Alas alas alas ...

It seems like Fileden who used to host my mp3-files have lost all of them due to some technical error ... which means that even if I upload all the mp3s again, I need to change all the links to make them work - right now I do not really have time for such a project, but I hope to find time in the near future. As it is right now - sorry for the inconvenience - but if you REALLY want one of the recordings presented in this blog, send me an e-mail and I can send it to you.
All the best
Björn Jakobsson

How do the 78 rpms end up on this blog??

Well ... to explain that, I made this video about how I do when I transfer 78 rpms to my computer and then make mp3s out of them. Enjoy! ... or Beware!

The recording being used is a 78 rpm from 1955 made by the female Swedish singer and stage artist Gunwer Bergqvist (b. 1932); "Alla milda makters hambo" ("The hambo of all mild powers" - or maybe "Good Grief Hambo" ... impossible to make a sensible translation.

LES PAUL - MANDOLINO

The great guitar legend and musical innovator Les Paul died recently, 94 years old. As a tribute to him, it is of course a good idea to put some of his music in this blog. This time, I've recorded a movie of his record "Mandolino" being played on my Lenco L78. I put the videoclip on youtube, and let's hope it isn't removed ...

Les Paul was anyhow not just a great guitar player, he was the first person who tried to do amazing things with an electrical guitar, he gave his name to the best electrical guitar ever; Gibson Les Paul and he even invented the "modern" recording technology with his many-layers-recordings. I don't think we really understand the importance of Les Paul ... but we will - now when he is gone. Rest in peace.

MONIKA LIND - SNÖGUBBEN FROSTE

Not that I’m a great fan of Christmas related recordings, to be quite honest, I tend to avoid even switching on the radio these days, since there’s such a big risk of being run over by Bing Crosby’s ”White Christmas”. Anyway, I thought I might put one of my Christmas favourites in the old 78 rpm blog. The record I was thinking of is a Swedish version of “Frosty the snow man”, sung by the then 12 year old young singer Monika Lind. This became a very popular recording and is still played now and then in Swedish radio. Many times though, I get the impression that it is played mainly to let the “disc jockey” or whatever state that the young girl who sings many years later would become the mother of the very popular Swedish singer Peter Jöback. Still, why not? I mean, if it takes that to get your old records played on radio, why not indeed. I personally prefer Monika’s natural and straight forward delivery to her son’s more stylish Disney-hero-esque way of singing. Still that’s my taste, and nobody has to share it. This Philips recording was made by Monika Lind together with Walter Lindbom’s orchestra, November 2, 1954 in Europa Film Studio in Stockholm and probably released just before Christmas the same year. By the way, I don’t know anything about the orchestra leader Walter Lindbom. Could anybody out there give me some information?

Let’s listen …

… and merry Christmas, y’all.

SOME "MODERN" 78 RPM ODDITIES

Well, sometimes one find some really weird records, and I'm going to present two of them in this blogpost. First is a record with the American rock band Los Lobos ... what, I hear you cry, on earth is a record by Los Lobos doing in a blog about 78 rpm records? Well, a fair question, but when they recorded some of Richie Valens old songs for the movie "La Bamba" in 1987, a weird 78 rpm version was pressed as well when the more normal vinyl LP, vinyl single and CD issues were released. A ten inch vinyl record with the songs "Donna" and "La Bamba" on one side ... I'll get back later to what was on the flipside ... with the famous 78 rpm label "London American Recordings" that so many of us record collectors try to find. It really looks as if it was issued in the 1950s. Of course when one handles the record one can feel that it is made of vinyl and not shellac, and one can also see that the tracks are made for a (then) modern needle - and not for a 78 rpm needle. The record is in stereo - quite unusual with a 78 rpm stereo record - and shows quite well that it may have been a mistake to stop press 78 rpm records, since there is room for quite a lot of sound in the tracks at that speed. Never mind.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention what was on the flipside, the same two songs AND another one "Framed" - and that side must be played at 45 rpm ... what DO they think of next? Since the recording is only 20 years old, I'm just putting a short excerpt of the record in the blog - enough to hear that one can get quite a nice stereophonic sound from 78 rpm records. Listen.

