outskirts of Norway with one radio station and one tv-channel (black and white until 1974) - funded by the government and too 'grown-up' to play commercial music for young people. The yodeling of Hocus Pocus I heard on Radio Luxembourg at nights and when I finally heard the single played on a descent stereo system a year or two later, I understood how limited radio on the medium range frequencies really was - but loved the song that much more. Classic.
Me, too! korean rock mania!
The "squeaks" you are referring to is the guitar player stretching his "b" string while playing a note on his high "e" string so the notes match. It's a technique used by many lead guitarists.
This is a 7minute version played in a 3minute time slot, the short version doesn't have the flute among other solos. So they played fast! The flute effect is him sucking air in over the mouthpiece or embouchure? instead of blowing air out over it.
Some tv show. Yes the Midnight Special was a great tv show that helped expose a young country boy to a variety of some of the best acts of the early 70's.
Hahaha. So funny to see your reaction when the flute and guitar battle it out.
"What is that sound?" Hehehe.
The tv show wanted them to edit the song to suit their format. they thought it was too long.
"No problem" thought the band, "We'll just play it twice as fast"!
And how did the audience react?
With a standing ovation!!
Playing it on 78 r.p.m. speed
I love watching people's reactions to bands like Focus. I was there. Manic. Fantastic. Wonderful. That was the 70s
They had a five minute song and three minutes to play it, so they increased the tempo and went for it. This is the fastest they played it, at least on video. Their album version is much clearer.
I don't think that's true.I saw them live about that time and they played at that tempo.
Just play it at 78 R.P.M. Speed.
They played it (split in two parts) on their "Live at the Rainbow" from 1973, and they did it that fast, but I think the first time they did it that way was at that TV show, and for the reason you just said. The studio song was a little shorter than 7 minutes, and the producers of the show told them they only had about 4 minutes, so they would have to shorten it. The band said "Hell, no ! We're going to play the whole song, but at double the speed !" Rock'n'Roll Attitude at its best !
Another funny anecdote : back in the eighties, while on vacations in Thailand, I bought a few cassettes for my walkman from a guy from the streets, and one of them was a "Best Of" the Sex Pistols, and imagine my surprise when I heard Focus's "Hocus Pocus" live version at the end of the tape !!! Hey, you can say that it was in fact some "proto-punk" !
It’s almost 8 minutes, they had to do it in 4, so they didn’t cut, but just speeded it up. Btw this is the best version to watch, the studio recording is the best to listen to.
@@ptr250 sorry, no. Listen to the original album--much slower. The show only gave them 4 minutes and they refused to cut their song, so they just (!) played it faster. The Mid. Special is a great video to watch, and a testament to how great they were as musicians that they could play at basically double speed, but the album version is the best to listen to.
the squeking was from the guitarist Jan Akkermans electric guitar
To me, the most impressive part of his singing is in the second yodelling round where he hits some really low notes and jumps 47 ;) octaves into the high notes. Insane.
Oh, this is the super fast version!!
He wanted to show the other bands how proficient at everything he was without taking himself too seriously, other bands were making themselves such big deals back then, hence the weird shirts, the crazed look on his face and over the top vocals, whistling and yodleing. every musician in his band also were masters of their instruments. Great era of rock.
They had to keep the 6 minute song under 4 minutes for the TV show, so they decided to play the entire song in double time. The studio version is slower and smoother. Impressive they could play so quickly.
I remember that Thijs van Leer (the singer/organ/flautist) had a couple of albums of classical flute, called Introspection. For me it was chill out music in between rock albums when I was a teenager. That was a long time ago and I’ve no idea how it stands up as classical flute nowadays.
You already responded to "Focus - Hocus Pocus", but as a flautist, the song "Focus - House of the King" is much more interesting. In this piece of music Thijs van Leer plays the flute! It's also my favorite piece of Focus music.
the strange noise, when he plays flute, is jan akkermann on guitar !
