[home] THE SWALLOWS (Amsterdam) The Royal Rockers - Club PJS (near the Vondelpark, Amsterdam) l/r: Johnny Beck, Raymond Brugman, Ronny Neyndorff, Richard van Leeuwen, Ronny Scheffman In the beginning of 1960 the Indo band The Royal Rocker was active in Amsterdam. They played in the club PJS near the Vondelpark and the Paleis Terras in Amsterdam. The formation felt apart within one year when some group members had to serve their time in the army. Raymond Brugman and Ronny Neyndorff then founded The Swallows. With The Swallows they played a lot at the notorious red light quarter Zeedijk and specifically in the San Franciscobar, the Williamsbar and the Casablanca. In the Casablanca somewhere in November 1961 they got an invitation of the German booking agent Hoffman to play in Germany. He promised them a lot of money and Raymond and Ronny took the big step. Together with the guitarists Hendrik Burghardt, Frans Horn and drummer Peter Ax they started in the  Weindorf Club in Frankfurt. They had a lot to learn and especially Dolf de Vries of The Black Dynamites and Hans Bax of The Javalins helped them along further on their musical path. The Swallows - City Bar, Wiesbaden  (april 1962) l/r: Raymond Brugman (bas), Peter Ax, Hendrik Burghardt, Frans Horn, Ronny Neyndorff The Swallows - City Bar, Wiesbaden (april  1962) l/r: Hendrik Burghardt,  Ronny Neyndorff, Peter Ax,  Raymond Brugman, Frans Horn Ronny Neyndorff as 2nd. lead-guitarist of The Swallows (1962) The configuration changed regularly and in the autumn of 1963 Freddy en Harry Hooper (ex- The Black Jean Rollers) and Jimmy Pelt were found in the set up of The Swallows. The Swallows -Habanera, 1963, Dortmund The Swallows - Lito, Essen 1963. l/r: Freddy Hooper, Harry Hooper, Jimmy Pelt - below l/r: Ronny Neyndorff, Raymond Brugman After their departure drummer Peter Ax and Raymond Brugman started playing with The Golden Jaguars from Amsterdam. In the end Ronny Neyendorff rested alone and in the last configuration he went on with o.a. legendary Rotterdam Indo-Rock pioneer Oety Johannes and female vocalist Joyce Tielman (de ex-wife of Phonton Tielman). The Swallows were dismantled after Ronny moved to The Cherkees at the request Roy de Fretes. Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën bass player of The Golden Jaguars (aug.-nov. 1963) End 1963 the backing member of Peter Hulscher alias Bill Summa of the Golden Jagurs quited because of business problems and continued as The Swallows. They were guitarist Raymond Brugman (one of original founders in 1961), guitarist/pianist Nino Emile van der Sluys, drummer Peter Ax en bass player Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën. The ex group member Frans 'Padje' Horn was also asked for the new set up of the band. Ernst (Ernesto) van Heeckeren van Waliën arranged an excellent contract with Cologne’s  gastronome Hans Herbert Blatzheim (the stepfather of Romy Schneider) for appearance in his Tabu locations in Cologne and Bonn. On the 1st January 1964 The Swallows were back stage in Germany.  Alexus Harmanus deriving from Jimmy Ward & The Tropicals came as preplacement for Frans 'Padje' Horn to play along and Eddy Stolting sat behind the drum set for a year after Peter Ax had departed. Alex Harmanus returned to Jimmy Ward and The Swallows continued as a quartet. As last drummer came Bert Lichtenvoort. They now found the ideal combination and in this configuration and under the inspired leadership of bass Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën  they toured until the end of 1969 throughout Germany. l/r: Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën, Nino van der Sluijs, Raymond Brugman, Peter Ax, Frans Horn Ernesto the bandleader of The Swallows The Swallows (1964) - Tabu (Blatzheim), Keulen l/r: Raymond Brugman, Frans Horn, Peter Ax, Nino