HAWKEY FRANZÉN – Complete albums 1969-1981

Hawkey Franzén was a member of Lea Riders Group who made a couple of 45's in the 60's, including the rousing ”Dom kallar oss mods” which became an international garage psych classic when included on the third volume of the groundbreaking compilation series ”Pebbles”. He performed in the Swedish version of ”Hair” at Scalateatern in Stockholm in 1968, and joined Jason's Fleece for their one-off album in 1970. He released several singles with various line-ups and appeared on albums by Björn J:son Lindh, Lena Granhagen and Fred Åkerström; translated lyrics and wrote songs for Monica Törnell, Tommy Körberg, Anita Lindblom, Sylvia Vrethammar... The list of domestic stars he's worked with is virtually endless. His solo album discography is far more comprehensible. Between 1969 and 1981 he released a mere four regular LP's, plus two children's albums.

Visa från Djupvik (Mercury, 1969)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: ***

Hawkey Franzén spent a month in jail for draft dodging and there he met Björn J:son Lindh who was behind bars for the same reason. Together they began working on songs dealing with life in prison. The collaboration spawned Franzén's first solo album ”Visa från Djupvik”, with Djupvik being the name of correctional institution where they were interned. Tracks such as ”Tillbaka från skogen” and ”Vakuum” bear a slight Pugh Rogefeldt resemblance, and there's a disctint jazz influence on ”Somnar” and ”En dag”, but the best tracks are ”Tack ska ni ha!”, ”Fångvård” and the brass laced ”Tyst”. Fans of Lea Riders Group might find ”Visa från Djupvik” disappointing but it's a very fine album in its own right.

Visa från gungor och sand (MNW, 1971)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

”Visa från gungor och sand” – subtitled ”Visa från världens största park” – is a children's album of sorts, a bit like Jojje Wadenius' ”Goda' goda'”, but it's as much an album about children as it's for children. ”Varför då” is a good song, ”Gungor och sand” shows a minor David Crosby influence, and the instrumental jam based ”Två pappor” that ends the album is OK too, but the children singing back up vocals on several of the tracks are a bit distracting. And the lyrics just don't have the urgency of those on ”Visa från Djupvik”.

Visa från och till (Mercury, 1971)

Swedish vocals, instrumental

International relevance: ***

A move back to major label Mercury after the short stint with MNW for ”Visa från gungor och sand”. ”Visa från och till” has a somewhat more detailed production including moog and strings, but it falls a bit short songwise. Franzén occasionally comes off like a Cornelis Vreeswijk (very famous Dutch born Swedish singer/songwriter) wannabe on a couple of tracks and a sleepy eyed Mikael Ramel on others. But it has a couple of interesting moments. ”Jag ger mig” has a driving groove; the short Bela Bartók composition ”Ungersk polsterdans” wouldn't have been out of place on a Samla Mammas Manna album, and the two versions of ”Sorgmarsch” are odd and intriguing exercises in unusual rhythms. The best track of them all is however ”Sorgekranser” that further explores 'chopped off' time signatures. To sum it up: ”Visa från och till” is uneven but with worthwhile highlights.

Visa av och med (Viking, 1972)

Swedish vocals

International relevance: **

Hawkey Franzén's last proper album for 33 years, and a good one at that. It's largely a contemporary band singer/songwriter album (very atypical to the Viking label) but the performances are solid and Franzén sounds more inspired on this album than he did on ”Visa från och till”. The most progressive track ”Visst kan man bli fast” is splendid with Björn J:son Lindh in excellent (semi-free jazz) flute shape.

”Visa från Djupvik” often gets most of the praise but it might actually be that ”Visa av och med” is my personal favourite Hawkey Franzén album.
 

Skivan om Bubblan som fick nya föräldrar (Proprius, 1973)

Swedish vocals, spoken word

International relevance: *

This children's album isn't really a Hawkey Franzén album but it features him as the story's main character Bubblan's two daddies. The musical parts are performed by Jan Bandel, Jan Schaffer and Stefan Brolund (Hörselmat, Pop Workshop) with jazz musicians Bengt Hallberg, Egil Johansen, Staffan Sjöholm and Rune Gustafsson completing the line-up. The music was written by Leif Strand and is mellow but quirky – sometimes even spaced out. Hardly an everyday spin but peculiarly appealing even during the spoken bits (although they admittedly won't do much to non-Swedes). The plot's written by actor, author and translator Catherine Berg.

Smulvisor & bitlåtar (Sonet, 1981)

with Ulla Wiklund

Swedish vocals

International relevance: *

An album made with Ulla Wiklund who voice acted Bubblan on the previous album. Franzén produced the album, sang on half of the tracks, and provided guitars and sound effects. Other performers include Jan Bandel, Greg FitzPatrick, Ale Möller and Göran Lagerberg. The Oriental sounding ”Gamla trappan” features tablas, bouzouki and flute and is the only interesting track on an uninteresting album.

Visa från Djupvik full album playlist
Visa från gungor och sand full album playlist
Visa från och till full album playlist
Sagan om bubblan som fick nya föräldrar full album
Smulvisor & bitlåtar full album playlist