Monday, November 15, 2021

Irish Coffee - Irish Coffee 1971 (Reissue 2007)


IRISH COFFEE officially started in 1970, originating from another band called "The VOODOOS". In the beginning they played only covers from British & American bands, such as DEEP PURPLE, LED ZEPPELIN, The WHO, The KINKS etc... This band from Belgium, is killer hardrock with seering leads and really strong vocals, well composed songs. Irish Coffee played unremarkable bluesy hard rock on this rare 1971 LP.
                                                           

Originated from another band called "The Voodoos". See also Sandy And The Voodoos. This heavy band made the region of Aalst unsafe in the early sixties with American rock'n'roll. They also played covers of Cliff Richard & The Shadows, later on also covers of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones". Member Dirk Dierickx recalls "the foreign offering were so good at that time we hardly ever thought of writing our own stuff".
After "The Voodoos", only to form Irish Coffee in 1970 with composer William Souffreau. As "Wit-Lof from Belgium" acknowledges "one of the best hard-rock groups Belgium had and has had ever since".
                                                                    

This is a very rare and practically unknown band from Belgium. One of the best progressive hard rock albums of all times! All songs are killers! Great!

The bonus cuts are a mixture with regard to quality, being singles A/Bs. The quality of the material is mostly impressive. This is how a prog hard rock album should be made. They wrote and recorded a single album of their own music. IRISH COFFEE did a lot of live-gigs those days and were a support-act for bands like: FOCUS, Dr. FEELGOOD, YES, and many others. Unfortunately the band band splitted-up in 1975. But now the vocalist, guitarist and drummer have re-banded with a new organist and bassist and are touring in 2002-2003 playing their old stuff.
                                                                         

Original Members: William Souffreau (lead vocals and guitar), Jean Van Der Schueren (lead guitar), Hugo Verhoye (drums), Willy De Bisschop (bass), Paul Lambert (+1975) (organ).
Later with: Luc De Clus (guitar), Raf Lenssens (drums).
Actual: William Souffreau (lead vocals and guitar), Bruno Beeckmans (drums), Eric Goetvinck (bass), Frank Van Laethem (guitar) and Johan Ancaer (guitar).
                                                                

It all started in the late 60's, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Aalst (Belgium). On a stage in one or another bar a band was playing the house down. This band had the name "The Voodoos". Coincidently a member of The Pebbles (a well known Belgian rock-band) heard them playin' and brought the band in

contact with The Pebbles manager Louis De Vries of Brain Trust Music. Louis contracted the band and they recorded their first single Irish Coffee - Masterpiece / The Show. Meanwhile the band had to change its name, because somewhere a group with the name The Voodoos existed already. So Irish Coffee was born. In January 1971 Louis de Vries took the single with him at MIDEM Music Festival (International fair of record and musicpublishers) in Cannes (France). Brain Trust Music had two stands overthere but they had only personnel for one stand, so on the stand without personnel a tape-recorder was playing the Irish Coffee single.
                                                                     

A representative from an American record company Parrot listened a few times to the single and another contract was signed. The single "Masterpiece" became a hit in several European countries. The American record company Parrot wanted an album as quickly as possible. In four days time only the

first album Irish Coffee  - Irish Coffee was recorded. In spite of the fact that everything had to be arranged in such a short time the album contains some songs of a great quality. Songs like "A Day Like Today" and "The Beginning Of The End" are timeless. Some 3000 copies of the album were sold (quite a lot for a Belgium group). Through the years the album Irish Coffee - Irish Coffee became one of the most collected Belgium albums. Back in time now, bad luck for the boys of Irish Coffee.
                                                        

The American record company failed and this meant the end of an American Dream. Irish Coffee recorded three more singles, Irish Coffee - Carry On / Child, Irish Coffee - Down Down Down / I'm Alive, Irish Coffee - Witchy Lady / I'm Her's but none of these sold as well as the first one. This does not mean that they were less important. A "masterpiece", a few singles and an album later, the group disbanded through several circumstances in 1974. The largest part of the band goes to play in the backing band for Wim De Craene named Brussel. (See also Wim De Craene - Brussel).
                                                     

Sadly returning from a November 1974 show backing Belgian singer Wim De Craene, keyboardist Lambert was killed when a drunk driver slammed into the band's van. Drummer Lenssens was

also seriously injured, while the other band members were shaken up. The accident essentially spelled the end of Irish Coffee.
They briefly reformed some time later in 1976 under the name "Joystick". A band with William Souffreau, Raf Lenssens, Willy De Bisschop, a fine horn section and great musicians like Antony Boast. They are support-act for Motörhead among others. Joystick never makes an album, but today you can find a few of their songs on Irish Coffee - Irish Coffee.
                                              

