FINN ZETTERHOLM & MARIE SELANDER – Lillfar och Lillmor (SR, 1970)

  
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

I wouldn't say that Finn Zetterholm's and Marie Selander's voices and vocal styles are a perfect match, but it's no wonder Zetterholm chose Selander as a singing partner on this album. It's a collection of old short folk songs, some almost like children's rhymes, and with no better female folk singer in Sweden than Marie Selander, few could do this better than her. It's also Zetterholm's best 70s album, much thanks to Bengt-Arne Wallin's interesting arrangements quoting both jazz and renaissance music. No wonder, as jazz players such as Palle Danielsson, Egil Johansen and Rune Gustafsson appears, plus the nation's prime advocate for renaissance music. multi-instrumentalist Sven Berger on instruments like dulcian, hurdy gurdy and bassoon, and Eric-Gustaf Brilioth adding the colourful timbre of crumhorn. It's not one of my regular spins, but Folk & Rackare fans may be interested in hearing ”Lillfar och Lillmor” at least once.

Full album playlist

BENGT SÄNDH & FINN ZETTERHOLM – Complete albums 1969-1977

 Hemtjörda visor (Sonet, 1969) with Finn Zetterholm
OBS. täxten (Sonet, 1969) with Finn Zetterholm
Världens minnsta LP (YTF, 1971, 33 rpm 7") with Finn Zetterholm
Folklår – våra allra fulaste visor (YTF, 1977) with Finn Zetterholm
Swedish vocals
International relevance: -

Bengt Sändh is a troubadour with a life story much more interesting than his music. He grew up in orphanages and foster homes where he was sexually assaulted by the carers before eventually moving to his grandfather. He went to nine different schools in three years, and was repeteadly held in custody and reformatories. He ran away from one of them, as did he from military service for which he spent a month in open prison. He reputedly stole 46 cars in ten days and had forty different jobs in the course of a few years, including pall bearer, locksmith and mannequin maker. His recording debut came in 1965 with an album together with fellow troubadours Stefan Atterhall and Finn Zetterholm. Zetterholm came to be Sändh's most frequent collaborator over the years, both being controversial figures with a taste for songs and subjects on and over the edge of the commonly morally acceptable. (He also released a couple of albums with two other troubadours, Rune Andersson and Jeja Sundström, plus two solo albums up to 1981 but they're not included here.) 

Rudeness and drinking were two regular characteristics. Always at odds with society and its norms as a person and a performer, his albums were honestly meant manifestations of his denial of acceptability rooted in a disappointment with social rules. But in the end, they're all about shock value. Once the effect wears off which it immediately does, they just sound pueril and empty to an outsider. And with the music being bad too it's absolutely nothing to waste your time on.

After leaving the music scene, Sändh became a snuff producer (not as in snuff movies, but as in tobacco).

Hemtjörda visor full album playlist
OBS. täxten full album playlist
Världens minnsta LP full 7"
Folklår full album playlist

FINN ZETTERHOLM & KABARETORKESTERN – Längtans blåa elefant (YTF, 1977)

 Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Visa singer Finn Zetterholm is more interesting as a troublemaker than a musician, and this album is
mostly academically interesting for having Mikael Wiehe's Kabaréorkestern as a backing band. It guarantees some good musicianship, if nothing else. It does have a few decent moments apart from that though, especially when Zetterholm gets a bit closer to folk melodies, as on ”Sven i Rosengård anno 1977”, and the melancholy ”Fågelns visa” and ”Vaggvisa vid Ekofisk”. They also try for a more creepy atmosphere on ”Flickan som skrek” without really succeeding. But too many songs are just silly, and all in all, this isn't a very memorable album at all.

Näktergalen
Fridas klagan över snön 
Fången på Hall 
Flickan som skrek
Bröllopet i hönsgården
Sven i Rosengård anno 1977
Balladen om Sussie
Jimmy Carters Rag
Barnvisa
Vaggvisa vid Ekofisk
Sång till fars dag
Sång i lönearbetestakt eller Nyaste grottesången
Fågelns visa

FINN ZETTERHOLM – Joe Hill på svenska (Intersound, 1969)

 Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

Joe Hill's real name was Joel Hägglund but he changed his name after emigrating to America in 1902. There he became an early Woody Guthrie kind of figure, a union activist writing songs that became anthems for the American labourers movement. Sometimes he wrote new words to old revival hymns, much like Guthrie did with traditional material. Needless to say, Hill's songs were also popular among the progg alumni, and a few albums of Joe Hill songs were released in Sweden including one by Mora Träsk (who, like Joe Hill himself, originated from the city of Gävle).

Troubadour and provocateur Finn Zetterholm might seem well equipped for interpreting Joe Hill's outspoken songs, but the result isn't very good. ”Joe Hill på svenska” (later reissued as ”Finn Zetterholm sjunger Joe Hill”) is annoyingly perky and some tracks border on dixieland jazz. And to be honest, Joe Hill's songs simply aren't on the level of Woody Guthrie's. This is just another album existing for political reasons more than musical ones.