Such honest honesty is so refreshing.....
the studio recording reigns supreme. it's on their Moving Waves release. Flautist Thijs Van Leer is classically trained and he has many fine (mainly classical) solo records. Well worth a listen. Guitarist Jan Akkerman was no slouch either. Focus is still around.
They are from Amsterdam and this is their appearance on Midnight Special. Awesome show!!! They were also on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Also, a great show!!
He's not screaming during the flute pitching, it's the lead guitar wailing.
Hello from The Netherlands !!! 😍😍😍
You should check out the solo career of Thijs van Leer (flautist of Focus). His 'Introspection' albums are a great starting point. It shows his classical foundation (he studied the flute at the Conservatorium of Geneva). Bach's 'Erbarme Dich' is one of my favorites, but all cuts are very enjoyable. Of course, also check out some other stuff he did with Focus, like House of the King, Love Remembered and Janis (and others).
3 of them went through the conservatory, so they are classic performers. Not just some nitwits.
What most people dont know is that was Gladys Knight introducing the band here.
If you are looking for flute ... Thijs van Leer (singer-organist-flutist) have made several albums with flute... The squeek sound was Jan Akkerman on guitar... Yep they're that good in timing
Thijs is such an evil genius/mad scientist it's prolly a bit frightening for you, Heline. But of all the videos people respond to, this is my favorite to watch.
New to you - Dutch Legends, the greatest!
He was inhaling as fast as he can sucking air backwards through the flute
You have to check out the studio version of this. Midnight Special made Focus squeeze a 7+ minute song into less than 4 minutes, ergo the speedy tempo of the song.
"Was there a squeak in the background?"
The guitar. "Am I a joke to you?"
Late reaction I like your reaction a lot Just seen it In 1978 when I was stil a cop We recieved a call from him He had to perform in our city but was lost He drove in a mini cooper So we helped him to get on time for the concert He was a remarkele man I was already a fan from Focus so after the concert he invited us and gave us free tickets for there new concert as VIP's haha Something you will never forget., Great reaction from you Greetings from an Old Dutchman
Hi. Seeing the group play on TV, this is the "play fast to get the next group on the show"
There are longer audio recordings, as well as their "Hamburger Concerto".
(on the 45 record, there's a part with Mr Flute laughing, so it sounds more like Merlin doing his magic)
Focus are awesome 💥4:07 i think the screeched sounds along the flute are made by the guitarist ?!
The song is about 8 minutes or so normally but the show they were on only had something like a 5 minute slot for them so they had to play it at a greatly sped up tempo.
Thijs van Leer is a Young 74 now and The Band Played at a Festival in Kent England last Saturday another wonderful return and as always were Fantastic - Rock on Focus
Your singing is pretty Heline! I hope you include more of your singing in future compositions for us!
Here he is more recently ruclips.net/video/eYSBPiHwmQ0/видео.html - plus check out Introspection - I saw him live a few years ago in the UK, he played a beautiful piece of music on flute and it was the highlight of the night. Legend! Guitar-wise I enjoy playing that, live is much faster than pre-recorded version. Moving Waves is worth a listen too.
I swear there are two versions, there's a part that seems to be missing in this one where he repeats the first half of the yodel over and over until he basically runs out of breath
For some really good flute playing, check out an album called Flight of the Snow Goose by a band called Camel. The entire album is effectively one piece and one story, but it is broken into sections. You want to listen to about the first 10 minutes for some, as I say, really good flute action.
You are not going to believe this but there is a cow behind you.
That's udderly silly!
@@ijustgottasay1281 HA HA :)
Wow...fun reaction!
I happen to be old enough to have seen this episode of Midnight Special.
Arguably it and Don Kirshners Rock Concert were were the two most important pop music shows of the era for musicians in that they had a "concert vibe" and really paved the way MTV.
Not dissing Dick Clark or Soul train but if you were a wannabe rock star in the early seventies these were what you tried to sneak past your parents as they were late night shows.
