Hans Waterman has been playing drums since he was fourteen, and starts an impressive career in music.
He starts in Groningen with Danny and the Apachies, Danny and the Jaguars, in between a short while in Mistery 5, very briefly in The Four Just Men and then with The René Five.
His talent is noticed and from 1966 he plays in the emerging Drenthe R&B band Cuby and The Blizzards. Well-known graffiti texts on the walls of Groningen in those years read: C+B+H2O=R&B (Cuby and The Blizzards + Waterman = R&B). With Cuby and The Blizzards he plays together with celebrities such as Van Morisson, John Mayall and Alexis Korner.
In 1968 he exchanges the by then nationally famous Cuby and the Blizzards for the unknown Groningen band The Keys, where he succeeds Gijs Jan Loot. That same year, The Keys changed their name to Soulution (later Solution). Solution was successful at home and abroad and many albums were recorded, produced by cracks such as Gus Dudgeon (producer of Elton John) and Jim Capaldi (drummer of Traffic). Hans would continue to drum with Solution until the very last concert in 1983.
From 1983 to 1986, Waterman played as a session musician and worked with Jan Akkerman, Peter Schneider, The House Band, JP den Tex, Whitesnake’s Ad van den Berg, Innersleeve, Ronald Abrams, Herman Brood’s Wild Romance, Link Wray, Kaz Lux, Woody and the Sidemen, Cindy Peress, Jan Rijbroek’s The Loner and Narrow Escape. A highlight of that time for Hans was the duo with the American blues & boogie pianist Al Copley, formerly a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Roomful of Blues. In 1992 he toured with the band Amsterdam School as the support act for Crowded House. With Dick Taylor (co-founder of the Rolling Stones) and Phil May he played for seven years in the legendary English band The Pretty Things, until he left in 1994.
In the meantime Hans obtained his teaching qualification as a band coach/workshop leader at the Rotterdam Conservatory.
In the late eighties Waterman started writing in addition to drumming. As a lyricist and freelance copywriter he worked under the name Rhythm&Writing. From 1995 he was editor of the magazine Music Maker and in 2001 he made his debut as a writer with the book Drumsolo – 35 jaar te laat naar bed.
From 2004 he played drums in the old Hague sixties band Rene and the Alligators. He also stood in for the drummer of Brainbox when necessary and played with the Groningen blues band Left Hand Freddy & the Aces. In July 2020, a reprint of the book Drumsolo by Hans Waterman, former drummer with Cuby & the Blizzards, will be presented at café-restaurant Hofsteenge in Grolloo. Waterman’s memories were previously published in 2001, with a reprint in 2002. After that, the book acquired cult status and can only be purchased as an expensive collector’s item.
The reprint (hard and soft cover) includes an epilogue about the period 2001-2020. The photos have also been added.
In the meantime, Hans continues to play quietly with Left Hand Freddy, as during the presentation.
Hans Waterman will stop drumming in May 2022. His very last beats will sound through Spijkerboor on Sunday, May 8, 2022. He suffers from tinnitus and quits. ‘Pop music is a thing of the past for me’. The born Stadjer not only quits as a drummer for Lefthand Freddy (his current band), but is also hanging up his drumsticks after a rock-‘n-roll life of almost sixty years. Out of necessity.
“It’s been nice,” Waterman (73) admits. “Almost 50 years ago, I suffered hearing damage during a performance at Bellevue in Assen. When I’m at home now, I have to understand the television over that dike of noise and beeping. That’s the main reason I’m quitting. Look, I’m not really deaf, but I don’t want it to get that far either. You notice a slow breakdown of your capacities as a result.” Source: Dv/hN of 5-5-2022
