Once I had the honour of speaking to Ramses very briefly. That was after a broadcast of Sonja Barend at the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam. I think it was in 1992 but I’m not entirely sure. Ramses performed there together with Huub van der Lubbe from De Dijk and I was there very briefly. We walked down the stairs together and I took the chance to have a quick chat. What a nice man!
Ramses Shaffy
Ramses Shaffy (Neuilly-sur-Seine, 29 August 1933 – Amsterdam, 1 December 2009) was a Dutch chansonnier and actor. After a career as an actor with the Nederlandse Comedie, Shaffy made a name for himself as a singer from the 1960s onwards. Songs like Sammy, We zullen doorgaan, Pastorale, Laat me, Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder and Shaffy cantate from the 1960s and 1970s became classics.
Ramses Shaffy (nickname Didi) was born in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, son of the Egyptian consul Ramsès Shaffy Bey and the Polish countess Alexandra de Wysocka of Russian descent. He spent the first seven years of his life in Cannes with his mother. When she contracted tuberculosis, Shaffy – via an aunt in Utrecht and a children’s home in Zeist – ended up in the foster family of Roos and Herman Snellen in Leiden, where he grew up as Didi Snellen.
He did not finish secondary school and was admitted to the Amsterdam theatre school in 1952. He then made his debut in 1955 with the Nederlandse Comedie. In 1960, he travelled with his partner Joop Admiraal to Rome hoping to find work as a film actor, but they returned empty-handed. The letters to their mutual friend Shireen Strooker were collected in 2004 in Brieven uit Rome. In 1961, Shaffy played the role of Mr Darcy in the TV series 'De vier dochters Bennet', based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. In 1964, he founded the theatre group Shaffy Chantant. In this programme, alongside pianist Polo de Haas, Loesje Hamel and various guests such as Joop Admiraal, singer Liesbeth List also performed, with whom he would collaborate extensively. Polo de Haas was later replaced by pianist Louis van Dijk. The group’s best-known song became the Shaffy Cantate. Afterwards, Shaffy and List toured the country with the trio Louis van Dijk. During that period, Shaffy had his biggest hit: Sammy, for which he received a gold single in 1967 from Mies Bouwman. In 1968, a second programme followed: Shaffy Chantant again with Liesbeth List and among others Thijs van Leer (to whom the song Jij bent nu daarbinnen is dedicated) and Marjol Flore.
On 5 May 2009, it was announced that Shaffy was suffering from oesophageal cancer, from which he died on 1 December. He was buried at Zorgvlied on 8 December 2009. His grave is located at the little square Bouwmeester, just under a young tree. During his funeral, this tree was decorated with red roses and white ribbons, each bearing a word from the text: Zing, vecht, huil, bid, lach, werk en bewonder. Niet zonder ons.
Top 2000
In the 23rd edition of the Top 2000, Ramses appears with the following entries:
Sunday Morning Classic: Dag En Nacht
On 20 February 2020, Ramses was our guest as Sunday Morning Classic with his album 'Dag En Nacht'.
Dag en nacht is already the sixth studio album by Ramses and was released in 1978. It contains the hit ‘Laat me’ which still shines high in the Top 2000. The song appears twice in the Top 2000. It was also released once more together with Alderliefste and Liesbeth List.
It is a typical Ramses Shaffy record again. Highlights alternate with lesser moments, although this is the Shaffy record with the most and best big hits. 'Laat Me,' 'Dag en Nacht,' 'Ik Drink,' 'Zo Triest' and 'Laten We Samen Zijn Vanacht' are among the best songs in Shaffy’s oeuvre and Ramsebams is also very nice.
The song ‘Espresso’ is a masterful 1970s song with a female choir as well. However, the song is disparaged by many people.
“I will die one day too, there’s really no way around it I’ll just let my songs wander, and the rest you can figure out yourself”
(source: various sites and Wikipedia)
