Harry Muskee

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Harry Muskee was born in Assen in 1941, in the middle of the war. His father had been taken to Germany as a prisoner of war, and Harry did not see him until he was four. His mother had multiple sclerosis, and his father, a fire chief, was often away from home. As a result he was cared for mainly by his grandmother. He had guitar lessons at fifteen, and at school he fell under the spell of jazz and Dixieland. With the brothers Henk and Jaap Hilbrandie he played at school parties in Assen.

Music and breakthrough

Via the station American Forces Network, meant for American soldiers in Germany, Muskee first heard the blues. When he found a record by John Lee Hooker, recorded live at the Newport festival, he knew that he wanted to make this music. With guitarist Eelco Gelling he founded Cuby + Blizzards. The debut album Desolation won an Edison, and Appleknockers Flophouse (1969) is regarded as a high point of Dutch blues. After the group broke up in 1972 he played in Red White 'n Blue and the Muskee Gang, among others, and later toured for years again as Cuby + Blizzards, with guitarist Erwin Java.

Influence

Muskee sang the blues in English, but from the Drenthe countryside. He stayed true to the music and made a journey through the American South for Radio Drenthe, in search of the roots of the blues. A bust of him stands in Grolloo. He died in 2011.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 1991Cut De Luxe

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 11: Nederpop^NL Reader