GROWING MUSIC WITH DON by Bengt Berger

When I first planned my overview of Don Cherry's Swedish albums more than a year ago (which was then delayed for several reasons), I thought it needed some more depth than I could possibly give it myself. I figured I needed an eyewitness report from someone close to Cherry during his Swedish years, or better yet: someone who actually played with him. I couldn't possibly think of anyone better than drummer par excellence Bengt "Beche" Berger. He happily agreed to do it, and I sent him a set of questions. I thought it would be a simple little Q & A – he indeed generously answered all my questions, but in the shape of what very well can be called an essay on his years with Don Cherry, with many and valuable peeks into the creative process. (I only translated it.) A massive THANK YOU to Bengt Berger who graciously took the time to provide us with this!

Don Cherry iwith Bitter Funeral Beer Band in 1982

I had of course heard Ornette's quartet already, but the first time I saw Don live was with Sonny Rollins's quartet at the Stockholm Concert House in January 1964. A house next door was on fire, so there was smoke in the hall and they did a fantastic gig. I still listen to the tape I made of the radio broadcast every now and then. [Jazz presenter] Olle Helander aired just about every show at the Concert House. It was a fantastic concert, Don didn't play a lot, mostly tossed in a phrase here and there och joined in with the free handling of themes. Rollins played continuously and was marvellous. Henry Grimes on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. Listen to the show! Don later told me that after the concert, Moki told him to come and look at her paintings in the next room but there she turned out the light, and that's how they met.

Next I heard Don's European quintet with J.F. Jenny-Clarke, Aldo Romani, Gato Barbieri and Karl Berger at the Golden Circle [a legendary jazz venue in Stockholm] a few years later. Moki was up front in the audience. That too was fantastic but for some reason, I only saw them one night. I wonder why – when Charles Lloyd's first quartet with Keith [Jarrett], Jack [DeJohnette] and Cecil McBee played at the Circle I saw them every night for two weeks.

At Embassy at Sturegatan [in Stockholm] I heard the trio with Johnny Dyani and Okay Temiz. When Don played a little phrase on a wooden block and sang ”kukorokoko” and paused, I responded from the audience. But it might have been after we met in Uppsala, because Okay had his ordinary drum kit there and that was before he got his giant darbuka drum kit. 

Don and Beche in The Dome 1971

I had started playing with Arbete & Fritid and we had one of our earliest gigs at Norrlands Nation in Uppsala. We shared the bill with Don Cherry who was there with Bernt Rosengren's quartet with Tommy Koverhult and Leif Wennerström. Tommy Koverhult was in the back room before the gig and changed springs and pads on his sax, and when Don heard I play the tabla he told me to sit in with them. I was just back from India, but for some purist reason, I never used them in Arbete & Fritid. And finding tablas in Uppsala on such short notice was impossible, so I never sat in with them that night. But both bands played some fine music that night.

We often played in Stockholm around that time, and it sometimes happened that you could hear Don play along in the middle of a song. He sneaked up on stage behind us, played along for a while and then disappeared. It happened several times with Arbete & Fritid but also when I played with for instance Handgjort, maybe at Gärdet.

But then came The Dome at the Museum of Modern Art. The Cherry family lived in an old bunkhouse next to The Dome, and they spent whole days in The Dome. Moki sewed and painted and Don played with those who came there, and a lot of people did. When I was there, he told me to bring the tablas so I did and we played there every day after that. Moki played the tanpura and Don sang, played the trumpet, flute, a little gamelan or whatever was at hand. A grand piano and Okay's drums were there too, so we used these a lot too.

Don and Beche in The Dome 1971

I can't remember exactly when they bought the schoolhouse in Tågarp, but it must have been around the time when they had just moved there that he asked me to come along. We drove down there, Don, me and Gittan [Jönsson] that would become my girlfriend a few years later. She did a very nice little painting on a log of wood showing how we filled up gas late in the evening on our way down. I think it's still there.

Always when in Tågarp, I stayed in a little room in the attic, it was very cozy. An old schoolhouse is a very harmonious building with its square classrooms at each end and the teacher's residence in-between. They fired up a stove in each schoolroom, one was Moki's atelier and the other was the music room where we also ate and socialized.

Don, Eagle-Eye and the old schoolhouse in Tågarp

Moki had painted the piano in beautiful bright colours and next to it was [Don's son] ”Eagle-Eye's drum kit”. When it was us only, we played piano and drums, lots of Ornette themes that Don played over and over again while I played along in full blast. It NEVER happened that he told me what to play. I always played exactly what I wanted (and I've tried doing so ever since). I could try to catch the melody and learn it, play along with it, but I could also play against it and around it. At first he would play the same thematic turnover forever, and then he played some kind of rhythmic harmonic accompaniment based upon it. My understanding of Ornette's harmolodics is that you construct a chord over an optional number of notes of the melody, and how many notes you choose defines how large the chord will be. You decide for yourself when you create a new chord from a different chunk of the melody. The chords will be different for each melodic section. Anyway, that's how I perceive it. It would have been interesting hearing Ornette himself play over a piano comp like that. Oh, by the way, sometimes Don could give me a sign that he wanted me to play a fast comp on the cymbal, it added brilliance. He gave a cymbal comp sign with his hand. But that was the only instruction he ever gave me.