Now over to the other odd 78 rpm record. The recording is Wilbert Harrison's hit song "Kansas City" from 1959. I don't know whether that recording was released on 78 rpm at that time - 1959 sounds a bit late for that, but I'm not sure. This record however was pressed by the record company Rhino in 1989, and it was released in a box together with some other newly pressed 78 rpm records. For what reason, one might wonder, other than to make this record collector dizzy? Well, there were many owners of old jukeboxes made for playing 78 rpm records, and Rhino decided to release these "Jukebox Classics" issues for that market. They are even so very rare and I had never seen one in reality before I found this record some time ago. It sounds quite fine too. Listen to this short excerpt.

rerun of an old favourite - now with music: DOYE O'DELL: SHUT UP AND DRINK YOUR BEER

This was one of the earlier blogposts, but the soundfile disappeared - but now it's back.

Weeeeell ... some records doesn't really need a comment do they? Some records got titles that I just can't refuse, and this is one of them. I found this late 1940s record in a very elegant antique shop some years ago, and although I had never heard of Doye O'Dell, and didn't know what kind of music he represented, I had to buy it. And why not? It is a fun record, with the Country singer Doye O'Dell (1912-2001). I forgot to mention that I found this record between two 'Hemmets Härold' records. 'Hemmets Härold' was a label for the most dreary religious music you could ever imagine. I think the O'Dell record felt a bit lost between the "Hemmets Härold" records, so I just had to save it (smirk).

Let's listen!

DÉO: ALGUMA COISA ELA FEZ

OK, time for some nice South American music. This is a recording with the Brazilian artist Déo, “Alguma coisa ela fez”, a Columbia recording from 1955 (as far as I know). It is the flipside of Déo’s hit record “Piano Alemao”, but I prefer the other, less famous side. I don’t know that much about Déo, apart from that his real name was Ferjalla Rizkalla and that he lived between 1914 and 1971. OK, time to listen.

NORRIS THE TROUBADOR AND THE LITTLE BLUE CHIPS: THE SEABOARD, THE SOUTHERN AND THE A.C.L.

Now it’s time to listen to a recording with one of America’s weirder artists/personalities, Norridge Bryant Mayhams (1903-88). I did not know anything about him, haven’t even heard of him, when I found this hillbilly record, pressed in vinyl on the “Co-Ed” label. Mayhams was a songwriter and record company executive first and foremost, but made also some recordings using the name “Norris the troubadour”. As I mentioned earlier, this recording is a hillbilly song … well … sort of … at least it is hillbilly according to the label, but Mayhams wrote all kinds of songs. He made both straight gospel tunes and raunchy blues numbers – and often they were on either side of the same record. Another weird example of this is mentioned by Phil Milstein in this interesting article, where Mayhams puts “Jesus will soon be coming” on one side and “You’re my surfer girl forever”. I could keep on writing about Mayhams for a long time, but read instead Milstein’s article and let’s listen to this recording of Norris the troubadour and the Little Blue Chips singing: “The Seaboard, the Southern and the A.C.L.”

GRACIE FIELDS

I couldn’t choose which one of these great recordings I would put in my blog, and … really, why would I need to choose? It’s my blog, let’s have them both. I found some old Gracie Fields (1898-1979) records some months ago and I fell in love with her very personal delivery of good old English songs. One of the records is a live recording taken from a radio broadcast ”Our Gracie with our boys in France” – not that common during the era of 78 rpm records – but I’m happy I found it, since it gives us today a good idea of how popular she was. Included in the live performance is her most well known song “Sing as we go”, and since I’m not English, I was more familiar with the naughty Monty Python parody “Sit on my face”. The man who introduces her to the audience in the beginning is the legendary actor, music hall performer, playwright and theatre producer Sir Seymour Hicks (1871-1949). Let’s listen to Gracie singing for the boys in France.

The other record, “We’ve got to keep up with the Joneses” is another favourite since the clever lyrics always remind me of “Keeping up appearances”, that superb British sitcom with Patricia Routledge – one of my favourite sitcoms of all time. All right, time to listen.

