Mats Radberg "Pa Egen Hand" (Polydor-Sweden, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Lasse Holm & Lennart Karlsmyr)
The first solo album from Mats Radberg (1948-2020) lead singer of the Swedish twangband Rank Strangers, which started out as a bluegrass act and evolved into the country-rock group Rankarna (see below.) Radberg is still singing country here, though with a different lineup of musicians, including guitarist Hasse Rosen and several others who were in producer Lennart Karlsmyr's pop covers/schlager band The Moonlighters, which had first formed in the late 1960s, but by the mid-'Seventies was mixing a fair amount of country stuff into their act. The lineup on this album included Rutger Gunnarsson (bass), Lasse Holm (piano and synthesizer), Kjell Johansson (banjo), Jan Lindgren (steel guitar), Luciano Mosetti (harmonica), Roger Palm (drums), Hasse Rosen (dobro and guitar), and Lasse Westmann on guitar. The same basic group backed Radberg on his next solo album, Min Musik, and several core members later recorded an entire album of country covers of ABBA's biggest hits, working under the name Nashville Train. Anyway, if you want to hear Mats Radberg crooning a few countrypolitan classics such as the B. J. Thomas hit, "Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" or Charlie Rich's "Most Beautiful Girl," well... Here ya go!
Mats Radberg "Min Musik" (Polydor-Sweden, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Lasse Holm, Ake Grahn & Lennart Karlsmyr)
This was basically the same group and the same formula as on the album above... A mix of English-language and Swedish countrypolitan and country-rock material, with a very contemporary feel. Nice shoes, too!
Mats Radberg "Mats Radberg" (Polydor-Sweden, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Lasse Holm, Ake Grahn & Lennart Karlsmyr)
Again, pretty much the same group as before, a modified lineup of Lennart Karlsmyr and Hasse Rosen's band, The Moonlighters, working in a modern, late-'70s country-rock vein. It's worth pointing out that Radberg was still recording in parallel with his old band, Rankarna, though he had been given top billing on the band's albums since the early 'Seventies, after they switched to a Swedish name after their first two albums as the Rank Strangers.
Mats Radberg "Boogie" (Polydor-Sweden, 1978) (LP)
Mats Radberg "Det Handlar Om Kanslor" (Polydor-Sweden, 1979) (LP)
Mats Radberg & Elisabeth Andreassen "I'm The Singer, You're The Song" (Polydor-Sweden, 1980) (LP)
A duets album with singer Elisabeth Andreassen, who had been singing in country groups since the late 'Seventies, and later formed a schlager group called Bobbysocks which represented Norway in the 1985 Eurovision contest. Apparently this album was a huge hit in Sweden.
Mats Radberg "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" (Polydor-Sweden, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Lasse Holm, Ake Grahn & Lennart Karlsmyr)
Mats Radberg "In My Dreams" (Mariann Records, 1982) (LP)
Mats Radberg "Jag Ger Dig Min Morgon" (Mariann Records, 1988)
Mats Radberg "When We Were Young" (Mariann Records, 1996)
Rank Strangers "Country Our Way" (Polydor-Sweden, 1969) (LP)
Rank Strangers "...Featuring Mats Radberg" (Polydor-Sweden, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Kit Sundqvist, Lennart Karlsmyr & Thomas Strandberg)
Rankarna & Mats Radberg "Wellknown Strangers" (Polydor-Sweden, 197-?) (LP)
Rankarna & Mats Radberg "Back From Nashville" (Polydor-Sweden, 1973) (LP)
(Produced by Mats Radberg, Lennart Karlsmyr & Ake Grahn)
This one's a little odd. Yes, Swedish country band Raknarna went to Nashville, saw a show at the Opry and visited several recording studios, but they didn't actually make this album there. Instead, they came back to Stockholm and cut this disc at the KMH Studios, with engineer Lennart Karlsmyr tried his hand at the studio techniques he gleaned from puppydogging around in Music City, asking the guys there as many questions as he could about how they created the so-called "Nashville Sound." Is there anything cuter than Swedish country fans? Danes, maybe.
Rankarna & Mats Radberg "I'm A City Cowboy" (Polydor-Sweden, 197-?) (LP)
Rankarna & Mats Radberg "We Weren't Born In Tennessee" (Polydor-Sweden, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Lennart Karlsmyr)
Tina Rainford "Silver Bird" (Epic Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Sonny Limbo, Marty Buckins & Drafi Deutscher)
Only marginally country (or marginally successful...) German songwriter Tina Rainford scored a Top 30 hit with the title track, and then dropped out of sight, at least as a recording artist. Several of her songs were recorded by other artists in the 1970s, but her solo career never really took off. You can kind of see why -- this album sounds more like Olivia Newton-John than Tammy Wynette or Loretta Lynn, and the production is vaguely disco-y and 'Seventies-style scary. Then again, once you realize she wasn't a native English speaker, her American accent is pretty impressive. You can skip this album, though.
Jean Marie Redon "Banjoistiquement Votre " (Cezame Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Denis Phan, Paul Berniel & Jean-Paul Malek)
Another groovy, free-floating bluegrass jam session on the Parisian-based Cesame label... Plenty of familiar faces from the label's roster: Pierre Bensusan performing solo on two tracks, Mike Larie, Christian Seguret, Henri Serre, Jean Louis Mongin, Danny Vriet, and others. And of course a few slumming Americans, notably banjoist Bill Keith (who seems to have spent a lot of time in France in the 1970s!) as well as Kenny Kosek and Jim Collier, who also cut an album for the Hexagone label around the same time, although with a different set of French pickers on board.
