Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***
Collectors' favourites Charlie &
Esdor's 1970 album never saw the light of the day and the master
tapes are long lost, so this Mellotronen compilation is the closest
we'll ever get a proper Charlie & Esdor album. It gathers all
surviving studio tracks from the semi-Norweigan duo, adding a couple
of live tracks from the 1970-72 period (and an ugly album cover – was that really the best picture they could find?)
Charlie & Esdor appeared at both
Gärdet festivals, and the legendary double album ”Festen på Gärdet” features ”Dagen är över” (oddly enough not included
on the Mellotronen CD). A studio recording of the song also appeared
on their lone 1970 MNW 45 with ”Då klagar mina grannar” on the 'A'
side. The 7” was produced by Bo Anders Larsson, and he put out two
Charlie & Esdor outtakes as a 45 under his own Scorpion moniker, ”It's All Over Now” with vocals overdubbed, and ”Fuck the
Cops” on the 'B' side, retitled to the less controversial ”Wolves
Mouth Song”. With a bit of simplification, you could say that Charlie & Esdor's attempted album was reduced to
four track 33 rpm EP ”Grönt är skönt” in 1972, again through MNW.
”Grönt är skönt” and the
Scorpion single are much heavier than Charlie & Esdor were in a
live setting, as proven by the officially released live tracks and
circulating bootleg tapes. I think Bo Anders Larsson did a good thing
adding a more powerful band backing to some of the songs, thus freshening up Charlie & Esdor's mellow hippy-dippy vibe a fair bit.
It would have been great hearing what the intended album would have
been like in its entirety.
The Mellotronen release is a typical archival release and while it certainly has its good moments, it's an uneven album. But it's all we're left with (except for a few inferior live tapes) unless the full album master tapes suddenly appear mysteriously out of the blue. But it's doubtful that will ever happen.
The Mellotronen release is a typical archival release and while it certainly has its good moments, it's an uneven album. But it's all we're left with (except for a few inferior live tapes) unless the full album master tapes suddenly appear mysteriously out of the blue. But it's doubtful that will ever happen.
Charlie Franzén and Esdor Jensen also appeared as back-up singers on Envoys 45 ”Almarna åt folket” and were briefly in Blueset.
Full album playlist
Full album playlist
No comments:
Post a Comment