The Hootenanny Singers are a popular folk group from Västervik, Sweden, founded in 1961. The group included Björn Ulvaeus, who later became a member of ABBA. Other band members were Johan Karlberg (b. Karl Johan Hilding Karlberg, 14 April 1943, Vimmerby, Sweden d. 16 August 1992, Västervik, Sweden), Tonny Rooth (b. Sven Villy Tonny Rooth, 30 November 1943, Västervik, Sweden) and Hansi Schwarz (b. Hans Carl Schwarz, 16 March 1942, Munich, Germany d. 10 January 2013, Lund, Sweden). The group was named "The Northern Lights" for a US-released LP in 1966.

Early debut In 1964, they gave their first performance on the Swedish TV programme Hylands Hörna with locally well-known Swedish poet Dan Andersson's "Jag väntar vid min mila" (translated as "I'm Waiting at the Charcoal Kiln").Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 100. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995.

The band had an early hit in the song Gabrielle, based on the Russian song "May There Always Be Sunshine" by Arkady Ostrovsky. A lack of international copyright agreements meant that songs from the Soviet Union were then considered to be in the public domain. Stig Anderson and Bengt Bernhag, co-founders of the band's production company Polar Music, claimed credits for the song's arrangement and Swedish lyrics. Russian media sources would later describe this as plagiarism or theft.Kolganov, Vladimir, "Anthology of Plagiarism From Art to Politics", 2017 After reaching number five on the Swedish charts, the band translated and recorded versions of Gabrielle in German, Finnish, Italian, Dutch, and English.

Later career and end of the group Their extensive touring of Swedish outdoor concert venues brought them fame and they had numerous hit singles on the Svensktoppen chart. Their biggest hit was "Omkring tiggarn från Luossa", which broke the record by spending 52 weeks on Svensktoppen between 26 November 1972 and 18 November 1973. Johan Karlberg dropped out of the band in the late 1960s to take over his father's business. Karlberg died in 1992. Hansi Schwarz was also the leader of the Västervik folk ballad festival for many years. Schwarz died in 2013. Tonny Rooth and Björn Ulvaeus are the two surviving members of the band's original line-up. Some of the tracks on the 1969 album På tre man hand were released as solo singles by Björn Ulvaeus.

Discography

Albums +YearTitle1964Hootenanny SingersHootenanny Singers1965Hootenanny Singers sjunger Evert TaubeInternational1966Många ansikten/Many Faces1967Civila19685 årBellman på vårt sätt1969På Tre Man Hand1970Skillingtryck1971Våra Vackraste Visor1972Våra Vackraste Visor Vol. 21973Dan Andersson på vårt sätt1974Evert Taube på vårt sätt1979Nya vindar1982För kärleks skull

Compilations +YearTitle1967Gabrielle (The Northern Lights)Hootenanny Singers bästa1968De bästa med Hootenanny Singers & Björn Ulvaeus1970Hootenanny SingersHootenanny Singers1974Favoriter1985Bästa1989De 24 bästaSpotlight1991Bästa1995Svenska favoriter2002Musik vi minns...

EPs YearTitle1964Jag väntar vid min milaEn morLincolnvisan (With Lars Frosterud (Frosse))Hey Liley Hey Lo1965Hootenanny SingersFroggHootenanny Singers sjunger Evert TaubeBjörkens visa1966MarianneNo time1967En sång en gång för längesenBörjan till slutet

Singles

+YearTitle1964"Jag väntar vid min mila""Darlin""This Little Light of Mine""Gabrielle""La Mamma""Ann-Margret""Katjusha"1965"Den gyllene fregatt""Britta""Solola""Den sköna Helen""Wenn Alle Ströme Versiegen""All My Trials""Just the Way That You Are"1966"No Time""Marianne""Through Darkness Light"1967" Det är skönt att vra hemma igen""En sång en gång för längesen""Blomman""En gång är ingen gång""Mrs O'Grady""Början till slutet"1968"Den dagen den sorgen""Så länge du älskar är du ung""Mårten gås""Måltidssång""Elenore"1969"Om jag kunde skriva en visa""Vinden sjunger samma sång"1970"Ring Ring, här är Svensktoppsjuryn""I fjol så gick jag med herrarna i hagen"1971"Aldrig mer""Hjärtats saga"1972"Ida och Frida och Anne-Marie"1973"Sjösalavals"1974"Linnéa"

See also Hootenanny

References