Monday, August 27, 2018

PUGH ROGEFELDT – Complete albums 1970-1977

Pughish (Metronome, 1970)
Swedish vocals, English vocals, other languages
International relevance: *** 

Pugh Rogefeldt is widely acknowledged for being the first one to make a rock album in Swedish, but he was also the first artist so sing in Pughish. No wonder – he invented the language himself and it can be heard on the track ”Aindto”. The rest of the album is in Swedish with parts of it in English.

As on debut album ”Ja dä ä dä”, Janne Carlsson appears on drums and Georg 'Jojje' Wadenius supplies bass. It's a very different album to his first LP however, somewhat darker in tone with a greater melancholy permeating the breezier tracks like ”Sail With Me, Come on and Try – I Love You” and the aforementioned ”Aindto”. ”Föräldralåten” rocks out a bit more (but isn't very good), while ”Om du vill ha mej” and ”Stinsen i Bro” have a bluesier sound (although the two part ”Stinsen i Bro” really is hard to pinpoint in style). Remaining track ”Klöver Linda” is a summery track, not unlike ”Små lätta moln” on ”Ja dä ä dä”.

”Pughish” is Pugh's second album (housed in an eerie cover) and so a part of his classic informal 'trilogy' beginning with ”Ja dä ä dä” and ending with ”Hollywood” in 1972. It's a good album but it has something oddly insular about it that makes it harder to connect with. My guess is that Pugh wanted to try something entirely different this time, and while he succeeded doing so, he wasn't exactly sure what he was aiming at. ”Pughish” drifts off in so many peculiar directions that it's hard to percieve it as a coherent work. It's mystifying and intriguing, but mostly I play only a few tracks off it.

Hollywood (Sonet, 1972)
as Pugh
Swedish vocals
International relevance: ***
 
If ”Pughish” was a bit confused, this is the product of a much clearer vision. Great songs with the fantastic ”Jag är en liten pojk” leading the way to ”Jag har en guldgruva” (where Pugh shows his remarkble blues harmonica skills), ”Till gröna skogar” and the heavy ”Home, Home” to mention but a few.

With a different set of musicians to his first two albums – no Jojje Wadenius or Janne Carlsson here – it's obvious already one beforehand that ”Hollywood” is different in nature to ”Ja dä ä dä” and ”Pughish”. It's tighter and more lavish sounding, but without losing in strength one bit. There are moments I actually think this is even better than some on ”Ja dä ä dä”.

Pugh on the Rocks (Metronome, 1973)
as Pugh
Swedish vocals
International relevance: * 

It's sometimes said that a live album or a covers album is something you put out when creativity is running low. That's of course not always the case, but I dare say that it's a much valid assertion when it comes to Pugh Rogefeldt's ”Pugh on the Rocks”. With three excellent albums behind him, why would he bother with something like this had he more top notch material to choose from?

The title is supposed to be funny I guess, referencing the album's content of only translated rock & roll classics made famous by the likes of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Little Richard. But the other meaning of the expression is even more appropriate, because Pugh is really on the rocks with this one.

I love old rock & roll, I think the 50's were one of the true and few really golden ages of rock, but I already have all the aforementioned artists and I don't need somebody hyperventilating his way through versions of their songs. I can't even pick one track here that's even decent but if you point a gun to my head and threaten to lock me up in a cupboard and play the complete works of Guns 'n' Roses on repeat, then I'd probably say ”Långsamma timmar” (”Seems Like a Long Time”) but only to escape the inhumane torture.

An outtake from the sessions was released on Gump compilation ”Voice of the Wolf”.

Bolla och rulla (Metronome, 1974)
as Pugh Rogefeldt & Rainrock
Swedish lyrics
International relevance: **

There's something about this album that makes me feel very unpleasant. Maybe it's the profound discomfort the hit song ”Dinga Linga Lena” provokes in me – with a 27 year old man lusting for a 15 year old girl – that rubs off on the rest of the album, but I think there's someting more (if the paedophiliac vibe of the aforementioned track wasn't disturbing enough). Maybe it's in the way Pugh's then newly formed backing band Rainrock plays (it sounds like fake rock), maybe it's how Pugh sings with a sleazebag sneer, or maybe the songs just aren't very good. Except for the title track and perhaps and ”Kajans sång”. Whatever the reason, I can't stand listening to ”Bolla och rulla”.

Just to make it clear: Pugh gave up playing ”Dinga Linga Lena” live many years ago, for the same reason I find it disagreeable.

Ett steg till (Metronome, 1975)
as Pugh & Rainrock, Ola Magnell, Lucas Persson
Swedish vocals, English vocals
International relevance: ***

Following the release of "Bolla och rulla", Pugh took his new band Rainrock on a package tour that also featured newly baked record artist Ola Magnell and veteran pianist Janne 'Lucas' Persson. It was probably a great show to attend, but the surviving tour document is very uneven. Lucas Persson is basically a Swedish Elton John (make what you will of that), Ola Magnell wasn't an entirely convincing live artist this early on, and Pugh's contributions are a bit hit and miss. He sings with that sleaze voice he developed for "Bolla och rulla", but some of his contributions work quite well in this setting, such as the acoustic "Hog Farm" and old chestnut "Små lätta moln". New track "Storseglet" is the highlight in this collection, a towering and gut-wrenching track that goes on for a full ten minutes without ever letting go of the grip.

Bamalama (Metronome, 1977) 
as Pugh
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance: *

OK, so this dull exercise in AOR rock with the occasional stab at disco and country (the obvious mix, no?) doesn't quite belong here but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to bring some attention to Rogefeldt's excellent Swedish language version of Woody Guthrie's ”Vigilante Man”, entitled ”Vår kommunale man”.

The 4CD box set simply entitled "Pugh" features several demos, alternate takes, live recordings and singles from his golden years. He was also supposed to be included in "Progglådan", but failed to approve his participation in time, why he was left off the set.

Pugh Rogefeldt has released plenty of albums after "Bamalama"; some of them are OK, others are not, but none of them comes even close to what he did in the early days of his career.

Pughish full album playlist

Hollywood full album playlist

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