Jerry Berkers

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Ger "Jerry" Berkers (born December 14, 1947 in Brunssum / Netherlands, † around 1988 there) was a guitarist, bassist and singer . From mid-1971 to the end of 1972 he was a member of the German rock group Wallenstein .

Life

Jerry Berkers started his professional career as a painter in his father's own business, later as a locksmith and decorator. He started playing guitar and bass as early as 1959. One of the first bands he played in was the Rocking Apaches from Zuid-Limburg . With the Luxembourg show group The Rainbows he undertook a tour in 1968/1969, which led first to Australia and later to Vietnam . There he was hired by an officer of the US Army to perform as a musician in the band Bobby Rivière And His Babysitters (drummer Bobby Rivière was the 10-year-old son of the band manager at the time) and at a topless show called Pussy Cat A Go Go to look after five Australian girls. The other members of the Rainbows had meanwhile returned to Europe prematurely after only one month in the troop support for GIs, appalled by the conditions there. Berkers himself spent a total of nine months in Vietnam. He then stayed with his fiancée , an Australian with Chinese roots, who he met in Vietnam for another six months , before returning to the Netherlands.

When the band Wallenstein was looking for a replacement for their first solo guitarist Wolfgang “Ginger” Steinicke in 1971 , their then roadie Corrado Faccioni found the American Bill Barone while searching for talent in London . A little later, Jerry Berkers - also as a guitarist - joined the band, but took over bass because of Barone. In addition, Berkers had some vocal parts on the first two albums Blitzkrieg (released in 1972 on Pilz ) and Mother Universe (also Pilz, 1972).

Through his appearances on the front in Vietnam, he came into contact with the cruelty of war as a young man. These experiences, which later came into his consciousness again and again, made him increasingly mentally ill. This was expressed, among other things, in confused actions in the band's everyday life, such as immersion for days. A collaboration with Wallenstein was soon no longer possible. In the fall of 1972, the band separated from Berkers. In the same year he published his solo album Unterwegs , which he had already recorded in June / July 1972 with Dieter Dierks in Stommeln near Cologne. In songs like Ich klage an or Promised Land , he processed his war experiences. From then on he only appeared solo.

However, his mental state deteriorated to the point that he was admitted to a psychiatric institution at the request of his parents. Around 1977/1978 there was a last contact with Harald Grosskopf . Jerry Berkers was found dead in a park in his native Brunssum around 1988. He reportedly died of a cocaine overdose.

Works

Go on mushroom 20 29131-6

Solo works

  • 1972 - Na na na chu chu chu / It will be over tomorrow , Pilz 05 19128-6 (single)
  • 1972 - On the way , mushroom 20 29131-6 (album)

Albums as bass player and singer with Wallenstein

  • 1972 - Blitzkrieg , Pilz 20 29064-6
  • 1972 - Mother Universe , Pilz 20 29113-8

Albums as a guest musician

  • 1972 - Witthüser & Westrupp , Bauer Plath , Pilz 20 29115-4 (bg, perc, choir)
  • 1973 - Sergius Golowin , Lord Krishna von Goloka , Cosmische Kuriere KK 58002 (el-g, g, bg, bgo, choir)
  • 1973 - Walter Wegmüller , Tarot , Cosmische Kuriere KK 2/58003 (bg)
  • 1974 - Cosmic Jokers , Sci-Fi Party , Cosmic Music KM 58011 (bg)
  • 1974 - Cosmic Jokers, Gilles Time Ship . Cosmic Music KM 58012 (bg, g)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “In Vietnam zie je hoe vuil de wereld is” , an interview with Ger Berkers in Het Vrije Volk , edition of October 30, 1969
  2. ↑ Website Harald Grosskopf: Band history Wallenstein . Retrieved December 2, 2008
  • Info in the record cover Rapunzel - New German Folk Music , published on Pilz 20 29116-2
  • Information on record cover Jerry Berkers - Unterwegs , published on Pilz 20 29131-6
  • Website Harald Grosskopf: Story by H. Grosskopf about Wallenstein . Retrieved November 9, 2008
  • Julien Cope: Krautrocksampler , Der Grüne Zweig 186, ISBN 3-925817-86-7

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Berkers, Jerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berkers, Ger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch musician
DATE OF BIRTH December 14, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Brunssum , Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH around 1988
Place of death Brunssum , Netherlands