While not a progg album proper, this
one fits hand in glove with the progg zeitgeist and ethos. The title
means ”street music from Stockholm, summer '76”, and that's exactly what it is, street
musicians performing in their natural environment on the streets of
Stockholm to unsuspecting passers-by. Few of them got beyond obscurity
with the exception of Don Partridge who already had several albums
under his belt, and even a 1968 hit song in ”Rosie” and another
one, ”Blue Eyes” from the same year. He was a drifter, touring
the streets of Europe and settled in Sweden where he lived for years
in the 70s. He was a well known and colourful character with his
one-man-band act that even I caught as a kid in those days when
visiting Stockholm with my parents.
The music on the album
ranges from The Salvation Army and old-timey to traditional fiddle
tunes and organ grinders. None of it is very good; the best track
being Andrés Daniel Spatola's fluent but redundant performance
of old Neil Young chestnut ”Heart of Gold”, followed by
Patridge's stomping take on ”Kansas City”. It's not an album
you'd put on for musical enjoyment but it's fun as an aural snapshot
of times gone by.
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