Or we could play tablas, wooden blocks or some other smaller percussion instruments, and flutes, trumpet, vocals or whatever. Then we were in some kind of Asian territory. Tibetan music also figured. I showed him ragas, scales, and we made up melodies/songs/ways of playing together. Later on they could show up during concerts or at workshops. Don loved to learn and when I gave him his first tabla lessons, I was taught a huge lesson myself. I gave him the first lesson, and then we sat playing together but not like doing the homework – we played music! We could play it over and over again but not as an excercise in order to go on to something new after that – this was the actual creating of music! I had never understood that before, and only occasionally experienced it later.

Beche, Don, Eagle-Eye and Christer Bothén in 1974

My second great piece of learning was the way we treated ”the reportoire” in concert. Case in point: We had a gig at [jazz club] ArtDur, later Nefertiti, in Gothenburg. Bernt Rosengren and I came down from Stockholm, Don from Tågarp, while Christer Bothén already lived in Gothenburg. Don't think we had ever played with that line-up before. We get there, unpack our instruments and start rehearsing on stage. Don plays just like he does when it's just me and him in Tågarp. He picks up a theme and plays it round and round while the others try to learn the tune. All of a sudden he changes to a different theme or a different instrument. Perhaps he sits down at his harmonium. I switch to mridangam, Christer to a donsu'nguni, Bernt maybe to a taragot, and something new takes shape. So it changes; in the middle of a solo Don might switch to a completely different song and you just have to follow along. Either you know the theme, or you try to learn it while playing. All of the time we're making music fully focused. After having kept going for an hour or two, they let the audience in and we keep going without a break or without starting over. After another hour, we might stop or take a break only to start in a while again.

This method of not necessarily playing a song from beginning to end but to change it altogether when you feel like it is something I have tried to practice with all bands I've played with, but with the difference I want everyone in the band to have that same possibility. I think it probably worked best with Berger Knutsson Spering, maybe three people are realistically the best, but it of course depends on who you're playing with. In our case we also allowed ourselves to pick up a song in any tempo or in any style at all, but also refuse to change if someone didn't want to. It can go far but it can also go to hell and that's of course exciting.

* * * 

The photos are taken by unknown photographers and come from countryandeastern.se, all used by kind permission of Bengt Berger.

DON CHERRY – The Swedish albums 1967-1977

It's really quite strange that it took me 13 years of progg blogging before Don Cherry got his own post here. He's emblematic to what I think is the true spirit of the blog, a place where all kinds of music meet as long as it has a mind of its own. And perhaps that's why I overlooked his inclusion for so long: he's so huge and obvious that maybe I thought he was here already. Well, he actually is if only in small portions as he appears on albums by Bengt Berger and Bitter Funeral Beer Band.

Born in Oklahoma City in 1936 with music running in the family, he made his mark on jazz already in the late 1950s when teaming up with Ornette Coleman for a long series of albums including milestone releases ”The Shape Of Jazz To Come” and ”Free Jazz”. He also performed with John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, George Russell, Albert Ayler, Charlie Haden – he passed gracefully through jazz history and jazz history passed smoothly through him and his trumpet. He even played percussion on Allen Ginsburg's album of William Blake interpretations, collaborated with Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and Terry Riley, and co-wrote the score for Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist movie ”The Holy Mountain”. There's also a famous 1976 recording of Lou Reed live at The Roxy in Los Angeles with Don Cherry sitting in. He often did that – I know several Swedish musicians of different kinds who can tell stories of how they suddenly heard a beautiful sound on stage and when they turned around, there was Don Cherry with his pocket trumpet joining in, uninvited but welcome.

He spent time in Europe in general and Scandinavia in particular. There are for instance a set of great recordings from the Montmartre jazz club in Copenhagen 1966 released on ESP Disk in the late 00s. But it's his recordings with Swedish musicians that stand out from his European years. Cherry's playing was usually great no matter who he performed with, but it was here in Sweden he really found a home both musically and physically. He moved permanently to Sweden in the late 60s, bought a defunct schoolhouse i Tågarp in the beautiful Österlen region of the southern county of Skåne with his wife Monica ”Moki” Cherry. Moki was a textile designer; her works were as colourful and striking as her husband's music and graced several of Don's album covers. They had several children involved in music, with Eagle-Eye Cherry being the best known. Don's stepdaughter Neneh Cherry has also had an interesting and multifaceted career in music.

The house in Tågarp became something of a centre for friends and musicians, and the place where Don Cherry's Organic Music Society shaped and developed, a concept that to all intents and purposes was the forerunner to what would later be known as 'world music', only freer and more open.

Outpourings of Don Cherry's Swedish years weren't that many to begin with, but there's been an upsurge of archival recordings from this period, especially after Cherry's untimely death at 58 in 1995. I have included every album recorded in Sweden and/or with Swedish musicians between 1967 and 1977, except for those where only Moki Cherry appears usually on tamboura. That's not to dismiss her efforts but because I consider her and Don a unit. Also, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I consider Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz Swedish musicians too even though they techncially were Turks. There are also recordings featuring Swedes prior to 1967, such as ”Psycology” [sic!] with domestic free jazz pioneer Bengt ”Frippe” Nordström and released on his own Bird Notes label in 1963 (an album that interestingly enough also features drummer Bosse Skoglund on one track). A George Russell live document from Beethoven Hall in Stuttgart 1965 has both Don Cherry and Bertil Lövgren on trumpets, but that too is excluded due to the early date.

