from his own village, with the name of "Two Boys and Two Guitars". They performed impersonations, poetry, South-African songs, and country music from Calais to Amsterdam, all with plenty of room for improvisation and adventure. The name "Bobbejaan" comes from the South-African song, "Bobbejaan klim die berg" ("Baboon Climbs the Mountain"). Schoepen took it as his artist name in 1945 or 1946. Performing to the allied forces In 1947 he came into contact with Jacques Kluger. Kluger asked Schoepen to entertain the American and Canadian troops during the Nuremberg Trials, and in Frankfurt and Berlin. Kluger was pleased to receive an unexpected, flattering letter from Major Mearker, and contracted Schoepen to go on tour in Germany for several months. In Berlin, which was still partly in ruins, his floor shows were also attended by the American general and military governor Lucius D. Clay, who asked him for two additional performances. These tours would further stimulate his country music tendencies. First hit record and Indonesian tour In between these shows, Schoepen also gave occasional performances in his own country. While he initially did not wish to sing in Dutch, Kluger convinced him to record 'a Flemish record'. Schoepen's first recordings followed, and in 1948 "De Jodelende Fluiter" ("The Yodeling Whistler") became Schoepen's first hit. His breakthrough in the Netherlands also happened that year. Among his many performances, he was frequently asked to guest-star in the Netherlands. Bobbejaan soon became the right man to work for the benefit of the Dutch. In 1949 he went on tour for the Dutch troops in Indonesia, performing 127 shows over the course of three months. He was decorated for courage and self-sacrifice by the Dutch government because he also performed for troops near the front line. Five days after returning home he began a 220-day tour through Belgium, playing nostalgic songs, such as the tried and true "De lichtjes van de Schelde" ("The Lights of the Scheldt") (1952), which is still an evergreen in Belgium today, Bobbejaan Schoepen quickly became one of the most popular artists in Flanders. International tours and success Schoepen toured in at least twenty different countries, together with artists such as Josephine Baker, Caterina Valente, Gilbert Bécaud, and Toots Thielemans (who was a guitarist in his band in 1951). He is one of the first Europeans (excluding the British) to have appeared at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, one of