THOMAS FUNCK: KALLE STROPPS FÖDELSEDAG

This is an obituary … no, not to the voice artist, musician and children’s book author Thomas Funck (b. 1919-), who’s still alive. No, it’s the record we’re soon going to listen to that is no more. When I bought the record a couple of years ago, I noticed that the (rarely seen) cover was in terrific shape and the record looked good too, but when I checked it more closer I could see a thin hairline crack in the record. Still, I got the record cheap and I transferred it to the computer right away. A couple of months ago, when I was handling some of the 78 rpm records, I had this record in my hands and heard a loud “CRACK”. I wasn’t handling it carelessly, it just decided to die in my hands. It was broken. Well … those things happen, and I’m sure I can find another one sooner or later. I’ve kept the cover until then.

So … what was on the record then. Well, it was an example of what children were listening to during the 1950s. Thomas Funck began writing stories about the tidy and strict grasshopper “Kalle Stropp” and his friend, the somewhat clumsy but still friendly and outspoken frog “Grodan Boll”. Their friends are the fox, the parrot, the hen and the robot “Plåt-Niklas”, and Funck’s stories about their adventures became a big hit when they were broadcasted in Swedish radio. Funck made all the voices himself – and played all the music, since he was familiar with the new invention multi track recording, he became somewhat of a Swedish equivalent to Les Paul. Anyway, the “Kalle Stropp” stories became very popular. Movies were made and records were recorded. This was the first recording (made in 1954) about Kalle Stropp and his friends, and it’s about the celebration of Kalle Stropp’s birthday.

Time to listen … remember – all the voices are being made by Thomas Funck. Quite impressive, right?

In memory of a nice record … rest in peace … or rather: rest in many pieces.

SPIKE JONES: THE SHEIKH OF ARABY

Now let’s have a look on one of the weirder records in my collection. Well, really, the record and the recording itself isn’t that strange. The late great maniac Spike Jones (1911-65) and his City Slickers made this mad and great parody of “The Sheikh of Araby” in 1942, but have a look on the “Grand” label. Doesn’t it look like a bit home made? Well, it is. There was a “Grand” label in Sweden in the 1930s but the label showed here has nothing to do with the real “Grand” label. Somebody has put together bits of differently colored paper. White background and the top part in some sort of striped pattern with another cutout with the word “Grand” pasted on top of it all and the rest of the information on the label written on a common typewriter. When I found this record, I found it in a pile with lots of different records with similarly handmade labels – there were not two labels who looked the same! Now … the question that comes to mind is of course: Why? In the early twentieth century it was a common and not very legal practice to paste over the proper record labels with your own record labels – which forced some record companies to have the name of the proper record company announced in the beginning – to avoid this kind of piracy. But, if this person who bought this ordinary record (released in Sweden as HMV X 7820 – as you can see, that very same number is used here as well) and wanted to sell it as a record from his own record company, then why not using the same design on all of the records? As I said, this was the only one with this particular design and with this particular label name. Well, I guess, there’ll never be a proper answer to my question. My guess is that the former owner of this record enjoyed label designs and spent a whole lot of energy and time on creating his own record label designs. Bless him! Never mind, let’s listen to Spike Jones!

By the way, the "N.C.B." on top of the label means "Nordic Copyright Bureau", so he wasn't trying to avoid copyright issues.

CRANE RIVER JAZZ BAND: DAUPHIN STREET BLUES

The story of Crane River Jazz Band seems to more or less be an early chapter in the story of the British jazz trumpeter Ken Colyer (1928-88). Colyer has been described as a jazz traditionalist and this recording is a good example of that. The lovely yellow and purple “Melodisc” label (a label design that isn’t as traditional as the recording itself) doesn’t state who the musicians are on this recording of “Dauphin Street Blues”, but according to Wikipedia, Colyer formed Crane River Jazz Band in 1949 together with Monty Sunshine, Sonny Morris and Ben Marshall, so they probably play on this recording together with some other musicians. I haven’t been able to find a recording date of this record but it’s probably from the late 40s or early 50s. If anybody who reads this could provide me with some more information, I’d be very grateful. Anyway, let’s listen.

edit: Jazz journalist Chris Albertson kindly wrote in my guest book and have given me this information:

"The Crane River side was recorded in London, March 22, 1951.Ken Colyer (tp,vcl); Sonny Morris (cnt); Ray Orpwood (tb); Monty Sunshine (cl); Pat Hawes (p); Ben Marshall (bj); Julian Davies (b); Cyril Louth (dr.)"

