Wout Steenhuis

Found this today in a charity shop for a few pence. I remember Wout in the 60's guesting on radio shows like "Saturday Club" and "Forces favourites". It's a bit too MOR for me but I know a lot of people love this sort of thing. He's still going strong apparently and recently featured on the Cannon & Ball website -

"Wout hails from Holland but settled in England shortly after the war. In his native country he was already known as the guitarist of the famous Orchestra of the Dutch Swing College (still going strong today). At the end of the war his Dutch Resistance activities caught up with him and a serious shot wound could well have ended his career. But, thanks to treatment in a British Army hospital, his arm was saved and he could play his guitar again,

His early reputation was as a solo Jazz, Ballad and Hawaiian guitarist, but in addition his claim to fame now are his multi-track performances. Shades of Les Paul, maybe, but there is one vital difference: Wout sings and plays everything himself, using a choir of his own voices, guitars, Hawaiian guitar, drums, bass, electric and acoustic pianos, organ, ukelele, and latin-american rhythm instruments, all recorded in his own stereo studios. A one-man orchestra and choir is the end product.

From the stage/cabaret floor Wout controls the playing of backing tapes which contain his own pre-recorded orchestral and vocal accompaniments. At the same time, live through his own mixer/amplifier/mike equipment he adds the melody lines on guitar, Hawaiian guitar and vocals. It is not just a gimmick, but an impressive live performance in which he reproduces the sounds and songs audiences know so well from his records and broadcasts. AND: he is self-contained - needs no backing, bandcalls or p.a.

His material ranges from top-twenty songs to ballads and Hawaiian (Wout's speciality) and includes vocals, not just in English but where required in French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Hawaiian and Maori. His easy-going chat and amusing stories linking his songs and his sounds deserve special mention. Altogether a style which particularly suits "middle of the road" audiences in theatres and clubs."

You can find the whole album at Rapidshare HERE.