Movement Incorporated (Anagram, 2005; rec. 1967)
Instrumental
International relevance: ***

Don Cherry used to hold workshops and music classes at ABF, the labour movement's education centre, and this disc was recorded at one of their locales in July 1967. Old friend from years back Frippe Nordström appears along with Leif Wennerström and Okay Temiz on drums, Maffy Falay on trumpet and flute, Tommy Koverhult on tenor sax and Bernt Rosengren on tenor sax and flute, plus American trombonist Brian Trentham. I'm not sure how official this release actually is. Anagram had a few interesting discs out (including a great one by Gilbert Holmström). The sound quality is nevertheles a good mono recording and once it gathers momeutum, the recording is an excellent example of spontaneous collective composing. ”Suite 3” and ”Surprise Surprise” particularly point to the future with their clear Oriental/Arabic influence. Not easy to find these days – I suppose it only had a small run and the label is now definct, but it's well worth looking for.

 

Brotherhood Suite (Flash Music, 1997; rec. 1968-1971)

released as Don Cherry with Bernt Rosengren Group

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Recorded at various Stockholm locations during the course of four years with roughly the same group as on ”Movement Incorporated”, this is one of my favourite Don Cherry releases. Not only am I a fan of Bernt Rosengren in general, but him in combination with Cherry is usually explosive matter. The sound quality varies due to the different sources, but it's a varied and vivid selection. Some continues along the lines of ”Movement Incorporated” with free jamming while other tracks are composed and focused. If you don't mind the fidelity fluctuations (nothing sounds bad) and the stylistic span, this is a wonderful compilation of an excellent composite of musicians.

 

Live In Stockholm (Caprice, 2013; rec. 1968/1971)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Much like a latecoming expansion pack to the Flash Music disc above, these recordings originate from 1968 and 1971, with the half-hour long ”Another Dome Session” being recorded the same night as ”In A Geodetic Dome” on ”Brotherhood Suite”. The remainder of this release is dedicated to the two-part ”ABF Suite” with the second portion being based on Turkish folk melodies brought in by Maffy Falay. Again a collaboration between Cherry and Rosengren's group, but it's a bit different than the two albums above. Here you can sense the direction in which the trumpeter was heading in the future, getting closer to a more dissolved, genre bending style, the musical crossroad of the entire world. As a study of his development it's certainly rewarding, but it doesn't quite have the same impact as other Rosengren/Cherry documents.

 

The Summer House Sessions (Blank Forms Editions, 2021; rec. 1968)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

This is an absolutely fantastic album that perfectly melds Cherry's free jazz power with his search for a universal expression! It was recorded in the summer home of Göran Freese, sound engineer and musician (appearing on, for instance, G.L.Unit's ”Orangutang”), and mixes members from the ”Live In Stockholm” band with musicians from his international ensemble New York Total Music Company. The idea was to have them jam and rehearse freely without any intention of making an album, but thankfully the tapes rolled and the recordings were finally presented to the world in 2021. The undemanding setting made for some stunning performances that rank among the finest ever from Cherry and his cohort. The music flows freely between traditions, and Turkish hand drummer Bülent Ateş really adds an extra dimension. Essential!

 

Eternal Rhythm (MPS, 1969; rec. 1968)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Another international grouping comprising American, German, Norweigan and French musicians, plus Swedes Bernt Rosengren and Eje Thelin, recorded live at the Berlin Jazz Festival in November 1968. It's a long suite notable for utilizing a large number of flutes and an array of Gamelan percussion. A giant step in Cherry's career, and the first album to properly predict the 'organic music' concept. With names like Albert Mangelsdorff and Sonny Sharrock it's clear from the start that the music is grounded in free jazz, but when adding the unusual (for jazz) timbres of the metal instruments, it becomes something else, something wider in scope and emotion. The thing is that is doesn't sound at all contrived suggesting that Don Cherry had a very clear idea worked out in his head what he wanted to achieve by using them. AllMusic's Brian Olewnick called ”Eternal Rhythm” ”required listening” and I am the first to agree.

 

Live Ankara (Sonet, 1978; rec.1969)

Instrumental

International relevance: **

Having already acquainted Maffy Falay and Okay Temiz, Don Cherry was no stranger to Turkish music, and in late 1969 he got to play at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara with Temiz, saxophonist Irfan Sümer and bassist Selçuk Sun. Despite relying heavily on Turkish traditional material, it's a fairly straightforward set revealing strong traces of Cherry's past with Ornette Coleman (especially with two Ornette compositions in the set). It's not very exciting, and the dull sound also hampers the experience a bit.

 

Music For A Turkish Theatre (Caz Plak, 2024; rec. 1970)

released as Don Cherry/Okay Temiz

Instrumental, wordless vocals

International relevance: **

Another Turkish recording, this time with an interesting backstory. The music was commissioned for a play written by James Baldwin who was living in Turkey off and on between 1961 and 1971 having fled racism and homophobia in the U.S., and produced by theatre owner Engin Cezzar. Dealing with gay relationships in an Istanbul prison, the play was controversial and banned by the Turkish government in after 30,000 people had already seen in it in two months. The music has its moments, but it's by no means essential. It's value lies mainly in the story behind it. Released physically on vinyl only, it came with four different covers, all in limited editions and now sold out.

 

Blue Lake (BYG, 1974; rec. 1971)

Instrumental, wordless vocals, other languages

International relevance: **'

A trio date from Paris, 1971 with Cherry, Temiz and bassist Johnny Dyani. I don't like it at all. First of all, I don't think Temiz and Dyani is a good team (see thisreview), and second of all I don't like Don Cherry's vocals and there's a lot of that on ”Blue Lake”. The playing is messy and sometimes simply directionless, it just goes on forever without getting anywhere. The album was originally released only in Japan 1974 but has for no good reason been reissued several times since.