Over the next two decades most of the band members remained active on the Belgian music scene. In November 1993 De Clus, Verhoye, and Souffreau (along with bassist Geert Maesschalk and keyboardist Chris Taerwe), reunited for a one-shot concert. Nine years later the same line-up regrouped

for a couple of Belgian concerts and then began playing occasional club and festival dates.
The band also had a great live reputation and was invited to play as support-act for bands such as 'Focus', 'Uriah Heep', 'Dr. Feelgood', 'Golden Earring' and many others. The band broke up in 1975 but reformed in 2002 with a new organist and bassist.
William Souffreau is still active in the music business. He still play concerts as Irish Coffee IV

"IRISH COFEE" TRACK LISTING:

(side 1)
                                                       

1.) Can't Take It (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:05
'Can't Take It' opened up with some stunning Van Der Schueren fuzz guitar (hard to believe he was only sixteen at the time) and got even better when Souffreau's growling voice kicked in. A killer slice of driving hard rock, this one was every bit as good as anything better known American and English competitors had on the streets. In fact, unless you knew these guys were Belgian, you'd have never guessed their nationality. As mentioned above, for some reason Souffreau's vocal's always reminded me a bit of the late Rory Gallagher. Amazing way to start an album.

2.) The Beginning of the End (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 6:18
Opening up with some nice Procol Harum-styled organ from Lambert, 'The Beginning of the End' was a slow, blues-rock number with a fantastic bitterly dark melody and another winning performance from Souffreau. Elsewhere van der Schueren turned in one of his most impressive solos, though for some reason the mix saw it relegated to the left channel.
   
3.) When Winter Comes (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:50
Yeah, the spoken word intro was a bit on the pretentous side, but when an der Schueren kicked into action the mid-tempo ballad 'When Winter Comes' took off with a vengence. Kudos to De Bisschop for providing a killer bass line throughout the song.  

4.) The Show (Part 1) (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) -
So who would have thought a Belgian rock band would be able to pull off a funky rocker? Not me, but then that was before I heard 'The Show (Part 1)'.

(side 2)

                                               


1.) The Show (Part 2) (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 2:59
'The Show (Part 2)' found the band taking aim at heavy metal. The results were credible, but to my ears Souffreau sounded like he was simply trying too hard. That said, the rest of the band were top notch with kudos to drummer Verhoye and once again guitarist van der Schueren.   

2.) Hear Me (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 3:58
'Hear Me' found the band adding a touch of jazz-rock fusion to their patented metal sound. At least on the surface that wouldn't have sounded all that promising, but the results were actually great with Lambert turning in a Hammond solo that would have made Rod Argent proud. van der Schueren freakout guitar had to be heard ...  

3.) A Day Like Today (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 6:51
An atypical ballad, 'A Day Like Today' initially didn't do a great deal for me, however Souffreau's tortured and impassioned vocal and van der Schueren solo eventually won me over. rating: **** stars.

4.) I'm Lost (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:32
With one of the set's most memorable melodies, a fantastic yearning vocal from Souffreau and another killer guitar from van der Schueren this was another winning performance.   

So here's a real rarity - namely an album that not only lives up to the hype surrounding it, but actually exceeds that hype. Not only is this the best 1970s album to come out of Belgium, but it's one of the best 1970s albums I've ever heard. As mentioned earlier, the problem is that an original copy will set you back a minimum of $600 - $1,000. That leaves you with the band's 1992 self-released CD-format collection on their Voodoo label (catalog number ). The Voodoo package (1,500 copies were pressed), included seven tracks not found on the original LP (mostly non-LP singles):

1.) Carry On
2.) Child
3.) Down Down Down
4.) I'm Alive
5.) Witchy Lady
6.) I'm Hers



Irish Coffee  – Irish Coffee
Label: Thors Hammer – THCD 003
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Stereo 2007
Country: Germany
Released: 1971
Genre:    Rock
Style:    Hard Rock, Prog Rock


TRACKS

  



01. Can't Take It    4:05
02. The Beginning Or The End    6:18
03. When Winter Comes    4:50
04. The Show (Part 1)    2:51
05. The Show (Part 2)    2:59
06. Hear Me    3:58
07. A Day Like Today    6:51
08. I'm Lost    4:32

BONUS TRACKS
    
09. Masterpiece    3:04
10. Carry On    3:10
11. Child    3:40
12. Down Down Down    2:59
13. I'm Alive    4:11
14. Witchy Lady    2:55
15. I'm Hers    4:40

MP3 @ 320 Size: 145 MB
FLAC  Size: 378 MB

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