Herman George van Loenhout (10 April 1946 – 19 November 2015), better known as Armand, was a Dutch

protest singer A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

. His most famous song is "Ben ik te min" ("Am I not good enough?"). Armand came to the forefront during the

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

generation and was well known as an advocate of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

Biography

His influences were

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Peter Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

. He started his musical career in the bands Splendour Boys, Shannon Boys and Les Gilets. He launched his first solo-record in 1965. "En nou ik" which flopped. His second single "En een van hen ben ik" made it to the "Tipparade". Then 3 months later, the B side ("Ben ik te min") began playing on the radio and became a national hit. Armands first album was released in 1967 and it stayed in the Dutch Top 40's for 14 weeks. In that same year the single "Blommenkinders" came out. This brought him in the Top40's, reaching number 19. From here on, the record label Philips refused to release "Lijpe Harrie", from where on Armand decided to write the debut song for Lenny Kuhr ("Laat maar schrijven"). Ten years later Armand released "Lijpe Harrie" after all. Because Armand was a great advocate of legalizing soft drugs and Philips declined to publish lyrics about that subject, he transferred in 1970 to Telstar Records (then owned by Dutch singer Johnny Hoes). On the label Kilroy he released six albums in the period of 1971 to 1981. The albums contained many socially concerned lyrics, most of them inspired by the hippie ideology of the late 1960s. In 1990 he broke with the majors to give himself more artistic freedom. In 1994 he released "One of Eur Kind", which was only for sale at his gigs. In 1996 he celebrated his 50th birthday by releasing the compilation ''50 jaar Armand''. The album ''A Tribute to Armand/50 years'' followed. On 14 December 2011, Armand was the first Dutch hippie artist to participate in the TV show hosted by Ali B called ''Op Volle Toeren''. He recorded his own version of the song "Straattaal", originated by rapper Nina, who-in turn-recorded her version of Armand's song "Ben ik te min". In 2012, Armand began a collaboration with singer-songwriter Lucky Fonz III and Dave von Raven (singer for The Kik), both fans of his, and in June 2015 Armand & The Kik released an album with adaptations of Armand's lesser-known songs, followed by a Dutch tour. Armand died in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

, at the age of 69.Armand, Our Legendary Dutch Singer Friend has Died
Savingiceland.org

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armand Dutch folk singers Dutch rock singers Dutch male guitarists 1946 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch male singers 21st-century Dutch singers Dutch cannabis activists Dutch male singer-songwriters Hippies Musicians from Eindhoven 20th-century guitarists 21st-century guitarists