Thanks a lot, Chris!

SIDNEY BECHET: WITHOUT A HOME

Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) the legendary jazz saxophone player, made these recordings together with Bob Wilber (born 1928) and his jazz band in the summer of 1949 in New York. It must have been quite a treat for the young rising jazz musician Wilber and his orchestra to be able to make recordings together with such a legendary musician like Sidney Bechet – or maybe it was more of a rough experience, due to Bechet’s temperament – often decribed as “mercurial”. Well, who knows? Anyway, this recording was originally released on the “Circle” label, but this French pressing is on the “Blue Star” label. When I found this recording, the strikingly cool light blue label with a drawn image of a tenor saxophone player was the main reason why I bought the record in the first place. It’s probably not Bechet, whose drawn on the label though, since he preferred soprano saxophone and clarinet. Well, it’s a nice recording of some great jazz musicians. Have a listen!

MARIE DIEKE: EN MAN

According to ”Stora Schlagerboken, vol 1” by Hans Olofsson and Leif Aulin, the singer Marie Dieke (born 1936) originally came from Holland and moved to Sweden in 1954. This information surprised me a bit, since I always assumed that she came from Norway, since I thought her pronunciation sounded a bit Norwegian. Anyway, Marie Dieke was the vocalist in the Simon Brehm orchestra during the mid 50s, when Brehm’s former vocalist (the very famous Barbro “Lill-Babs” Svensson) had left. Simon Brehm of course recorded Marie Dieke on his own “Karusell” label but she made most of her recordings during the vinyl era. Marie Dieke kept making records until the mid 1960s and she had an orchestra of her own and toured with them until 1980. This recording “En man” was recorded in 1955 and it was the flip side of her third record. I like the joyful quality of Marie Dieke’s voice but even more the dynamic sound of Simon Brehm’s orchestra. Have a listen!

BEKA ORKESTER: FOLKVISA

You know when you try to remember the name of a very familiar tune, and you just can’t do it. It is very annoying, right? Well, the same thing happened to me when I found this record, almost ten years ago. It is a Beka recording by an anonymous orchestra (here very aptly named “Beka orkester”), conducted by Gustaf Tropp (born in 1873, year of death unknown to me). First of all, it is a very pleasant recording, and it says “Folkvisa” (=Folk song) on the label. Of course, that doesn’t say much to us, so we have to listen to it to be able to hear WHICH folk song it is. In this case, the title is a bit misleading, since the recording is a medley of three famous traditional Swedish folk songs. I recognised them all, but I had great difficulties remembering what the name of the first song was. The second one is “Kristallen den fina” (=the lovely crystal) and the last one is the Christmas song “Nu är det jul igen” (=Now it’s Christmas again), but the name of the first one eluded me for a long, long, long … MUCH too long time. Then finally one day, I remembered. The first song in the medley is the wonderful folk song “Allt under himlens fäste” (=Everything under the hold of the sky). I’m ashamed to tell you how long it took for me to remember the name of the song … so I’m not going to tell you that. Let’s listen to the recording instead …

edit: I got an e-mail some time ago from Barbro Eriksson, who's grandmother's uncle was Gustaf Tropp, and she gave me some interesting information about mr Tropp. He was buried in January 19 1928 (she didn't know the exact date of his death though) and he was a hornist in the Göta Life Guards until 1891. He then was the orchestra leader for the "Pianfts" Operetta Theatre. She was not sure what that meant, and I haven't found any infomation about that theatre. Maybe Barbro misread the information and the name was "Ranft". Albert Ranft was a very famous theatre owner in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tropp was anyhow a family of dance and music, since there were many dancers and military musicians in the family. Thanks for your information, Barbro.