 

Orient (BYG, 1973; rec. 1971)

Instrumental, wordless vocals, other languages

International relevance: ***

A sister album to ”Blue Lake” released the year before, with half of the double album having more tracks from the same Cherry/Dyani/Temiz date, meaning they also sound about the same. The two albums were reissued together on CD in 2003.

 

Organic Music Society (Caprice, 1973; rec. 1971-1972)

Instrumental, English vocals, other languages, wordless vocals

International relevance: ***

The album that most of all epitomizes Don Cherry's 'organic music' theories. It's intriguing and annoying, messy and flourishing, intense and flaccid all at once. There are field recordings and studio takes, focused performances and half-baked ideas in a raffle of sound and it's sometimes hard to make sense of it. That is the album's weakness but also its strength, and what you think of it probably very much depends on your current mood. I personally would have preferred the double album slimmed down to a single disc, keeping side 2 and 3 (despite Cherry's vocals) and perhaps keep the rather captivating ”North Brazilian Ceremonial Hymn” as an opening track. It would have narrowed the scope of the organic music idiom and by that missed the point, but it would have made a more cohesive album.

A nice list of performers though: Tommy Koverhult, Christer Bothén, dynamic duo Temiz & Falay, and – most importantly – Bengt Berger. Engineered by Göran Freese, the summer house owner who initiated the majestic 1968 recordings.

 

Organic Music Theatre: Festival de Jazz de Chateauvallon 1972 

 (Blank Forms Editions, 2021, rec. 1972)

released as Don Cherry's New Researches featuring Nana Vasconcelos
Instrumental, English vocals, other languages, wordless vocals
International relevance: ***

The organic music brought to the stage for the very first time. With Christer Bothén and various tag along friends from Sweden plus Brazilian percussionist and berimbau player Nana Vasconcelos performing as Don Cherry's New Researches in the Southern France. Much more focused than ”Organic Music Society” although Cherry's vocals are still a major snag.

 

Eternal Now (Sonet, 1974)

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: ***

With the organic music concept being worked on for a couple of years, the essence of it had finally crystallized on 1974's ”Eternal Now”. A mellow and spiritually gripping album that stands head and shoulders above any previous attempts in the style. Maybe because not every Tom, Dick and Harry creaks and clangs and babble their way into the music – with a personnel of only five including Cherry himself, they can move in the same direction without any distraction from unnecessary outsiders. Especially as they're such a tight unit to begin with, with Cherry, Berger, Bothén and Rosengren at the core with Agneta Arnström only adding Tibetan bells to one track and ngoni (a West African string instrument) to another. ”Eternal Now” (a beautiful title!) oozes with midnight magic, it's like incense for the ears and enlightenment for the soul. Without a doubt one of Cherry's best 70s albums and one of Moki's best album cover works to boot.

 

Modern Art (Mellotronen, 2014; rec. 1977)

Instrumental, other languages

International relevance: ***

A live recording from The Museum Of Modern Art in Stockholm in early 1977. Per Tjernberg from Archimedes Badkar finally makes an appearance on a Don Cherry album – it seems just so appropriate. More unexpectedly, so does Jojje Wadenius who sounds a bit lost to begin with when on electric guitar but blends in better once he switches to the acoustic. (He returns to the electric towards the end and seem a bit more comfortable then.) It's a set heavy on Indian influences so it's surprising not seeing Bengt Berger here. I think he might have been a great staibilizer, because although the performance is rather pleasant, it's a bit trying and uncertain.

However, like I said earlier, Berger's and Cherry's collaboration continued later with Cherry being a vital part of the excellent Bitter Funeral Beer Band. A collaboration that extended beyond the time frame of the Swedish Progg Blog.

There are of course numerous of other Cherry albums without any Swedish connections, some of them less good but some of them among the best jazz music ever put to disc. Don Cherry was a true master, and as a Swede I feel honoured that he chose to live here for so long and also produce some of the finest music of his career while doing so. He was not only a real visionary, he was also a true genius.

Movement Incorporated no links found
Brotherhood Suite full album
Live In Stockholm full album playlsit 
The Summer House Sessions full album playlist       
Eternal Rhythm full album playlist   
Live Ankara full album  
Music For A Turkish Theatre full album playlist (Bandcamp)
Orient / Blue Lake full album playlist
Organic Music Society full album playlist  
Organic Music Theatre full album playlist (Bandcamp) 
Eternal Now full album
Modern Art full album playlist     

There's also an hour-long Don Cherry documentary called "Det är inte min musik" (="it's not my music") made  by Swedish Televison in 1978 that gives some further insight into his life in Sweden. You can watch it here. 

ANDERS F. RÖNNBLOM – The 1970s albums

Approaching the work of Anders F. Rönnblom's from scratch must be a daunting task for someone who never did before – his discography is moving towards a whopping 40 albums at the time of writing! Just about everyone with such a long creative stretch has artistic dips, but Rönnblom's output has been strikingly consistent. His lesser albums are good, and there are some merely great, but most of them are simply brilliant. At 79 in 2025, he's still as active as a recording artist as ever before, and not only that: for the last decade or so, he has made some of his best albums ever.

