Jan who? One might well ask that question these days. Akkerman was briefly voted best guitarist in the UK and was known then to every rock fan. Together with Thijs van Leer he fronted the Dutch group Focus who made a singular contribution to the progressive rock scene.
In the days of Radio Caroline, a pirate radio station transmitting from a ship in the North Sea, I tuned in one night with my new tape recorder primed for action. I managed to capture about half a minute of an amazing piece of music with the fastest, meanest guitar solo I had ever heard. This was the track that gave journalists the word 'blistering' to describe the crunching of thousands of notes into every bar of music. Through the static I heard what seemed an inhuman turn of speed to me then. It was one of those great moments of personal inspiration - it spurred me on in my guitar playing because I wanted to create music as exciting as that.
Some months later I was round at my friend John's house. His older sister was away and John borrowed some of her records for us to listen to on that rainy afternoon. It was then that I first heard Humble Pie's Rockin' the Fillmore that is reviewed elsewhere on this site. I also sat up in astonishment as John gently lowered the needle on a record that I immediately recognised as the song from which I had recorded the static-filled solo. The name, Hocus Pocus. You have to hear this strange piece of composition to appreciate it but it revolves around two musical figures: a storming guitar riff and a yodelling vocal line! I know it sounds weird but it works. The solo sections vary from the aforementioned guitar solo to flute solos and odd vocal outings. If I was spell-bound by Akkerman's playing, as the rest of the 'Moving Waves' album played through I became more and more impressed. Of special note is 'Focus Two' which is another showcase for Akkerman, at once tender and melodic, now jazz tinged, now piercing and heartrending soaring in the stratosphere.
Focus were to have a number one single hit with yet another instrumental track called Sylvia, Akkerman playing a beautiful melody over swelling Hammond organs. Like 'Focus Two', in some ways it was a European answer to those lilting tunes that Carlos Santana does so well.
If I remember correctly it was about this time that the Scandinavian guitar maker Hagstroom became briefly popular, fuelled largely by the success of Focus - continental Europe was cool., and the 'in' thing. Like Akkerman they too have faded from view almost as quickly as they appeared. I know he has continued to make solo albums since the demise of focus but I know nothing of them - perhaps I should investigate. He must have a good fan following still.