There seems to be a cult of die-hard
followers surrounding Turid Lundqvist and her albums. Sometimes it's
almost impossible to have an opinion of your own, especially if it
contradicts the prevalent 'holy cow' notion of her. It's annoying, and so is her voice. Soaring towards Joni Mitchell with an added fairy femninity warble. I choose Lena Ekman over Turid, any
given day.
I actually won't bother with any
biographical facts this time – I advise anyone interested in her
background to check out her entry in Tobias Pettersson's ”The
Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music 1967-1979”. That's a good
summarily overview of her doings and dealings. I'll go straight to
the albums instead.
Vittras visor (Silence, 1971)
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: ***
Turid's debut album is a mix of songs
in Swedish and English, with the English tracks in particular
sounding like serial Joni Mitchell ripoffs. The album carries the
seeds for that Jan Hammarlund style vibrato heard on most of her
albums, which is just as maddening when it comes out of Turid's
throat as out of his. And you know how birds of a feather flock
together – Hammarlund wrote the lyrics to ”Crystal Shade of
Loneliness” on ”Vittras visor”, thereby initiating the
occasional collaboration between the two that would continue for many
years. The album's best feature is Kenny Håkansson's delicate guitar
work that creates a certain atmosphere which in itself is very appealing. Håkansson also wrote the music to one of the songs, ”To the Children of Song My”.
Bilder (Silence, 1973)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***
Second album sports a framework of
sensuous arrangements courtesy of a fine line-up of progg
personalities including Kenny Håkansson, Mats Glenngård, Bo
Skoglund and Fläsket Brinner's Gunnar Bergsten. But Turid's voice
keeps whirling up into her patented, grating falsetto. This time she
comes clean though, translating Joni Mitchell's ”I Had a King”
into ”Jag vet en prins”. Album highlights: ”Låt mig se dig”
and Thomas Wiehe cover ”Vargen”. Like "Vittras visor", "Bilder" has a gracedul mood, but the voice is too piercing.
Tredje dagen (Silence, 1975)
International relevance: ***
Swedish vocals
”På tredje dagen återuppståndna” is a great track, featuring drum master Bengt Berger on tablas and
thankfully with only a minimum of Turid's fairy yodel. Includes ”Om
snällhet” written by Lena Ekman. Features on all-star cast with members from Kebnekajse, Elektriska Linden, Blå Tåget, Egba, and Vargavinter.
Selma, världserövrare (Metronome,
1977)
International relevance: ***
Swedish vocals
Turid's switch to commercial major
label (major by progg standards anyway) prompted progg magazine
Musikens Makt to publish a mean-spirited piece about how she 'lets
the Movement down' and being too wrapped up in her 'personal
concerns'. The album isn't better or worse than any other Turid
album, only displaying higher production values. And more of the
Hammarlund vibrato. But the title track is probably Turid's best song
ever.
Tistlar från tundran (Metronome,
1980)
Swedish vocals
International relevance: **
Her second album for Metronome, and her
last and weakest solo album. ”På väg” sounds like another
female Metronome artist, Marie Bergman,”Personligt brev” mimicks
Joni Mitchell period with backing band L.A. Express.
Flow Soma (Silence, 1982)
with
Thomas Wiehe
English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *
Turid's last original outing was an all English
collaboration with Thomas Wiehe, released as simply Thomas and
Turid, but Wiehe's input is limited to guitar and percussion. Turid is the singer and songwriter. The album is basically a jazz album with antiseptic new age
production. A different term would be 'muzak'. Or 'terrible'.
Turid also appears on two albums by Finnish weirdo M.A. Numminen, ”Haren satt i gropen” (Love, 1973) and ”Fårskallevisor” (Svenska Love, 1978). She also made an album with Jan Hammarlund and Lena Ekman, ”Igår, idag, i morgon” (Silence, 1976). ”Progglådan” features various live recordings from 1969-1976. There are also a few other various artists albums with exclusive Turid contributions. Of note are also her collaborations with Kebnekajse, especially on their second album.
Bottom line: Anything Turid did,
Joni Mitchell did so much better. In that sense, Turid is like a Swedish Linda Perhacs who gets all record collector cognoscenti praise instead of the real thing. There are good songs among here albums, but they're not original enough to justify any 'holy cow' status that certain vinyl high priests so readily declare her.
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