Biography
Wally Tax ranked among Holland's most celebrated rock & roll figures of the 1960s and 1970s. He first gained recognition as frontman for the Outsiders before carving out an independent path as a performer and composer. Born Wladimir Tax in Amsterdam on February 14, 1948, he grew up with a Dutch father and a Romany mother of Russian heritage. Tax asserted that American soldiers posted in Amsterdam had taught him English while he helped them meet women. When rock & roll first reached the Netherlands in the late 1950s, he became an instant enthusiast and taught himself guitar and harmonica. After Buddy Holly's death in early 1959, Tax described a dream in which he pictured himself forming a band that would channel Holly's spirit and continue his work. In 1960, at age twelve, Tax and guitarist Ronnie Splinter established Jimmy Revon & the Outsiders. The group became the Outsiders by 1964 and made its recording debut the following year. During the mid-1960s the Outsiders stood out as one of Holland's most popular and inventive rock & roll acts, blending rock, R&B, pop, and folk-rock while earning a reputation for wildly energetic live shows and a run of hit records. At the peak of the Outsiders' success in 1967, Tax began a solo career and released the album Love-In a year before the group issued C.Q., later viewed as its masterpiece. Although C.Q. eventually attained classic status, its initial sales proved disappointing, and the Outsiders disbanded in 1969. Tax immediately formed Tax Free with Outsiders drummer Lendert Busch; the band traveled to New York City to cut its debut album, during which Tax claimed Jimi Hendrix and Tim Hardin dropped in for jam sessions. The resulting Tax Free album, featuring both Dutch and American musicians, enjoyed little commercial success outside the Netherlands and the group soon split. Throughout the 1970s Tax pursued solo work by joining existing bands such as Bamboulee, Watermen, and the Mustangs rather than assembling a new one. He scored several hit singles in that decade, yet his career faltered by its end as alcohol addiction grew and unpaid taxes accumulated because of poor financial oversight. In the 1980s Tax shifted focus to songwriting and supplied hits for Dutch artists including Champagne and Lee Towers, though the 1984 death of his longtime girlfriend Laurie Langenbach struck him hard. In 1987 he performed with American garage rock band The Lyres at a Dutch concert taped for VPRO Radio, and the track "Touch" from that show later appeared on the album A Promise Is A Promise; the Outsiders also mounted a successful reunion tour in 1997. Otherwise Tax remained largely out of the public eye during the 1980s and 1990s while continuing to battle his drinking problem. He died on April 10, 2005, after which friends and admirers organized two benefit concerts to settle his debts and cover funeral costs, an effort that revived Dutch audiences' awareness of the breadth of his musical legacy.
Albums
