Cuby + Blizzards
Trippin' Thru' A Midnight Blues

Harry Muskee, aka "Cuby" (named after his neighbors' dog...), is the founder of this Dutch blues quintet originating from Grollo (now Grolloo, in Drenthe). His unmistakable warm voice, along with the inevitable harmonica, has made him the most famous bluesman in the Netherlands. Thanks to his great charisma, both as a leader and a musician, he managed to gain recognition even beyond national borders. After founding the Blizzards in 1966, under the name of Cuby + Blizzards, he started touring the Netherlands to promote their debut album "Desolation". The band quickly made it onto the music magazine Hitweek and was awarded an Edison at the Grand Gala du Disque. The successful debut thus guaranteed a springboard for Cuby + Blizzards, who toured as the opening act for the Spencer Davies Group in Germany.

In 1967, the lineup became "classic": a young man with incredible talent, Herman Brood, joined on piano, destined to become a virtuoso, sought-after, and acclaimed keyboardist in the years to come; on guitar, always the excellent Eelco Gelling, also an icon in his home country; on drums Dick Beekman and on bass Jaap van Eik. Together, an explosive and innovative lineup, albeit adhering to strictly classical standards.

Also in 1967, Cuby + Blizzards recorded the excellent "Groeten Uit Grollo", an album that would bring them success in Germany and Great Britain, with some echoes even reaching the United States. The UK tour in support of "Groeten Uit Grollo" led Cuby and his bandmates to forge a strong friendship with John Mayall, the renowned founder of the Bluesbreakers. It was Mayall who brought his dear friend, the famous bluesman Eddie Boyd, to Cuby's farmhouse, with whom Cuby + Blizzards would also record an album, "Praise the Blues".

In 1968, they recorded the album of the band's artistic maturity, "Trippin' Thru' A Midnight Blues". This album showcases all the band's mastery and the great experience forged live. It's nothing other than a classic blues LP, in the truest sense of the term. Pure 100% blues, therefore. Yet, it's surprising how captivating this excellent album is, reminiscent of the '60s and genre revival. It is certainly yet another demonstration of the variety of bands, genres, and music that even a small country like the Netherlands managed to generate during contemporary music's golden years.

With horns like in Checkin' On My Baby, with the slide like in Down The Road, or with the classic harmonica excellently played by Cuby in Feelin' Low Down, it is a fine example of quite upbeat blues, very different in this aspect from the previous "Groeten Uit Grollo", which focused more on slow pieces.Window Of My Eyes is based on Herman Brood's piano, as is the title track, while Eelco Gelling's guitar exploits are found in Going Home and Blue-Eyed Girl. Special commendation for The Sky Is Crying, also potent is the bassline of the closing track Feel So Bad.

"Trippin' Thru' A Midnight Blues" was so successful that Cuby + Blizzards came to the attention of Alexis Korner, with whom they later played live, as evidenced by the excellent "Live! At Düsseldorf". Then followed the slow but inexorable downward spiral: in 1969, they performed as an opening act for Fleetwood Mac, but keyboardist Herman Brood was forced to leave the tour midway because he was found in possession of drugs during a police raid backstage. Further lineup changes followed, and despite recording other excellent albums like "Appleknockers Flophouse", the band would see dissolution in 1977, not least due to tensions between the two founding members Eelco Gelling (who would join Golden Earring) and Harry "Cuby" Muskee. The latter embarked on an unfortunate solo career until reuniting the old band during the '90s.

Even today, Cuby + Blizzards play around the Netherlands. Cuby, now sixty-seven years old, aged, heavier, and a lover of excellent Dutch beer, doesn't seem willing to give up. Even today, he is driven to continue in the name of good old blues, the old-fashioned kind, perhaps a bit predictable, dated, overused, true, but surely the same blues that will never die.