Genre: rock
Rating: 5 stars *****
Title:  Irish Coffee
Company: Guerszen
Catalog: Gues5072
Year: 2008
Country/State: Aalst, Belgium
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: reissue with inner sleeve
Available: 1
Catalog ID: 6383
Price: $40.00

Ah, Irish Coffee - One of Belgium's most famous bands with a debut album that's a sought after collectable which, on those rare occasions an original copy comes on the market, garners some truly stratospheric prices ... yeap, those out-of-this-world prices are the reasons I own a legitimate reissue of the LP.

Irish Coffee was built around the talents of singer/guitarist William Souffreau. Starting as a teenager in the early 1960s, Soufrreau played in a string of Belgian rock bands including The Blue Jets, The Mings, The Four Rockets, and Demantia Preacox. 1966 saw him join keyboardist Paul Lambert and drummer Hugo Verhoye as members of Belgian singer Rocco Granata's backing band The Cardinal Show Quintet. When Verhoye was abruptly fired in 1969, the other two quit the band deciding to continue their partnership as The Voodoos (great name for a Flemish band). The initial band line-up featured singer/guitarist Dirk Dierickx, keyboardist Lambert, former Mings lead guitarist Romaine De Smet (quickly replaced by Jean Van Der Schueren), Souffreau, and Verhoye. By 1970 they'd begun to attract some attention via performances at Aalst El Gringo Club while scoring a mentor in the form of manager Louis de Vries (then managing acts such as The Pebbles and Middle of the Road. de Vries asked the group to try their hand at some original material and helped them score a contract with the small Belgian Pirate label, but not before unilaterally changing their name to Irish Coffee (another great name for a Belgian band). They subsequently recorded and released their debut single:


- 1971's 'Masterpiece' b/w 'The Show' (Pirate catalog number PI 71004)

The larger Triangle label promptly acquired rights to the single, re-issuing it throughout Europe where it became a minor hit:
- 1971's 'Masterpiece' b/w 'The Show' (Pirate catalog number PI 71004)

The single also saw limited American distribution via a deal with Parrot Records:
- 1971's 'Masterpiece' b/w 'The Show' (Parrot catalog number 45-356)


top left to right: Verhoye - Lambert
bottom left to right: Van Der Schueren - Souffreau - De Bisschop

The band's unexpected success saw Triangle management agree to release a supporting album - 1971's cleverly-titled "Irish Coffee". Produced by de Vries and reportedly completed in four days, the album featured eight Souffreau - Van Der Schueren originals which, in spite of somewhat lukewarm production, served to showcase the band's considerable talent. As lead singer Souffreau had a great blues-rock voice - to my ears he sounded a bit like a cross between the late Rory Gallagher and a mid-1970s British band like Deep Purple, or early Uriah Heep. The rest of the band were equally talented. De Bisschop and Verhoye made for a dynamic rhythm section that kept everything focused and moving forward, while Lambert displayed a surprisingly tasteful and subtle touch on keyboards. Even more impressive was 16 year old lead guitarist van der Schueren ... hard to believe he didn't attract more attention given his phenomenal performances on the album. Perhaps not the perfect comparison, but at least to my ears the Deep Purple comparison was actually a pretty good baseline. If you enjoyed early/mid-career Purple, then these guys were probably going to have some appeal to you.

- '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. rating: ***** stars
- 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. rating: **** stars
- 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. rating: **** stars
- 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)'.   rating: **** stars
- '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. rating: *** stars
- '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 ... rating: **** stars
- 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
- 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. rating: ***** stars

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 ... period. As mentioned earlier, the problem is that an original copy will set you back a minimum of $600 - $1,000. It's hard for me to justify that price for any album. You can find a host of reissues though most of the reissues are of doubtful legality (aka the 2002 Italian Arkama pressing). 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

The other option is finding the Guerszen issue which was done with cooperation from William Souffreau. The Guerszen package is features the original LP without any additional material

"Irish Coffee" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Can't Take It (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:05
2.) The Beginning of the End (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 6:18
3.) When Winter Comes (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:50
4.) The Show (Part 1) (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) -

(side 2)
1.) The Show (Part 2) (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 2:59
2.) Hear Me (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 3:58
3.) A Day Like Today (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 6:51
4.) I'm Lost (William Souffreau - Jean Van Der Schueren) - 4:32


With numerous personnel changes the band touring extensively in support of the collection, "Irish Coffee" sold several thousand copies in Belgium, but did little elsewhere. In spite of the lack of sales, the group continued to record sporadic singles over the next couple of years:



- 1971's 'Carry On' b/w 'Child' (Triangle catalog number BE 61574)
- 1972's 'Down Down Down' b/w 'I Am Alive' (Triangle catalog number BE 61766)
- 1974's 'The Witch' b/w 'I'm Hers' (Barclay catalog number )

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 with the survivors subsequently deciding to strike out under the moniker Joystick.

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.