Steeped in the American beat poetry tradition with names like Allen Ginsberg, Richard Brautigan and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, he has carved out a completely original niche of lyric writing within the Swedish language. It's as if he watches the world from his own sidelines, always with a sharp vision and often with a spiky wit. A serious admirer of Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Little Feat and The Grateful Dead, his musical sense is just as precise and precious.

Educated at Konstfack, the university of arts and design, Rönnblom has also worked as a graphic designer and he has provided artwork for books as well as record covers for artists such as Monica Törnell, Neon Rose, Telge Blues and Cornelis Vreeswijk to name but a few. He began playing music in the late 1950s and made his first appearence on a commercially distributed record with Bob Major & The G.I:s in 1964, an EP for which he wrote all four songs.

Although he was never an obvious part of the progg movement, he wasn't shunned by it either. ”I was on commercial labels, just like Pugh, Bernt Staf, John Holm and Ola Magnell,” Rönnblom told me in 2017. ”But the music movement still let us into their venues, the so called music forums. True there was a rigid nucleus of strongly politically charged journalists and concert promoters centered around the Musikens Makt magazine, but even if they didn't write a lot about me, I had no problems getting gigs. I even played at Gothenburg's Sprängkullen which was considered one of the movement's seats of honour.”

Then again, he's never been part of any movement. He had a few hits in the early 80s, and his biting 1980 Christmas song ”Det är inte snön som faller” (inspired by The Rolling Stones' ”Sympathy For The Devil”) is a perennial favourite to everyone who despise the commercialized hysteria of that particular December holiday. But he's always been satisfied with being a maverick. As he put it on his 2015 album ”The Subliminal Solo Inferno”: ”Who the hell wants to be beloved by the people?”

This piece will include Anders F. Rönnblom's 70s output only. His albums ”Rapport från ett kallt fosterland” (1980), ”Vit flagg” (1981) and ”Krig & fred & country music” (1982) would of course fit within the time frame of the blog, but they're more in a new wavish vein (comparatively speaking). All wonderful albums, among his finest, but not quite progg blog material.

Din barndom skall aldrig dö (Decca, 1971)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

I have a fetish for debut albums. It's something special watching artists' first steps, hearing their first voice and knowing it was the seed of the future.

”Din barndom skall aldrig dö” came out in 1971. Pugh Rogefeldt's ”Ja dä ä dä” was only two years old, Kjell Höglund's ”Undran” was released the same year as ”Din barndom”, as was Robert Broberg's ”En typisk rund LP med hål i mitten”, the first of his where he really displayed his special outsider talent. In short, Swedish singer/songwriter pop/rock was only in its infancy, and there was still room for original expressions because there were yet no fixed reference points. ”Din barndom skall aldrig dö” is one important piece of that puzzle.

The album title means ”your childhood shall never die”, a beautiful title that says a lot about this lovely, touching album's overall mood. It has a naivité but the innocence comes with a fledgling worry that it might not stay that way forever. There's a kind of a Peter Pan quality to it, but a Peter Pan with a beginning identity crisis.

The title track is an eternal fan favourite, but there are so many great songs here. ”Hon håller ut över vintern” is a cross pollination of The Beatles and Big Star. ”Kärleken är död” echoes of Paul McCartney's early countryside recordings and is a wonderful song. But my favourite song here is the final track, the seven minute ”Mamma hjälp mig” with Dylanesque imagery and desperate underpinnings further emphasized by a distortion-drenched guitar solo soaked in escalating panic.

”Din barndom” has been reissued a couple of times, most recently as a lavish 50th anniversary 3CD set with one disc being the original album, the second being new recordings of unfinished songs from the period finally finished in the early 2020s, and the third one being other artists covering the entire original album
.

Ramlösa Kvarn (Epic, 1972)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

I count ”Ramlösa Kvarn” among Rönnblom's top 5. The songwriting's more focused, the lyrics are stronger, the melodies are more precise and the arrangements are richer, with tastefully applied horns, tablas, accordeon, vibraphone and even an electric sitar on ”Ta väl hand om Louis”. An all-star cast of session players back Rönnblom up, and he himself sings with greater confidence than before. There's not one bad track here, and although the songs are varied, the album's very cohesive – a tight and carefully pieced together unit. Oddly enough, demon producer Anders ”Henkan” Henriksson appears as a musician but not as a producer. It was in fact produced by Claes Dieden, formerly of 60s pop band Science Poption, but he did a great work making the many elements gel. A masterpiece, up there with period Pugh, Mikael Ramel et al.

Måsarna lämnar Gotland och hela Sverige tittar på (Epic, 1973)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

The third album has the slightly unwieldy title meaning ”the seagulls leave Gotland and all of Sweden is watching”. After the majestic ”Ramlösa Kvarn”, the follow-up was perhaps destined to be a disappointment. I said already from the start that Anders F. Rönnblom hasn't made any bad albums, and ”Måsarna” does have qualitues, but it's just not on the same level as much of his other stuff.

Again released on Epic Records, the framework is very different from the predecessor, with a smaller ensemble opting for a jazzy and even funky sound. I get the feeling that Rönnblom deliberately tried to change push his songwriting forward not to repeat himself, and while that signifies a great visionary artist and should be applauded, choosing a slightly bluesy groove based mode doesn't work out that well. The standout track is ”Ulla Hau” with a vibe not dissimilar to Dylan and The Band's ”Planet Waves” which was released the same year.

Still, this might be one of Rönnblom's albums most easily accessible to a non-Swedish listener because of its international style.