v.d. Sluijs, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën l/r:  Alex Harmanus, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën, Nino v.d. Sluijs, Raymond Brugman, Eddy Stolting Frans 'Padje' Horn In the pit - Kiesgrube, Schweinfurt l/r: Raymond Brugman, Alex Harmanus, Nino v.d. Sluijs, Eddy Stolting, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën l/r: Nino vd Sluijs, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën, Raymond Brugman, Eddy Stolting l/r: Raymond Brugman, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën (with 'do it yourself' 6-string FenderJazz Bass), Nino v.d. Sluijs l/r: Bert Lichtenvoort, Raymond Brugman, Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën, Nino v.d. Sluijs l/r: Raymond Brugman, Bert Lichtenvoort,  Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën, Nino v.d. Sluijs After the colapse of The Swallows Nino van der Sluijs first joined an English/Italian band and then he was asked to play keyboards in a new configuration of The Tielman Brothers. Nino Emile van der Sluijs has died in Kriens (Switserland) on June 22th, 2006 With thanks to Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën for the pictures and information Story and copyright: Piet Muys, April 2003 – update: February 2005 -  Translation: Cees Bakker THE ROYAL ROCKERS (Amsterdam 1960-1961) Raymond Brugman (guitar) -> The Swallows Ronny Neyndorff (guitar) -> The Swallows Johnny Beck Richard van Leeuwen Ronny Scheffman THE SWALLOWS (Amsterdam 1961-1962) Raymond Brugman (guitar, bass) ex- The Royal Rockers Ronny Neyndorff (guitar) ex- The Royal Rockers ? (guitar) ? (bass) ? (drums) THE SWALLOWS (Germany April 1962) Hendrik Burghardt (guitar) Ronny Neyndorff (guitar) Frans Horn (guitar) Raymond Brugman (bass guitar) Peter Ax (drums) -> The Golden Jaguars THE SWALLOWS (Germany 1963) Raymond Brugman (guitar) -> The Golden Jaguars Ronny Neyndorff (guitar) Alfred (Freddy) Hooper † (guitar) ex- The Black Jean Rollers Jimmy Pelt (bass guitar) -> The Rebels Harry Hooper † (drums) ex- The Black Jean Rollers) THE SWALLOWS (Germany 1963) Ronny Neyndorff (guitar) -> The Cherokees Oety Johannes (guitar) ex- Oety & his Real Rockers ? (bass guitar) ? (drums) Joyce Tielman (voc.) THE GOLDEN JAGUARS (Germany 1963) Nino van der Sluys (guitar, piano) Bill Suma ( = Peter Hulscher) (guitar) Peter Tönjes (guitar, voc.) ex- The Firebirds; -> The Restless Kids Rob Meesters (bass guitar) ex- The Corvairs; -> The Ebonies Peter Ax (drums) -> The Magnificents THE GOLDEN JAGUARS (Germany  Aug. 1963 - Nov. 1963 ) Raymond Brugman (guitar) ex- The Swallows; -> The Swallows Nino Emile van der Sluys (guitaar, piano) -> The Swallows Bill Suma (= Peter Hulscher (guitar, voc.) Ernst van Heeckeren van Waliën (bass guitar) ex- The Destroyers; -> The Swallows Peter Ax (drums) ex- The Magnificents; -> The Swallows THE SWALLOWS (Germany 1963-1966) Raymond Brugman (guitar) ex- The Golden Jaguars Nino Emile van der Sluys (guitar, piano) ex- The Golden Jaguars Frans (Padje) Horn (guitar) - Alexus Harmanus (guitar) ex- / -> Jimmy Ward & The Tropicals Ernst (Ernesto) van Heeckeren van Waliën (bass guitar) ex- The Golden Jaguars Peter Ax (drums) ex- The Golden Jaguars - Eddy Stolting (drums) THE SWALLOWS (Germany 1966-1969) Raymond Brugman (guitar) Nino Emile van der Sluys (guitar, piano) Ernst (Ernesto) van Heeckeren van Walien (bass guitar) Bert Lichtenvoort (drums) Live tape Café Meran, Bad Reichenhall, Feb. 1967 (CD-R   Peter Noever 2001) Carioca (instro), For You, Carol, Dear Mrs. Applebee, When I Don't Come Home, All Or Nothing, Dream, Goody Goody, Mohair Sam, Unchain My Heart, Patricia (instro) , My Minds Eye, Hi-Lili Hi-Lo, Warum Weinst Du Kleine Tamara, Let It Be Me, Send You Back To Walker, My Girl, A Girl Like You, Besame Mucho, Song Of The Coco, Pretty Flamingo, Here's A Heart [home]