Swedish vocals, other language
International relevance: */*
Roland von Malmborg has his fans but isn't widely acknowledged by the general progg audience. Maybe
because he never really became part of the movement, despite being
vocal against nuclear energy and pollution early on, and embracing
many concepts that were at the core of the progg movement's realm of
ideas. Once the Swedish Green Party (Miljöpartiet) was founded in
1981, Malmborg became a member, happily performing under their
banner. Through the years, he's written numerous songs on
environmental issues, but without too much blatant proselytizing and
sometimes adding a light spiritual (but not necessarily religious) touch
to his lyrics.
He debuted in 1965 with a Swedish
version of ”Eve of Destruction” that was a hit by Barry McGuire
the same year; ”Vår värld ska gå under” too was a minor hit
domestically, which delighted major label RCA who released Malmborg's first full length album ”Räck din hand” the
following year. The album reflects the artist's interest in folk
songs from around the world, and includes Swedish translations of
North American tunes such as ”Keep Your Hands on the Plow” (the
top track on ”Räck din hand”), ”We Shall Overcome” and ”Last
Night I Had the Strangest Dream”, plus songs of German, Indian,
Japanese, South African and Jewish origins, sometimes partly sung in
their original languages. The renditions are sincere enough, but
marred by the Pete Seeger hootenanny feel that runs through the
entire album. The choir prevalent on many of the tracks further
emphasizes this in a rather off-putting way.
RCA wanted to push Malmborg in a
direction he didn't agree to and he in turn had ideas that didn't sit
well with the label's commercial formula. In 1969 he re-surfaced with
the privately released ”Vårt klotrunda fosterland”, beating even
Kjell Höglund to the punch (Höglund's self-produced debut ”Undran”
didn't appear until two years later). Although released on von
Malmborg's own Globalist imprint, it's a surprisingly lavish affair,
properly recorded in Philips' studio during two sessions in November
1969 and housed in a laminated sleeve designed by the artist himself.
According to Malmborg, the album was pressed in an edition of
1,700 copies, a staggering number for a self-paid release. He
distributed the album himself with little or no support from regular
record shops, but actually managed to get his invested money back.
Again an achievement as the expenses were in the 40,000 SEK region
(almost €4,000) – in today's currency an almost shocking cost for
an album released with no involvement from an established label.
”Vårt klotrunda fosterland” has favourably a bit less production
sheen than its predecessor, but it still shares several
characteristics with ”Räck din hand”. Some tracks are just
terrible, like the silly ”Nalles fredsvisa” and the unbearable
”Rapa på, du Välfärdssverige!”, but the best songs here are
better than anything on the previous album. Highlights include the
catchy opening track ”Vägen är kort” (good enough to even make
the interfering ”Räck din hand” styled backing vocals
forgivable) and the brooding ”Oförrätter glöms så lätt” and
”Krigets herrar” (the latter being a thinly veiled reworking of
Dylan's ”Masters of War” lyrics set to original music). Worthy of
note is that Hélène Bohman (later of
Stenblomma fame) appears on
the track ”Sov mitt bar i ro”.
None of Roland von Malmborg's albums
are essential but they may be of passing interest to fans of Swedish
vocal trio Jailbird Singers, Pete Seeger or even Witthüser
& Westrupp.
”Räck din hand” can sometimes be
found with lyric inserts, originally available from von Malmborg
himself. (Why, one wonders.as the lyrics are already printed on the
back cover). Signed copies of ”Vårt klotrunda fosterland” are
common.
Roland von Malmborg only made these two
albums but he can be heard with one track on the anti-nuclear power
various artists album ”
Vi kan leva utan kärnkraft” on Silence in
1975, and on one further 45 from 1980. He still performs live though,
sometimes as a street musician, and he also dabbles in comedy.
from Vi kan leva utan kärnkraft