Rare Groove enthusiasts worldwide will welcome the first ever vinyl release of this essential Casey & The Pressure Group compilation, sometimes referred to as the Dutch equivalent of Booker T & the MG’s. A selection of tracks from the albums The Beast And I (1967), Powerhouse (1970), Lazybones (1970) and Memphis Revisited (1972) are featured here on 180 gram vinyl, including a download code.

Casey’s influence on Dutch Pop music history cannot be underestimated, having featured on 2800 (!) recordings. Organist and keyboardist Cees Schrama rose to fame in the late Sixties as a session man for various Dutch international stars like Shocking Blue (that’s his catchy piano-lick on the 1970 U.S. chart topper “Venus”), he played keys on several early Golden Earring tracks as well as Mouth & MacNeal’s “How Do You Do”, which reached the American top ten in 1972. The renowned Nederbeat movement, with acts like The Shoes, The Haigs, Sandy Coast, Earth & Fire and many others (check out the Dutch Rare Masters compilation on a double 10″ [MOV10010]) all used Schrama as a session man.

He was also doing his own thing with his combo Casey & The Pressure Group. On his first solo-album The Beast And I (1967) he was billed as Crazy Casey, with The Golden Earrings as his session men. After many years in the Pop music business he slowly but surely managed to return to his first and greatest love: Jazz music! Dutch broadcasting company VARA asked Schrama to assemble a hip and swinging orchestra. Schrama came up with Casey & The Funky Eight, including the horns that also played on his Powerhouse (1970) album. Schrama also became the host of music RTV programme TROS Sesjun for 32 years, the longest running live Jazz show in the world!