A lesser known Rönnblom related album from 1973 is ”Glas” by Marita Mejstam for which both he and Hawkey Franzén contributed several songs. Although some songs are OK, it's a more commercial sounding pop album and mostly interesting as a footnote to Rönnblom's own releases.

Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus (Epic, 1974)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Third and final Rönnblom on Epic Records, and while not another ”Ramlösa Kvarn” it's definitely a step in the right direction after ”Måsarna”. The songs are sharper and the rock oriented sound is a lot more becoming to them. A great addition is drummer Pelle Holm, known from especially Scorpion, Resan and Kebnekajse. His loose, open kind of playing is very important to how ”Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus” turned out. I'd even go as far as to call him the most important element here as I suspect it's his presence that inspires the other players (including Rönnblom himself) to open up a bit more than they did on ”Måsarna”. I like how the album sounds, but the specific song I like the best is curiously enough the most atypical one here, the brooding and oddly claustrophobic ”Guds rosor”.

 

Det hysteriska draget (Tyfon, 1977)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

After his stint with major label Epic he took a break for three years until 1977 when he scored a deal with Tyfon Records. Not known as a rock imprint, their output up to his signing consisted of particularly bad dance bands and budget albums of nameless artists covering hits from the last few years. The only other rock act they had was Rhapsody, so I suspect Tyfon's ability to market music of even the smallest merit was limited. Which might explain why ”Det hysteriska draget” is one of the rarer Rönnblom albums from the 70s. Which is a pity, as it's a return to form with plenty of great songs and inspired performances.

Rönnblom explains in his liner notes for the double CD reissue of the two Tyfon albums that he rediscovered Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks around that time, which inspired him to enrich the instrumental palette. A horn and string arranger, Jonny Blomqvist, was hired to give the album a fuller sound – a successful move that gave the album an extra push. As he explains: ”'Draget' became the album that 'Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus' should have been.” Also, the lyrics turned darker. Rönnblom's earlier lyrics often had a romantic gleam, but now torn souls and broken people entered his lyrical world. That makes ”Det hysteriska draget” one of his most multifaceted albums up to then.

Komedia – En tripp nerför Tarschan Boulevard (Tyfon, 1978)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

The modus operandi for the second Tyfon album was vastly different to ”Det hysteriska draget”. The drums were dragged out to the centre of the studio with all the other musicians standing around ”as if it was a rehearsal room gig” as Rönnblom puts it. Overdubbing and meticulous studio work was the order of the day, but producer Börje Forsberg wanted a raw and unpolished sound. Rönnblom's newest songs were too intricate for this method, so instead he had to present simpler and more straightforward material. And that's what you hear on the album.

And what an album it is! Hands down his best since ”Ramlösa Kvarn”, – better even! It certainly is much grainier than ”Det hysteriska draget”, and the no frills songs are in-your-face, almost like a documentary in music. The title track is among the best songs he's ever written with an ominous guitar line running through the verses, while ”Dom rätta kretsarna” captures the bleak mood of Sweden in the late 70s. But there's no point in singling out particular songs because they're all great. Easily one of the best Swedish albums of the era, still sounding fresh and vivid no matter how dark the colours of it are. Simply another masterpiece.

The 2CD reissue of ”Komedia” and ”Det hysteriska draget” features bonus tracks collectively named ”Garagesekvenser”. Songs Rönnblom kept on deteriorating cassette tapes but musically good enough to save for posterity, so as with ”Din barndom skall aldrig dö”, he recorded them anew in time for the reissue. Essential stuff, although it would have been great hearing what they would have been like if recorded properly during his Tyfon years.

 

Vem har satt mina änglar i bur? (Volym 1) (Mercury, 1979)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

”Vem har satt mina änglar i bur?” initiated a new phase in Rönnblom's career, a five album stretch for Mercury Records. A slicker album than ”Komedia” with the occasional influence from country music and old rock'n'roll. That had been part of his music already before, but it's a bit more obvious here. It's a good album; the title track and the lilting ”I ett snöfall” are fine songs, and there are a few more pleasant moments, but overall it feels a bit like an in-between album, like he's going somewhere but not quite sure where. As I decided to cut off at the end of the 70s, his next album ”Rapport från ett kallt fosterland” (subtitled ”Vem har satt mina änglar i bur, volym 2”) isn't included but it's a punchier and better defined album.

* * * 

I tend to think of Anders F. Rönnblom's discography as book, with his various phases being chapters and each album is a set of pages in each chapter. In that regard, he's a Dylan, or a Peter Hammill –  artists to grow with. Anders F. Rönnblom is indeed one of those. But I also realize that something vital is lost if you don't understand his language. A great songwriter for sure, but the lyrical dimension is a great part of why he's enriched my life so much.

Din barndom skall aldrig dö full album playlis
Ramlösa Kvarn full album playlist
Måsarna lämnar Gotland och hela Sverige tittar på full album playlist
Alternativ rock'n'roll cirkus full album playlist
Vem har satt mina änglar i bur? full album playlist
Det hysteriska draget:
Side A, part 1 
Side A, part 2 
Side B, part 1  
Side B, part 2 
from "Komedia - En tripp nerför Tarschan Boulevard":
Komedia 
bonus:
Marita Mejstam - Glas full album playlist 

BLÖDARNA – Diggar ditt hål (Heartwork, 7” 1979)

 
English vocals, Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***

I thought long and hard about how and where to fit this one in. There's no album to link it to as a postscript, and lumping it in with other singles seemed awkward too as it's such a solitary beast. So finally I decided it deserves a post of its own. But first, a little history lesson.

