Fria Proteatern grew out of the Swedish
beat group Mascots who released two above average albums and a
massive amount of 45's between 1964 and 1969 including the absolutely
gorgeous Beatles pastiche ”Words Enough to Tell You”. As the
Mascots concept proved to narrow for the members' burgeoning interest
in polirics, it became necessary to create a new outlet for their
ideas. Enter NJA-gruppen who wrote a stage play about iron workers in
the northern parts of Sweden. They put a lot of effort into their
material, for instance interviewing actual labourers to secure an
authentic as possible stage presentation of the workers' conditions.
The group changed their name to Fria Proteatern in 1971.
Hör upp allt folk (MNW, 1970)
as NJA-gruppen
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
There's nothing about ”Hör upp allt
folk” that reveals the band's past as The Mascots. Gone was the
charming Beatles inspired tunes, substituted with political
sloganeering set to a mellow, acoustic folk pop sound. Although some
tracks are accessible and melodic, the lyrics are strenuously
propagandistic. They focused on important wrongs and faults with the system but the message is so densly packed, it's a hard task sitting through it today. And it got worse as their career proceeded. Fria Proteatern was very much a product of their time and time has been rough on them.
”Balladen om Olsson” has become some kind of classic but has nothing to set it apart from the rest of the album.
”Balladen om Olsson” has become some kind of classic but has nothing to set it apart from the rest of the album.
Hör ni hört kamrater (Folksång,
1971)
as Fria Proteatern (NJA-gruppen)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
If one album was forgivable (albeit not
excusable), two were as pleasant as trying to brush the teeth of a
starving crocodile. The style is the same as on the previous album, the lyrics read like a
transcription of a communist meeting. Wanna proselytize along? No
prob, lyric booklet is included.
Typerna och draken (Folksång, 1972)
International relevance: -
Swedish vocals
Their third album, recorded in performance,
including spoken portions from the actual play which only makes this
album even more abysmal. This time the plot deals with typographers
and newspapers but the sentiment is the same as before. Nervegrating, impenetrable.
Sånger från Ljugarbänken
(Oktober, 1975)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
After a live album released on Danish
progressive label Demos, ”Koncert
i København okt. 1973”, Fria Proteatern switched labels
from their own Folksång to Oktober for their fourth proper album.
What it's like? More of the same. This never ends, does it?
Knytkalas: Nya sånger med Fria
Proteatern (Oktober, 1976)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: *
If you consider that the catchy pseudo
blues of album opener ”Kom igen” and that
”Utanför mitt fönster” is reasonably evocative, this is a
surprisingly good album by Fria Proteatern standards. Then again,
two songs don't make an album.
Med vilken rätt (Oktober, 1977)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
A more mature work with influences from
Finnish tango and a greater amount of Swedish traditional music in
the mix. The surprisingly heavy, electric album closer ”Teruel”
is quite good. The best album Fria Proteatern ever did in the 70s. What a pity
it took them so long to make one listenable album...
Fria Proteatern re-appeared on disc ten years later with ”Sånger av Vysotskij” featuring translations of Russian poet and songwriter Vladimir Vysotskij. Being the best album they did at all, it was reissued and expanded in 2007. A live album of more Vysotskij songs were recorded in 2003. They also had a couple of singles out. Career overview ”Valda verk 1969-1984” contains unreleased recordings, god help us all. They're also featued in ”Progglådan” with a live recording from Scalateatern in Stockholm.
Fria Proteatern re-appeared on disc ten years later with ”Sånger av Vysotskij” featuring translations of Russian poet and songwriter Vladimir Vysotskij. Being the best album they did at all, it was reissued and expanded in 2007. A live album of more Vysotskij songs were recorded in 2003. They also had a couple of singles out. Career overview ”Valda verk 1969-1984” contains unreleased recordings, god help us all. They're also featued in ”Progglådan” with a live recording from Scalateatern in Stockholm.
Final words: Fria Proteatern was one of
the bands that kept me from exploring progg music more extensively for so long. They
gave me the wrong idea of what progg was and could be, and the loathing runs deep. I know that this runthrough isn't very thorough, but it
took me a serious amount of self-denial and determination to get it done at all.
Going through all their albums once again was a horror. Now I hope I
won't ever have to listen to them again, with the possible exception
of ”Med vilken rätt”.
from Har ni hört kamrater
from Typerna och draken
Nya Internationalen
Polisen skjuter skarpt 1932
Lägersång
Bonnieroperan
Det nya livet
Nya Internationalen
Polisen skjuter skarpt 1932
Lägersång
Bonnieroperan
Det nya livet
from Sånger från ljugarbänken
Vilken sida står du på?
Tjänstevägen
Dialektikens lov
Balladen om Rune Henry Johansson
Allting har sin tid
Vilken sida står du på?
Tjänstevägen
Dialektikens lov
Balladen om Rune Henry Johansson
Allting har sin tid
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