Guitar slinger Peter O. Ekberg went from 60's
band Germs Group to a short stint in Thorleifs, an outfit of that
particular brand of evil called Swedish dance bands, before going solo in the mid 70's. His solo albums
are largely uninteresting, but with a few progg moves, I thought I should comment on his albums
in brief.
Så häftigt!! (Polydor, 1976)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
Ekberg's first proper album was
recorded with back-up band Attila. Mostly displaying standard rock
with a commercial edge, a couple of tracks have progg sensibilities, particularly ”Big Abdullah” and ”Du satans onda cirkel” with
room enough for Ekberg to show off his guitar abilities. Ballads ”På lingonlandet” and ”De vackra orden” are decent. All in all, this is Ekberg's best album.
Peter O. Ekberg (TOR, 1976)
Swedish vocals, English vocals,
instrumental
International relevance: **
The self-titled second LP follows along
the lines of Ekberg's first, with some proggier tracks including the
heavy album opener ”Han kan va' du”. ”Hjördis sång” is a
drowsy instrumental reminiscent of Janne Schaffer's solo albums.
Ekberg widens the scope with jazz, funk and country influences but
the results are still dull and unengaging.
Så länge vi har oss (TOR, 1978)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *
More of the same, but with a higher
funk and fusion factor than previous albums. The track with the
greatest progg emphasis is the instrumental Roland Gottlow
composition ”Hemåt”, but it's a pretty lame excuse for such a
soporific album as this.
Det känns som att va på en fest (EMI,
1979)
Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *
A shift to major label EMI and the
introduction of his band Peter O. Ekbergs System didn't do much to
improve Ekberg's music. On the contrary: it got worse, with funk slap
bass, stiff drumming and even more uninteresting songs firmly rooted
in the worst kind of boogie blues (the title ”Good Time Blues” says it all). It's unlikely that you'd get as
far as to the instrumental last track ”Tills nästa gång” but if
you do, you'll discover a few traces of progg there. But believe me,
it's not worth the trouble.
Ekberg also released a couple of 45's and later became a session musician
for both Swedish and American artists. He lived in Austin, TX for a
few years, performing with Jerry Jeff Walker, Keith Ferguson and
others. Ekberg made a few more albums much later, the most recent one released in 2016.
Så häftigt!! full album
Så häftigt!! full album
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