The lovely presenter was none other than Gladys Knight. She also performed of course.
So did Earth Wind and Fire. BB King and Wolfman Jack. There were others that evening as well.
The stunt musician is Thijs Van Leer.
His father was a conservatory trained flautist and he in turn trained Thijs who showed great promise at an early age but then fell in love with jazz.
As Johann Stamitz did at Manheim, Van Leer recruited an "Army of Generals" to form Focus. Amazingly they sprung from a show band...
Jan Akkerman, guitarist, is widely considered by other virtuosi to be one of the most important and influential players of the seventies.
He is certainly one of the least known outside of players circles.
As a young teen he was awarded a five year scholarship at the Amsterdam Music Lyceum. He cites legendary classical guitarist Julian Bream as one of his greatest influences.
In 1973 he won the Melody Maker Poll as "Best Guitarist in the World".
Some guy named Eric Clapton took second...
The story behind this performance is remarkable. Focus was informed at the last minute that they only had four minutes. As recorded, Hocus Pocus is seven minutes long. Could they edit it? Perhaps cut out a verse?
Of course not...
They just adapted and played it really fast.
I have always loved the song...especially this version of course.
These guys were serious musicians who demonstrated serious skills and yet managed not to take it too seriously.
Don't mind the six string acoustic piccolo bass in the avatar..I am actually a classically trained bassist.
Cheers!
On a Hocus Pocus binge just to see poeple's jaws drop. Great!
I would also recommend House of the King from this Dutch group. Early the seventies you had a lot of bands experimenting to renew old classical aria's into rock versions. Some of them also with flute sessions mentioning Focus, Jethro Tull, and so on. Nowadays Ayreon for instance in the Netherlands is familiar with flute sessions in several songs with Arjan Lucassen as the projectleader of this band.
The weird noise alongside the flute was the guitarist. Check out House of the King, their flute based hit.
Jan Akkerman indeed!
That was Gladys Knight introducing them. It's a 7minute song reduced to 4 for the show.
There is a 7 min. flute jam from 2019 with this man, Thijs Van Leer, and Rachel Flowers on her Y.Tube channel. She is a blind multi instrumentalist primarily known for being able to play difficult Emerson Lake And Palmer pieces on the keyboard. She plays one Keith Emerson piece that has parts where she plays flute with one hand and piano with the other.
nothing better than reactions to this song lol
The solo's of Akkerman are amazing. Thijs is clasical music man. Your reaction is like most. Some are blown away. Listen to "Sylvia" of this same band. You will deffinately be pleased.
Without even starting yet I know this is going to be a great reaction :D
I am just an armature musician, self-taught bass and guitar player who has played in countless bands over the last 30-35 yrs. in outdoor summer music festivals and venues in Canada. This was one of the songs I played as a young bass player in my early learning stage of my journey. I chose songs like this and Iron Maiden, Rush, etc. as they were technically more challenging and these are the times I learned to respect the talent and hard work it takes to get to the stages that these musicians are. I'm a little surprised at the lack of comment in this video for the musicianship this entire band displayed. Being a musician yourself I almost expected a respectful mention even though of course you were here for the flute part. I did enjoy your video though, I loved your expression during the "squeal" part of the flute part. He wasn't mouthing/voicing those sounds BTW, I've seen a flutist do it and it was sort of like a "harmonic" but on a wind instrument. He had to blow hard to create that sound... Peace from Canada... *: )*
I play some flute. But the whistling and vocalizing was epic. Good arrangement, that took some practice.
Chicago's "Colour My World" is another popular pop/rock song that has a memorable, over a minute long, flute solo at the end.
"Happy Cause I'm Going Home" by Chicago is another; has an extended flute solo and the live version from the Carnegie Hall album is really good: ruclips.net/video/zDWHM-uMkps/видео.html
The flutist and jodler is Thijs van Leer. He playes the flute in the latest life concert by Ayreon: The electric castle live and other tales.