Stry Terrarie (née Anders Sjöholm) roared his way into music with punk band Kriminella Gitarrer (=”criminal guitars”) in 1978. Often heralded as the first Swedish punk band, they made an immediate impression with their debut single ”Vårdad klädsel”, which to this day remain perhaps the most violent and abrasive assault on your eardrums ever recorded in Sweden – it's so explosive that it has earned international recognition through its inclusion on one of the volumes of the ”Bloodstains” punk compilation series. Several acclaimed singles followed (although none had quite the same ballistic impact as ”Vårdad klädsel”), but it was a track off 1979 various artists compilation ”Svensk pop” that draw ”normal people's” attention to them. When ”Knugen skuk” was played on radio show ”Ny våg” it was immediately banned, contemplating as it did the nature of the reproductive organ belonging to the King of Sweden.

Following the disbanding of Kriminella Gitarrer in 1979, the musically restless Stry Terrarie initiated several different bands, all of them excellent: Besökarna (”the visitors”), Stry & Stripparna (”Stry & the strippers”), Garbochock and – Blödarna (”the bleeders”). It's often hard to discern where one band ended and the next one began; it's not unfair to say their line-ups are in a continuous fluxus state. What can be determined though, is that Terrarie gravitated towards a much darker sound in many of those bands, far removed from the foundations-rattling ferocity of Kriminella Gitarrer. You can for instance sense an air of The Doors in Garbochock, but his psychedelic leanings never manifested themselves as succesfully and profoundly as in Blödarna (which really was the seed for Garbochock)..

With only one single released plus a lo-fi contribution to the exquisitely rare V/A cassette-only release "Eldbegängelse", Blödarna are an almost mythological parenthesis. At least until you hear ”Diggar ditt hål” (="digging your hole"). Recorded live on stage, the twelve minute track moves slowly like menacing shadows in the dark. The lyrics switch between Swedish and English, but the vocals are barely audible anyway, and often come through like paranoid yelps among the persistent, droning organ and the piercing guitars zig-zagging their way between Television's brothers-in-arms Tom Verlaine & Richard Lloyd and a malicious Robbie Krieger. The creeping mood won't change until two minutes before the end when the song slowly speeds up to an almost ”Psychotic Reaction”-like frenzy with Terrarie definitely going over the edge vocally.

It still sounds sick, twisted and bizarre: a true gem, a classic, a masterpiece, a milestone. Is it progg? Is it psych? I don't know, but it grew out of the very same soil as once Älgarnas Trädgård, Träd Gräs & Stenar, and Arbete & Fritid's ”Petrokemi”, it only flourished differently.

Full single playlist (Bandcamp)

A SEVEN INCH SPECIAL, VOL. 8: Various singles

 

BLUESET – Midnight Rambler / The Band (Efel, 1970)

English vocals

International relevance: ***

Second single from Södertälje's Blueset. ”Midnight Rambler” is a pointless cover of The Rolling Stones monolith while the 'B' side is an autobiographical revamp of Willie Cobbs' ”You Don't Love Me” (which in turn was a modification of Bo Diddley's ”She's Fine, She's Mine”). Not any of Blueset's best moments.
 

RÖDA KAPELLET & UNGA GARDET – EP (Arbetarkultur, 1974)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

Recorded in 1973 and released as a four-track EP the following year, this was Röda Kapellet's first release. Two of the songs are performed with vocal group Unga Gardet in a typical political leftwing style à la a less militant Freedom Singers/Knutna Nävar. Not good. The two remaining tracks are by the electric (and better) incarnation of Röda Kapellet. Not that neither ”Västeråsvisan” nor ”Rätt till ett meningsfullt jobb” is particularly good, but both have some drive to them that make them at least a little bit catchy. 

 

OKAY TEMIZ - Denizaltı Rüzgarları / Dokuz Sekiz (Yonca, 1975)

Instrumental

International relevance: ***

Something as unusual as a single from the magnificent Okay Temiz, released only in Turkey in the same year as the ”Turkish Folk Jazz” album but very different. It's actually rather different to most of Temiz did, especially in the 70s (although I do recognize the riff from somewhere). ”Denizaltı Rüzgarları” has a persistent, driving groove and is one of the funkiest tracks in his ouvre, and I could imagine someone remixing it for the dance floor unless it has already happened. ”Dokuz Sekiz” in turn is a freaky percussion workout with downright psychedelic shadings. An excellent non-album two-sider from both ends of the spectrum, thankfully reissued in 2017 by UK based label Arsivplak specialized on Turkish rarities – originals are rare and costly.

JAJJA BAND – Tårarna / Linda (MNW, 1979)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *

A supergroup of sorts with members from November, Träd Gräs & Stenar, Eldkvarn, and Sigge Krantz from everyone from Bröderna Lönn to Archimedes Badkar. Not that it says much about how Jajja Band sounds – they were more of a standard period rock band with light strokes of punk and new wave. Interesting as a footnote to the abovementioned bands but nothing that stands up on its own merits.

 

MUSIC TEAM – Funny Way Of Livin' / Sweet Lorraine (no label, 1979)

English vocals

International relevance: -

The 'A' side is stupid horn rock boogie, the 'B' side is better but only just. And what's better about it is effectively ruined by Boel Peterson's intrusive back-up vocals anyway. Said to be a private release but the labels are suspiciously similar to the labels of Janne Goldmann's R & P Records so maybe there's a connection.