Hill's fate was more interesting albeit a gruesome one. He was accused for murdering a police officer but wouldn't defend himself having been in bed with another man's woman. It was his alibi but not wanting to reveal the true circumstances, Hill was sentenced to death. He had an option: being hanged or shot. He chose the latter and was executed 1 October, 1915 in Salt Lake City. As a side note, country singer Lefty Frizzell's murder ballad ”Long Black Veil”, written by Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill and later covered by numerous artists, is very similar to the story of Joe Hill's death.

Full album playlist

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Om IB på Gamla Riksdagshuset (MNW, 1974)

Featured artists: Sture Källberg / Björn Granath / Narren / Klararevyn / Finn Zetterholm & Hasse Alfredsson & Tage Danielsson / Gösta Ekman / Lena Nyman / Monica Zetterlund / Lilla Klara / Gösta Bredefeldt / Dramatiska Teatern / Olof Buckard / Robert Karl Oskar Broberg / Fria Proteatern / Jan Myrdal

  Swedish vocals, spoken word 

International relevance: -

 

Journalists Jan Guillou and Peter Bratt caused great upheaval in May 1973 when they exposed a Swedish secret intelligence service, IB (most often refered to as Informationsbyrån, ”the information bureau”), unknown even to the Swedish Parliament and Social Democratic prime minister Olof Palme – or so he said... IB kept files on citizens with left-wing affinities, used spies in foreign countries, was responsible for a break-in at the Egyptian embassy in Stockholm, and had ties to CIA and the Israeli intelligence service Shin Beth. The disclosure soon took on the size of a scandal, comparable to Watergate only with Swedish proportions. Guillou, Bratt, journalist Håkan Isacsson and photographer Ove Holmqvist were arrested for espionage, and the three writers were sentenced to jail – itself a remarkable turn of events. There were so many irregularities and odd twists that it's impossible to give a sensible brief summary of the so called IB affair that remains one of the biggest political scandals ever in Sweden.Needless to say, a lot has been written about it ever since and it still surfaces as a hot topic every once in a while.

In December 1973, 4,000 people showed up at a manifestation against IB and the jail sentences, and for free speech and freedom of the press. An impressive amount of actors such as Gösta Ekman, Lena Nyman and Björn Granath, comedians and showmen like Olof Buckard and Hasse Alfredsson & Tage Danielsson, leftist debaters like Jan Myrdal, theatrical groups like Klararevyn and Narren, and artists such as Finn Zetterholm, Robert Karl Oskar Broberg, Fria Proteatern and world renowned jazz vocalist Monica Zetterlund appeared on stage during the five hour meeting that was recorded and trimmed down for LP release on MNW in 1974. While its value as a historical document is undeniable, the relevance to a foreign listener is minimal, due to lengthy spoken word sections and mostly uninteresting music.

Finn Zetterholm - Hemliga polisen

A VARIOUS ARTISTS SPECIAL: 4 POLITICAL COMPILATIONS

Just like one might expect, there's a slew of various artists albums released during the progg years. Some of them are regional releases covering a local scene such as ”Bygg ett eget musikforum”, a double album including several lesser known Uppsala bands plus an exclusive track by Samla Mammas Manna. Others in turn document specific events, such as ”Alternativ festival”, released by MNW in 1975 consisting of live recordings from Alternativfestivalen held as a protest manifestation against the commercially oriented Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm 1975 following Abba's ”Waterloo” victory in Brighton the previous year. And there's of course the famous 2LP set commemorating the Gärdet festival that many consider the starting point of the entire progg movement.

There's also a fair share of charity styled albums produced to bring attention to certain causes and raise funds to help for instance striking labourers. These albums are of an undeniable historical value, artefacts to remind us of a particular events and moments in time. However, few of them are fun to listen to for other than strictly academical reasons. More often than not, they're bogged down by political fundamentalism and tiresome sloganeering. Even if you sympathize with the core sentiment of the leftwing world view expressed in the lyrics, they soon get overbearing, rendering many of the albums straight up unlistenable. I consider them being of limited interest even to foreign listeners unfamiliar with the Swedish language, due to the often low quality music. That said, they're still part of the progg movement and thus clearly within the scope of this blog, why I've decided to present some of them here as the first in a series of brief overviews.

 ARBETARKAMPEN OCH AVTALSRÖRELSEN (Arbetarkultur, 1974)

Featured artists: Finn Zetterholm / Narren / Jan Hammarlund / Klasskamraterna / 

Oktober / Marie Selander / Knutna Nävar

Swedish vocals, other languages

International relevance: *

Publishing house Arbetarkultur was run by Swedish communist party SKP, but had several record releases out during the 70's from artists such as Maria Hörnelius, Röda Kapellet and Unga Gardet. ”Arbetarkampen och avtalsrörelsen” (”the labourers' struggle and the round of wage negotiations”) has catalogue no. AKLP01 and was recorded live at the Labourer's convention in early 1974. Far left stalwarts Knutna Nävar make a contribution with ”Det är något konstigt med friheten”, while singer/songwriter Jan Hammarlund, one of the first to openly declare being gay and a fierce mouthpiece of the Swedish gay rights movement, appears with three tracks. The album closer speaks for the album's sentiment, a full cast performance of ”The Internationale”.

