In the wake of the anti-imperialistic
forces in the late 60's and 70's, several bands turned to traditional
Swedish music, taking a stand against the American influence on
Swedish culture. Most of those bands and artists based their
repertoire on instrumental tunes rather than songs, but Folk &
Rackare delved deep into the old domestic narrative music. Softly
adding a rock touch, they became the Swedish equivalent to
particularly UK folk rockers Steeleye Span, with harmony vocals and a
softer sound than for instance, Fairport Convention. Their first
release was actually a duo album by front couple Carin Kjellman and
Ulf Gruvberg, but when expanding their line-up, they soon turned into
a very popular band, releasing several albums up until 1985.
Med rötter i medeltiden (Sonet,
1974)
as Carin Kjellman & Ulf Gruvberg
as Carin Kjellman & Ulf Gruvberg
Swedish vocals, instrumental, a cappella
International relevance: ***
The duo debut with acoustic guitars,
fiddles, flutes and bagpipes and also a couple of a capella songs. I
used to be a huge fan of this, but my infatuation has slowly worn off
with time. ”Liten Kersti stalledräng” and ”Maj är välkommen”
are still nice enough tracks, but the general mellowness of the album
strikes me too rosy-cheeked these days. The album is simply too pretty and cozy for me to pull out anymore. I actually find it a bit hard to listen to now.
Folk Och Rackare (YTF, 1976)
Swedish vocals, instrumental, a cappella
International relevance: ***
First album released as Folk Och
Rackare, still largely acoustic but with more musicians participating
to make it more o a band effort including the ocassional electric
bass and drums. First Folk Och Rackare appearance from
Jørn Jensen
of Norway's #1 folk rock band Folque. Another album I used to play to
death that doesn't quite do it for me anymore.
Rackarspel
(YTF, 1978)
Swedish
vocals, instrumental, a cappella
International
relevance: ***
Fiddler
Trond Villa did what Jørn
Jensen already had done, he left Folque for an increasingly rock
oriented Folk & Rackare. ”Rackarspel” is a fuller sounding
album than any of their previous outings, more self-assured and with
richer and punchier performances making for a smoother mix of band
tracks and a capella numbers. Their best album. (An acoustic and
inferior live version of ”Äggavisan” from ”Rackarspel” can
be heard on the 1978 various artist album ”Ångbåtsmusik – Live
ombord på S/S Blidösund” on the Roslagen label.)
Anno
1979 (Sonet, 1979)
Swedish
vocals, instrumental, a cappella
International
relevance: ***
After
two albums for the YTF label, Folk & Rackare returned to Sonet
who released ”Med rötterna i medeltiden” back in 1974, this time
offering the band higher production values, resulting in their
glossiest sounding 70's album. The use of reverb rounds off the
sharper edges too much and that weakens the impact the album
otherwise might have had. Too smooth for its own good.
Stjärnhästen
(Sonet, 1981)
Swedish vocals, instrumental, a cappella
Swedish vocals, instrumental, a cappella
International
relevance: ***
A
Christmas album with songs exclusively dealing with the Staffan
Stalledräng character of Swedish and Norweigan folklore. Christmas
records are a scary concept but this is, after all, better than most
(for what it's worth). But just like ”Anno 1979” it suffers from
too much production sheen, plus much too much of those apple-cheeked
vocals that have pushed me such a long way from even Folk &
Rackare's early albums.
Folk & Rackare returned in 1985 with "Rackbag" that has a couple of good songs and features a cameo performance from UK guitar slinger Richard Thompson, but suffers from a typical mid-80s production with compressors and aural sheen. Carin Kjellman released a horrendous solo album the same year, while Ulf Gruvberg became a host for Swedish Radio folk show Trender & Traditioner, presenting new and old folk sounds from around the world on a weekly basis.
Folk
& Rackare appears with a 1976/77 radio concert (date uncertain)
in ”Progglådan”. Those who so wish can also look around for
other, unreleased radio sessions – there are plenty.
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