Johnny and his Cellar Rockers was an instrumental group fronted by Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman when he was just 15 years old. Akkerman went on to form the group Focus and continues today with a successful solo career.
Johnny and his Cellar Rockers, formed in late 1960, were obviously influenced by the success of Britain's The Shadows, as were many Dutch instrumental groups of the period. The Cellar Rockers managed to get a recording contract with Phillips in 1961 and as their first single recorded Exodus, the movie theme that the piano duo of Ferrante and Teicher had a huge hit with in North America the previous year.
Exodus
Johnny and his Cellar Rockers continued until 1964, when the group morphed into another band, the Hunters.
Akkerman and flutist Thijs van Lier fronted the 1970s progressive rock band Focus, best known for its 1973 hit Hocus Pocus. Akkerman departed in 1976 to concentrate on his solo career.
In 2005, the Dutch Rock and Pop Institute issued a two-CD set, Johnny and his Cellar Rockers: The Complete Collection '61-'68. It also included recordings by the Hunters and Jan Akkerman's first solo album, which came out in 1968. The set is no longer available in any form, legally that is, although there are numerous sites of a more dubious nature where it can be obtained.
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