 

ACHILLEUS – Allt vi begär / Öbergs präster (Pang, 1982)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **

One of many, many bands lured to the rogue label Pang Records by the dodgy Lars E. Carlsson who ran it between 1978 and 1984. The single was pressed, as often with Pang, in 500 copies and the band was gravely dissatisfied with the results. They were a hard rock band with some symphonic moves, and the inferior four track studio was not what they were promised and couldn't capture the sound they aimed for. They remixed the single in 2024 for streaming platforms, and while still an insufficient recording, it does sound better now. It's musically not very good though. Those who nevertheless want to hear more early Achilleus material can check out their streaming compilation ”The Sins Of Youth 1982-1984”.

 

TIEBREAK – Mina grannar (gillar inte rock'n'roll) / Balladen om Lotta Bengtsson (Pang, 1982)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

The singer's dialect suggests Tiebreak might have been from the Swedish West Coast. They sound very much like a Gothenburg version of Sydkraft, meaning irrelevant stupid rock'n'roll. Both songs are bad.

 

VICTIM – Framtid med hopp / Det var då han vann (Pang, 1982)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

Clumsy hard rock verging on heavy metal from Vimmerby in the county of Småland. Poorly rehearsed and with a horrible, insipid singer. The cover art is bad even for a Pang release. Very expensive these days, but that has definitely more to do with rarity grade than musical value.
 

 

HELIUM HEAD – In The Sky / Take Me Home (Pang, 1982)

English vocals

International relevance: **

One more Pang 45, and one of the better. The band was from the small town of Yxbo in the Hälsingland county in the middle of Sweden and might have taken their name from the Sir Lord Baltimore song. The guitars are a bit metallic but Helium Head is generally closer to good old fashioned hard rock. ”In The Sky” is really catchy, and while the 'B' side ”Take Me Home” is also very melodic, it's not as good as the other track – it's a little bit too poppy for the style. Still a pity they never released anything else, they had more talent than many other bands screwed over by Pang.

Released without a picture sleeve.
 

 

DREAD NOT – Reggae Inna Umeå (no label, 1982)

English vocals

International relevance: *

Reggae band of little significance. They came from Umeå as revealed by the single's title, and despite a prime time television appearance, nothing came of the band except this one self-released and self-produced 7”. The only member I recognize is drummer Jan Gavelin who was in Harald Hedning in the mid 70s. Closer to brit reggae acts like Aswad and Steel Pulse and not very close to Jamaica, the 'A' side ”This World” is OK albeit formulaic, while 'B' side ”Welcome Brother” is entirely forgettable.

Blueset no links found
Helium Head no links found
Okay Temiz full single playlist (Bandcamp)
Tiebreak full single
Victim full single
Röda Kapellet & Unga Gardet:
Västeråsvisan / Världsungdomssången (with Unga Gardet) / Unga gardet (with Unga Gardet) / Rätt till ett meningsfull artbete
Jajja Band:
Tårarna / Linda (Soundcloud)
Music Team:
Funny Way Of Livin'
Achilleus:
Allt vi begär / Öbergs präster
Full remixed single playlist
Dread Not:
This World / Welcome Brother 

FREEDOM – Freedom (Bellatrix, 1978)

 

 Swedish vocals, English vocals

International relevance: *

Dan Tillberg's Bellatrix label was a confusing one. Anything could come out on the label – punk, progg, jazz, garage rock, polka (!), choirs and religious music. This one fits the last two categories.

Released as Freedom but actually performed by Kyrkans Ungdom I Finja Pastorat (=”the church youth of the Finja pastorate”, Finja being a small town in Skåne in the south) to the benefit of the Church of Sweden International Aid. Seemingly appealing to collectors of Jesus pop, it does have some progg characteristics. A few tracks would actually have been quite good hadn't it been a youth choir singing. The best track by far is album opener ”Vem var han?” which wouldn't have been out of place on Obadja's great album ”Testa”. However, it was resurrected on the "Frälst!" compilation – a good choice making "Freedom" redundant. As it stands, it is a youth choir album sounding like one.

Vem var han? (Bandcamp)

MWENDO DAWA – Basic Line (Sonet, 1979) / Free Lines (Dragon, 1981)

 

Basic Line (Sonet, 1979) 

Instrumental
International relevance: **

The first of many albums from these Gothenburg jazzers who carved out a fusion jazz niche of their own with Susanna Lindeborg's mini moog. However, it hadn't yet found its natural place in the music this early on, and it sounds a bit like it was added when the others had done their parts, like an afterthought. Mwendo Dawa was to a fair degree tenor saxophonist Ove Johansson's band, but it was Lindeborg's keyboards that gave them their special character. ”Basic Line” sounds as if they're still searching for their unique sound, like they still are getting to know each other musically. It took some time still before they got there. Recorded in 1978.

 

Free Lines (Dragon, 1981)

Instrumental, wordless vocals

International relevance: **

Two years and a couple of albums later, Mwendo Dawa had lost guitarist Ulf Wakenius which proved beneficial. ”Free Lines” is a much tighter work signified by a greater collective self-assurance. Ove Johansson plays with great ease here occasionally touching on free jazz, but the most striking leap forward comes from drummer David Sundby who's very powerful on ”Free Lines” giving the music a the much needed push that the debut lacked. Even the album's more lyrical moments are tenser and denser. And while Susanna Lindeborg may not have a leading role here, her keyboards slip much more smoothly into the music. 

from "Basic Line":
Important Level
Basic Line

from "Free Lines"
Maria