Founded as Johnny & The Jewels, The Jumping Jewels were a Dutch guitar group, active from 1960 to 1965. Heavily influenced by the sound of The Shadows and fronted by Johnny Lion ('the Dutch Cliff Richard'), The Jumping Jewels were possibly Holland's most popular group of the 'pre-Beatles' era (the Fab Four visited The Netherlands in June 1964, an event regarded by many Dutchmen as the advent of 1960s youth culture).

Line-up:

Johnny Lion (real name: Jan van Leeuwarden): vocals
Hans van Eijk: solo guitar
Tjibbe Veelo: rhythm guitar
Joop Oonk: bass guitar
Frits Tamminga: drums (1960-1963)
Kees Kranenburg Jr.: drums (1963-1965)

Founded as Johnny & The Jewels, the group had changed their name into The Jumping Jewels by the time they released their greatest hit in their home country: Wheels (a Dutch #1 in 1961). Africa (1963) and Irish Washerwoman (1964) were Dutch Top 10 hits. Bizarrely, The Jumping Jewels' 1964 cover version of The Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There hit #1 in Peru.

The Jumping Jewels were often billed and announced as Johnny Lion & The Jumping Jewels (much like Cliff Richard & The Shadows...), but the name on most of their record sleeves is The Jumping Jewels.

Johnny Lion's increasing solo success, as well as his decision to sing and record with rising star Rob de Nijs, marked the end of The Jumping Jewels. By 1966 they had changed their name into the The Jay-Jays, replaced Hans van Eijk with Leo Bennink, and effectively become a new band. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.