HÖR MASKINERNAS SÅNG (Proletärkultur, 1973)

Featured artists: Knutna Nävar / Maria Hörnelius / Boråspionjärerna / Wiveka Warenfalk / Fred Åkerström / Röda Ropet / Röd Morgon / KPML(r):s Blåsorkester
Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

 

”Hör maskinernas sång” (”hear the singing of the machines”) is similar to ”Arbetarkampen och avtalsrörelsen” only more hardboiled left-wing, being released by Proletärkultur, the label affiliated with communist party KPLM(r). Of course, KPML(r) figureheads Knutna Nävar appear on the album providing two tracks, plus backing Maria Hörnelius up on ”Den trojanska hästen”. Also featured is renowned singer Fred Åkerström. The album is recorded during KPML(r)'s federation day meeting in 1973 and each song is followed by the unproportionally loud Soviet Union styled audience roar. ”Hör maskinernas sång”– appropriately rounded off with yet another version of "The Internationale" – is the perfect album for anyone who wishes to poke fun at the sometimes over-zealous Swedish leftist engagement in the 70's.

LÅT ALMARNA LEVA (Metronome, 1971)

Featured artists: Cornelis Vreeswijk / Bernt Staf / Fred Åkerström / Tage Lidén

Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: *

The album was recorded in May 1971 in Kungsträdgården, Stockholm in conjunction with the massive protests against the felling of elm trees that were 100 years old to make way for a new subway station. It was a battle of political inclinations, but the real struggle took place between the ordinary protesters and the police. Thousands of people participated in the protests and many of them took turns occupying the area day and night to prevent the trees from being cut down. The trees themselves were occupied to stop the chainsaws and several people were hurt during the week-long clashes, but the protesters won and the elm trees are still there as a much loved symbol of the power of the right to protest. 

Various bands and artists supported the protesters, such as Envoys who, with vocal backing from Charlie & Esdor (of Gärdet festival fame), released a benefit 45 "Almarna åt folket”, a cover of ”Power to the People” with John Lennon's original lyrics translated into a war cry in defense of the preservation of the elm trees. Other noted singer/songwriter artists appeared in Kungsträdgården during the protests, including Cornelis Vreeswijk, Bernt Staf and Fred Åkerström, all appearing on ”Låt almarna leva” (”let the elm trees live”), released on the major record label, Metronome. Short speeches and interviews with the protesters and supporters are interspersed between the tracks, providing the recording with a pronounced documentary feel and the album is highly valuable time capsule of those events. Musically speaking, it's one of the most consistent albums in this post, but it's doubtful it would make much sense to non-Swedish listeners without necessary insight into the historical events which took place all those years ago.

STÖD DE STREJKANDE HAMNARBETARNA (Proletärkultur, 1974)

Featured artists: Thomas Ellerås / Harald ”Bagarn” Andersson / Knutna Nävar / Anja Svederborg / Fred Åkerström / Mats Lundälv / Sven Wollter / Röda Ropet / Dan Berglund

Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: * 

Another typical Proletärkultur release, similar to ”Hör maskinernas sång” above with some of its artists re-appearing here; Knutna Nävar, Fred Åkerström and Röda Ropet, along with several other KPML(r) sympathizers including Knutna Nävar member and later to be famous actor Sven Wollter, and singer/songwriter Dan Berglund, performing one of his best known song "De mördades fria republik" in his typical world-weary voice. (Berglund later left the KPML(r) party and came to dismiss the political engagement of his youth.) The title reads ”support the striking dockers” and there's nothing that can be said about the album that the title doesn't give away immediately. All acoustic pamphlet songs, performed in a typical overwrought ”engaged” fashion. Recorded live at Marx-Engels-huset, "house of Marx-Engels". Go figure.

from Arbetarrörelsen och avtalsrörelsen

Marie Selander - Maskinernas sång

from Hör maskinernas sång

Knutna Nävar - Hör maskinernas sång

Maria Hörnelius & Knutna Nävar - Den trojanska hästen 

Boråspionjärerna - Arbetarmarseljäsen 

Boråspionjärerna - Albaniensång

Wiveka Warenfalk - En proletärmoders vaggvisa

Fred Åkerström - Den trettionde i första -72
Fred Åkerström - Mordet i katedralen 

Röda Ropet & Knutna Nävar - Sång om fjortonde maj

from Stöd de strejkande hamnarbetarna

Knutna Nävar - Balladen om Olsson 

Sven Wollter - Riksdagsvisa 

Dan Berglund - Visa till SAP 

Dan Berglund - De mördades fria republik