Jean Marie Redon "Banjo 82" (Paris Album, 1982) (LP)
(Produced by Larry Martin & Jean-Jacques Boutaud)
Billy Rider & His Cowboys "Western-Country" (Weltmelodie, 1970) (LP)
One of those odd cheapo-label albums released in several countries, but under a few different band names... It turns out that the "Billy Rider" of this German release is the same as the "Bill West" on a musically identical LP issued in The Netherlands, and "Rudi & Trudi," who were billed on the same album in the UK. The "real" name of the band was Early Bird, a Dutch group led by singer Hendrik Warringa that started out in the early 'Sixties and went through a few different incarnations, originally calling themselves The Early Birds. Around the time these various "western country" albums came out in 1970, they were also recording as "Little Ben And His Drivers," and had released an album the year before that includes a few of these songs on here, though I couldn't say for sure if they are the same recordings. The material is a mix of folk scene standards and cowboy songs. Later in the decade, following their Little Ben phase, the group went back to calling themselves Early Bird, and recorded a string of more contemporary-sounding country stuff. Totally nutty, man!
Eric Robinson "Nashville Cats" (MSP Records, 1991)
(Produced by Eric Robinson, Jorn Lyd & Chano Tietze)
Teddy Rodeo "For The Good Times" (SB Musik, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Edgar Heinze)
A Danish country covers band led by former rockabilly pioneer Teddy Edelmann (1941-2018), who recorded in a wide range of styles under several different names and configurations. This edition of his "Teddy Rodeo" group featured Teddy Edelmann on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, along with Ole Bendix (lead guitar and steel), Ole Gerner (bass), Rolf Pedersen (drums). Almost all the songs are covers of American country hits, though one twenty-second long track, "The Shortest Song," is credited to Teddy Rodeo. Edelmann also recorded under his own name, as well as in the curiously named quartet, "Teddy, Chano, Jan & John," and in several different bands.
Hasse Rosen "Number One Guitar Of Sweden" (Columbia Records, 1965) (LP)
Swedish guitarist Hasse Rosen was an in-demand session player who could also zip around on the dobro, although he wasn't by any means strictly a country musician. Though characterized as a "surf" guitar album, the set is packed with country and rockabilly material, including songs from relatively deep-cut composer such as Leon Payne, Cindy Walker and Bob Wills, as well as tunes from Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Bob Dylan, Elvis, and others. Still, Rosen was definitely plugged in, had a bad-ass tone and a cool, fuzzed-out sound, and he unquestionably rocked. Definitely worth a spin!
Hasse Rosen "Music To Watch Girls By" (Columbia Records, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Bjorn Almstedt)
Oh... oh, dear. Well this was a quick turn of fate, with Hasse Rosen going from Duane Eddy to Mantovani... Though he's the headliner, methinks this is really more of an album by the Lars Samuelsons Orkester, which provides the primary backing. This is syrupy, snoozy stuff -- easy listening, and not the good kind. Includes contributions from bassist Kjell Mattison and rhythm guitarist Tony Lindberg, who backed Hasse Rosen throughout his career. Rosen notably co-founded the pop-schlager band The Moonlighters, which started out around the time of this album, and gradually shifted towards a country-rock vibe, including a long stint backing singer Mats Radberg on several of his solo albums... so maybe we can give him a pass on these muzak albums?
Hasse Rosen's Orkester "Country & Western Pa Svenska" (SR Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Inge Dahl & Gote Nilsson)
Truly horrifying country-flavored easy listening. I mean, yes, there's worse music in the world, and yes, several of these musicians seem to have been genuine country pickers, but this is essentially elevator music with some pedal steel (by Jan Lindgren) and a teeny, tiny bit of twang. This album also includes the song, "Albin Och Pla," which features a guest performance by banjo player Peter Winblad, who was later in the country band New Strangers.
The Rosen-Lindgren Band "Green Rose Rag" (Mariann Records, 1979) (LP)
(Produced by Ake Grahn & Lennart Karlsmyr)
A collaboration with steel player Janne Lindgren (1944-2013) a prolific studio musician who also led several different groups, notably the Country Minstrels, which is said to have been the first homegrown country band in Sweden. This disc is still easy listening, but with a definite tilt towards twang. The production has a very early-'Eighties feel, with a bright, open, and slightly empty feel, prefab, though with a little modern punchiness. Still, this ain't my cup of tea.
Rudi & Trudi "...And The Continental Wranglers" (Avenue Of America Records, 1970-?) (LP)
(Produced by Randall Wood)
Yet another iteration of the Early Birds/Little Ben/Bill West/Country Pioneers cheapo-label extravaganza which released the same darn album with several different band names in several different countries. (See "Billy Rider," above.) Rudi & Trudi seems to have been the persona used for English-speaking countries, with a UK edition, and possibly in Canada as well. The band was actually from The Netherlands.
Country music is everywhere, even in the erudite intellectual aeries of Europe... In fact, there's so much of the stuff, I barely know a fraction of it. This section includes a bunch of random bluegrass and country bands from across the European continent, although I'm aware there are many, many other artists and albums not currently on my radar. Also, separate sections exist for Germany and The United Kingdom and Ireland which have their own large, impressive country scenes, though many of those albums may also be included here. And trust me, once I crack the code and find all the records, France, Croatia and Lichtenstein will all get their own twang guides, too! (PS: I apologize for not being able to support umlauts and schwas and other special characters and for making all your languages look so very not right. I'm just not smart enough for all that technical-type stuff!)