The flaute noise is for the eco return in microphone. Not enough time to cancel the volume. It happens something like the blues Harp when you are near.
Midnight Special was a musical show in the 1970's. They featured up and coming bands and established artists. Don Krishner produced these shows.
Good Tune. Puts alot of people on the head banging wagon! Ohhh Yurrrr!
Group: Heart. Song: 'Love Alive.' Flute solo: Annie Wilson.
I just thought it was so DIFFERENT from anything else.
Also back into seventeens there were some kind of rivarly between Focus and Jethro Tull, at least via media anyways, but Thijs playing flute is one kind of mark of that...
Love Focus, saw them First at a small rock club in Westcliff on Sea, Essex then at London's Rainbow Theatre in 1973
Mind blowing guitar solos!!
How about anything off of "songs from the wood" especially Solstice Bells
Given how much I love the “normal” speed version of this song, I actually hate that they were put in this position. BUT, the fact that they could pull it off is very impressive. Still not something I want to listen to, but impressive as heck!
They were given only a few minutes to play, but is was their own decision to do the whole song speeded up instead of playing only part of it in ormal speed, as many other bands in had done until then.
Heline, from the look of your reaction you weren't blown away by Thijs's flute playing, I suggest you give him another try. Have a listen to any of his 'Introspection' albums. There are also many examples of him playing just flute with an orchestra.
I wonder how many people did/tried a little whistle when that came up
You are so talented and very beautiful Heline!
Toto has a song called Hooked. Very interesting flute-parts.
Jan Akkerman worked with Peter Banks original guitarist in Yes on Pete's Two Sides Of Peter Banks album, the guitarist here in Focus, Pierre Van Der Linden left Focus to join Rik Van Der Linden (not related) in Trace. Colin Allen drummer from Stone The Crows Scottish Rock Band joined Focus on Hamburger Concerto, interesting all the connections to Focus, I'm sure there is far more!!! 🙂 Trace second album had future Marillion drummer Ian Mosley replacing Pierre Van Der Linden, Ian worked with former co-founder of Curved Air Darryl Way in his group Wolf, then Ian appeared on some Renaissance songs in the 80s, the irony of all these connections!!!
The album track is a bit less of a manic speed. For this TV studio spot they didn't give them enough time for the performance, so, rather than cut anything, the band decided just to take the tempo up to fit the full arrangement in to there alotted time.
I want this for my ringtone
Who knew that Gowron had a career in a 70s rock band before becoming leader of the Klingon High Council 😂
So I think you have a great show it's interesting to see a younger musician analyzing the music I've always listened to.
Great job
check out the 2002 hocus pocus thjis plays a flute solo at the begining that is awsome before they get into the main riff he does some incredible things with his voice the he does another flute solo this guy is a genius
This that bull in the china shop song..awesome!
I must say I find Heline absolutely lovely and gorgeus.
live in Cleveland where you'll here that song on WNCX twice a day at least.
Can confirm. It's a staple on that radio station.
A recent concert by Focus the organ player and drummer still going strong. Video starts with flute improvisation showing how to play flute with one hand and organ with the other. ruclips.net/video/cJpGIzp1PuI/видео.html Following Hocus Pocus a drum solo of eight minutes!
Check out the band Renaissance for flute parts in Prog Rock.
Focus. Fantastic.
I enjoyed your reaction video... and I love the Totoro shirt!
I loved seeing your facial expression on this one 😅
LOL! I can't get enough of watching first time reactions to this performance. How on Earth a session flautist can be unaware of Thijs is beyond me. If you were knocking around European studios, I don't know how you never came across the man in person! Also, van Leer has released at least two million-selling albums of classical flute you may want to ferret out. He's 73 this year, and i don't know what he's been up to for the past 10 or so years, but it may still be possible to catch a show, somewhere....