INGER AXÖ: DEN LILLE SKOMAKAREN

We had many children and youth artists in Sweden who made records way back in the 1950s. The child artist isn’t a new phenomenon. The most popular children artists were Inger Nyström, Rosi Egger, Ingeborg Nyberg, Margret Jonsson, not to mention Monika Lind (later mother to the popular Swedish singer Peter Jöback). My favourite among these girls from the 1950s is Inger Axö (1939-86) from Bromma outside Stockholm. She became famous in the early 1950s when she played “Eva-Lotta” in the Astrid Lindgren movie “Mästerdetektiven och Rasmus” (=The Master Detective, in Germany it was called: “Kalle Blomquist lebt gefährlich”). Because of that fame she’s called Inger “Eva-Lotta” Axö on the record label. She also made some recordings together with her sister Yvonne Axö and appeared in a couple of light comedy movies in the 1950s and 1960s. The song “Den lille skomakaren” is a Swedish version of the French song “Le petit cordonnier”, and Inger Axö recorded it in November 1954 for the Cupol label. Arvid Sundin (1914-99) and his orchestra Speedplayers, plays with lots of speed and energy – and Inger Axö (just a teenager when this was recorded) gives us an inspired and keenly exciting performance. Time to listen …

ANNERS ANNERSA PÅ HULTET: HUR DANT SÄTT MI GUMMÄ HAR

I do enjoy comedy records and own quite a lot of comedy records. This is one of my oldest comedy records. Not that I laugh out loud when I listen to this – and for those of you who doesn’t understand Swedish … tough … anyhow, I find the record interesting since it paints a picture of what Swedish people thought was funny over 90 years ago. Anners Annersa på Hultet (real name Mauritz Björck, born in 1882 and died in 1961) was a comedian from Östergötland in Sweden, and he made 48 recordings between 1914 and 1919 – all of them on the Odeon label. He spoke in a genuine Östergötland dialect and he both sang with a high tenor voice and spoke on his recordings. This is a recording of the latter kind, where he tells us about his wife and the way she always thinks and wants to do the opposite of what Anners thinks and wants to do. “Hur dant sätt mi gummä har” is Swedish (with an Östergötland twist) for “My wife’s behaviour”. This is a somewhat odd version of this record, since this pressing is made for the American market, and I do believe that it was pressed sometime in the 1920s, but the recording was made in 1914 – probably in Copenhagen, Denmark. Time to listen …

CALLE HAGMAN: JAG TAR HATTEN AV FÖR JOSEFINA

Calle Hagman (1890-1949) was one of Sweden’s greatest stage eccentrics during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940. Not many people really knew how to use Hagman’s stage antics in the most suitable way. One exception was the Swedish satirist and theatre legend Karl Gerhard (1891-1964) who used Hagman in many of his shows. Carl Hagman (who by the way preferred to spell his name “Quarl” instead of “Carl”) had a very peculiar way of spitting out the consonants when he talked, and he was actually the first man who performed the “Phonetic Punctuation” monologue, immortalized by the Danish comedian and musician Victor Borge (1909-2000) on stage. Apart from performing on stage, Calle Hagman recorded a number of records, on which he both spoke and sang. This recording was made in Paris for the French record company Pathé in December 1929. “Jag tar hatten av för Josefina” (=I take my hat of for Josefina) about a man who is bullied by his wife, is a very good example of Hagman’s odd style, when he furthermore sings in falsetto in the end of every verse, as well as sings with a somewhat exaggerated nasal voice. Not very beautiful, but rather fun and peculiar.

The Pathé records that were recorded in the late 1920s are rather rare, since they didn’t sell that well when they were released. The main reason for that is not that the musical content is bad, but the technical quality is fairly insufficient. They crackle and hiss more than other records from the same time, and sound as if they were many years older. Still, time to listen to Mr Quarl Hagman’s vocal antics …

BERTHA "CHIPPIE" HILL: CARELESS LOVE

Bertha “Chippie” Hill (1905-50) was one of the most popular blues singers of the 1920s, and she made a comeback in the 1940s, when jazz- and blues enthusiasts started to search for the roots of jazz. She made around twenty recordings in the 1920s, and when she made her return to the spotlight after working many years in a bakery, she recorded nine more songs in 1946. This recording on the Circle label is one of them. Bertha Hill sings “Careless Love”, accompanied by Lovie Austin’s Blues Serenaders: Lee Collins, trumpet, Lovie Austin, piano, John Lindsay, bass, Baby Dodds, drums. I must say that I enjoy the raw and powerful singing of Bertha “Chippie” Hill. She is not as famous or ‘legendary’ as contemporary singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, but I think she has the same kind of soulful quality in her voice. Listen for yourself, what do you think?

