ELISABET HERMODSSON, LENA GRANHAGEN et al – Till Camilo Torres och revolutionen i Latinamerika. Röster i mänskligt landscape. (Proprius, 1971)

Swedish vocals, spokem word
International relevance: -

Camilo Torres was a catholic priest and a member of the Colombian geurilla movement. He urged for co-operation between marxists and Christians but was eventually executed by government troops in 1966 and was refused a Christian funeral, His burial place is still undisclosed.

This album with the very long title meaning ”to Camilo Torres and the Latin American revolution with the two sides named ”voices in a human landscape part 1 & 2” are as pretentious as the music within. It's a memorial mass composed by Alfred Jansson with spoken recitals by Elisabet Hermodsson, Lena Granhagen and Håkan Strängberg set a backdrop performed by the chamber choir of Gothenburg and a classical orchestra. The work's smugness is completely overbearing and I find it impossible to sit through the entire thing without breathing in a bag.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Sånger och musik från Kvinnokulturfestivalen (Silence, 1977)

Rut Hermansson / Eva Blomqvist / Sabina Kristensen / Monika Lundin / Frankie Armstrong / Lena Ekman / Jan Hammarlund / Marie Selander / Lena Granhagen / Monica Törnell / Andra Bullar / Lava / Ulla Bendrik-Johansson / Turid / Margareta Söderberg / Monica Törnell / Cyndee Peters / Röda Bönor 

Swedish vocals, English vocals, a cappella
International relevance: **

Kvinnokulturfestivalen (Festival of Women Culture) was a three day event held in Stockholm in late October 1977 with many of the usual suspects coming together. This album is a selection of songs recorded at the festival and features Marie Selander, Turid, Lena Granhagen, Andra Bullar, Margareta Söderberg and Röda Bönor to name a few. Most of it is acoustic and most of it sounds exactly as expected, meaning political folk with a righteous message.

A couple of tracks have electric backing and those selections are also the best. Marie Selander's ”Carcara” even manages to work up a physical groove very rarely heard on political albums. Lava, a seemingly temporary grouping assembled specifically for the festival, is Lena Ekman backed by the likes of Sigge Krantz (Archimedes Badkar, Stockholm Norra, Torkel Rasmusson, Lokomotiv Konkret et al) and Ola Backström (Stockholm Norra, Torkel Rasmussion, Dag Vag). Their ”Svartsjuk” starts out a bit trying and uncertain but grows organically as it goes on. Ola Backström's slide guitar isn't exactly Elmore James – more of a slurry Robbie Krieger – but it works to good effect and pushes the song almost to the six minute limit. And Monica Törnell is far better here than on any of her own albums from around this time.

The performers are perhaps more interesting than the performances, but as said above, the album isn't entirely without musical merits. It's not a great album by any means, but remains one of the better feminist albums from the period, for what it's worth.

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LENA GRANHAGEN – Sjunger Theodorakis & Biermann (Proprius, 1972)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Lena Granhagen was already an wellknown actress when her second solo album, with songs by Greek national icon Mikis Theodorakis one side and German singer/author Wolf Biermann on the other. Granhagen had been in lots of movies since the 50's including several by noir crime director Arne Mattson, and in Henning Carlsens infamous 1965 women-in-jail depiction ”Kattorna” (as a side note, with music by Polish jazz giant Krzysztof Komeda), to mention but a few. She also had several parts in theatrical plays, and her first appearance on record was in fact a recording of Scalateatern's ”Irma la Douce” released in 1963.

The lyrics to ”Lena Granhagen sjunger Theodorakis & Biermann” were translated by authors Caj Lundgren and Theodor Kallifatides, as well as highly acclaimed singer/songwriter Cornelis Vreeswijk. The album showcases several instrumentalists from the burgeoning progg scene. The toned down arrangements for the Theodorakis songs were made by Björn J:son Lindh and make use of harpsichord, tablas and sitars and, of course, flute. Side two is dedicated to Biermann's songs and is a wee bit louder but the tone is nevertheless similar due to Granhagen's predictably theatrical vocals. It's obviously a political album and sounds like one. Not recommended.

Full album playlist