Saturday, July 14, 2018

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.

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