Going Pro

Going pro

I landed my first professional job, through a colleague of my father. His name is Piet van Schagen and he was a "semi pro" guitarist at that time. He also owned a music store called "Peter Johanzen" (which was his stage name), located in Alkmaar in the Netherlands, now sold, but run by his son for many years.

Piet as a young guitarist all the way to the right with the North Side A Quartet. Photo from 1964

Playing pro internationally

After serving in the Dutch military, I played in international dance bands in France, Germany, Switzerland and of course my native Netherlands.

I played a lot on US Air Force Bases in France and Germany, mostly in Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) clubs, with a group called the Atlanta Sextet, led by Fred Schmidt.

One evening the show artists were The Four Freshmen . Having always being fond of "close harmony", this evening turned me into a live-time fan. In their case the word "close harmony" is not technical correct, as they also use open (wide spread) chords. Their guitar player (Bill Comstock) asked to borrow my Gibson guitar amp.

Read more here and scroll down to The Four Freshmen sound.

Then I came to Norway with another German band in 1965 and stayed on.

The Four Freshmen then