MARIA MICHAILOWA: AVE MARIA

This slightly warped old gramophone record from 1905 contains the beautiful voice of the soprano Maria Alexandrowna Michailowa (1864-1921). When she started recording she was already a star and she performed in the first Russian production of “Falstaff”. She made her recording debut as early as in 1901 and made hundreds of records for the next ten years. When World War I began, she had already retired from stage. On this recording she sings Gounod’s “Ave Maria”, and she does it VERY beautifully. Even though the recording is over 100 years old, the clarity of her voice is astounding and cannot be hidden by the primitive recording technique. Alas, the record was a bit warped and I had to record it at a slower speed to the computer to avoid the needle skipping – and afterwards electronically speed up the recording.

By the way, I use the program “Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 11 deluxe”. It is a good program for all kinds of recordings (I also use it to transfer vinyl records, cassettes and for recording radio programs), but there are many better alternatives (and more expensive – I might add) if you want to record 78 rpms. Still, it’s good enough for me, and I’m rarely bothered trying to remove disturbing hiss and pops. Those are part of the listening experience, and when one tries to remove it, so often lots of the actual music is removed as well. I haven’t tried to remove much of the background hiss on this very old recording. I think Mademoiselle Michailowa’s voice comes through with great panache without too much heavy sound cleaning. Listen and see if you don’t agree …

LOU GOLD AND HIS ORCHESTRA: RADIO LADY O'MINE

Lou Gold was a very popular orchestra leader during the 1920s. Born Lewis Milton Goldwasser in 1894, and mainly active in the New York area during the 1920s and 1930s as a composer, pianist and orchestra leader. His orchestra made several recordings both with his own name and with different pseudonyms, depending on what label the recordings were made for. He died in 1950 and during his life he worked with artists like Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Abe Lyman and many others.

This recording, “Radio Lady O’Mine” probably recorded in 1924 is a great little Charleston number, which I believe is a good example of what people in the cities enjoyed listening to and dancing to over 80 years ago. I think the black Cameo-label is very beautiful and distinctive, and the material on the Cameo-label is quite often interesting. Still, I rarely find them here in Sweden, but when I do I rarely get disappointed.

Let’s listen!

/Björn Jakobsson

ROLF'S CABARET-ORKESTER: IT'S A BIRD

I’ve written before about Ernst Rolf (1891-1932), but this time I won’t write about his artistry, but this time I’ll talk about his days as a record company owner. He formed the label “Rolf Winner Succès” in 1918. It was a cooperation with the British J. E. Hough Ltd. (Edison Bell; with the trademark “Winner”). The light green label had a black Phoenix bird drawed by the Swedish artist Einar Nerman (1888-1983). The record company mainly recorded Ernst Rolf, the celebrated accordion player Carl Jularbo (1893-1966) and a few other artists. Also, a group called Rolf’s Cabaret Orchestra released many instrumental sides. Ernst Rolf might be the conductor on these recordings, but I don’t think he does anything else on the recordings, since he wasn’t a musician.

The “Rolf Winner Succès” didn’t last long, it folded in 1920 since the cooperation with Hough ended. Rolf formed a new label without the “Winner” trademark, called “Rolf Succès”. This label was even less long-lived. It folded later the same year. During the cooperation with J. E. Hough, the recordings were made in London, but when that was over, most of the recordings were made in Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm.

This record was made in London in April 1919, and it’s a good example of the latest dance-craze of the time, the one-step. It’s played by Rolf’s Cabaret-Orkester (conducted probably, as stated above, by Ernst Rolf), and it’s called “It’s a bird” – (no it’s Superman! – sorry, couldn’t resist it). I like this 78 rpm record very much … ah … it’s actually an 80 rpm record, to be more precise – but never mind.

Let’s listen to “It’s a bird”.

/Björn Jakobsson

CELLO (OLLE CARLE): CELLOS SNARKOLOGI

OK, for those of you who doesn't understand Swedish this recording might not be that interesting, but for those of us who understand Swedish, this recording is hilarious. It's called "Cellos Snarkologi eller Säg mig hur du snarkar och jag skall säga dig vem du är" ("Cello's Snore-ology or Tell me how you snore and I'll tell you who you are"). Cello (Olle Carle 1909-98) was a humorous columnist who was a real master at wordplay and at making puns. This idea of this recording from 1950 comes from "Sneezes" by Robert J. Wildback (Victor 35990, 1917). Never heard that recording though, although I would very much like to do so one day. Anyway, Wildback also performed "Sneezes" in the movies "Broadway Melody of 1936" and "Broadway Melody of 1938".

Well back to Cello, this recording is about how different types of snoring describes different personalites, exemplified by descriptions of the snoring, it's name in (fake) latin and loud examples of the snoring. Unlike many other 78 rpm records, this particular one was released with a special cover. The foldout cover shows drawings of different types of snorers and the name of the (very) temporary label is a very typical example of Cello's sense of humour: Cello-Phone.

Time to listen ... but don't fall asleep.

/Björn Jakobsson.

GUNNAR NILSON: SIL-JA-BLOO

I may be biased (since I come from the same town, Luleå), but I think Gunnar "Siljabloo" Nilson (1925-89) was one of the best European male scat singers. Anyhow, scat singing was his trademark and he got his nickname from this recording. He was very successful in Stockholm during the 1940s and 1950s as a singer and clarinetist, and he enjoyed it very much. Maybe a bit too much since he got problems with alcohol, which started to dominate his career instead of the music. He disappeared from the music scene and was gone for many years, until he was rediscovered in the late 1960s. He got back on his feet and started recording and performing again. One great album I can really recommend is "That's my desire" from 1971. He kept on touring, performing and recording until his death in 1989. He died by the way on a train journey between his home in Gothenburg and a gig in Västerås.

This recording from 1953 was released on the Roulette label, which has nothing to do with the American New York based Roulette label, which was founded a few years later. The Swedish Roulette label must have some sort of connection with the Triola label (see blogpost about Sonya Hedenbratt), since I've found records with the sleeve stating that it's a Roulette record and then the record has a Triola label. Maybe Triola reissued Roulette records - I don't know.

Not far from where I grew up in the town Luleå, a house was named after Gunnar "Siljabloo" Nilson shortly after his death. It was named "Träffpunkt Siljabloo" (I would translate that to "Rendezvous Siljabloo" since it's not only a good translation - it rhymes as well). During my years as a musician in the 1990s, I played there myself a couple of times.

OK, time to listen to Siljabloo, performed by Gunnar Nilson and Carl-Henric Norin's Orchestra.

/Björn Jakobsson.

ORQUESTA DE PACHO GALAN: RAPSODIA SUECA

One of the most beloved composers in Sweden was Hugo Alfvén (1872-1960), and one of his most famous pieces is "Midsummer Vigil (Swedish Rhapsody No. 1. Op. 19)", based on Swedish folk music and inspired by the traditional dances often danced at the annual Midsummer Vigils. Alfvén's piece of music perfectly describes the cheerfulness and playfulness of children dancing around the traditional maypole, so it's hard for any Swedes not to love Alfvén and his delightful music.

Percy Faith made a horribly stiff version of "Midsummer Vigil" in the early 1950s, but this Colombian version by Francisco "Pacho" Galan (1904-88) and his orchestra on the Tropical label is much more playful and enjoyable ... and I don't think mr Alfvén himself would have objected much to this latino treatment.

I found the record in a charity shop South of Stockholm, near my work, and it's in pretty bad shape. Also it's badly warped, so I had to record it at 33 1/3 rpm to the computer, and then speed it up in the computer program. The record seems to be made of vinyl (not shellac) and is probably recorded in the 1950s. I haven't had any luck finding discographical data so far. If you can help me further, please do. I'd be very grateful.

All right. Let's listen to Pacho Galan.

/Björn Jakobsson