Bo Hansson

• 1. A Teenager In The Pine Forests

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  Bo Hansson spent his early years in a village surrounded by pine forests in Jämtland, northern Sweden. His family moved to Stockholm when he was young, leaving him behind with friends of the family. He joined his parents later as a teenager and taught himself guitar while living there. He played with Rock-Olga before joining Slim Notini's Blues Gang. The group eventually became The Merrymen and supported The Rolling Stones on an early Scandinavian tour. A performance by American jazz organist Jack McDuff at Stockholm's Gyllene Cirkeln Club changed everything for him. Hansson left The Merrymen after that show to pursue new musical directions. He acquired a Hammond organ with help from Bill Öhrström who worked as a producer at Polydor Sweden. Janne Carlsson joined him as a drummer and they formed Hansson & Karlsson. They released three albums between 1967 and 1969 while becoming popular across Europe. Jimi Hendrix heard their music and jammed with them at Klub Filips in late 1967. Hendrix recorded a song called Tax Free which appeared on multiple bootleg recordings.

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• 2. The Lord Of The Rings Inspiration

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  Hansson found inspiration in a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings that he took from his girlfriend. He moved into a friend's vacant apartment to write music but made so much noise that the friend evicted him. He retreated to a remote cottage on an island off Stockholm where he recorded what would become his debut solo album. Drummer Rune Carlsson and engineer Anders Lind spent the winter of 1969 working on the project using a borrowed four track recorder. Lind managed to get access to Sweden's only eight track recorder at the Swedish National Radio station by pretending he wanted to buy one. Session musicians Gunnar Bergsten and Sten Bergman fleshed out the recordings there. Sagan Om Ringen was released on Silence Records in autumn 1970 and became a huge hit. Copies reached Britain where Tony Stratton Smith released it as Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings on Charisma Records in September 1972. The album reached the Top 40 on the UK Album Chart despite being originally released under a different title in Sweden.

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• 3. Evolution Through Magician's Hat

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  Encouraged by the success of his first album Hansson booked time at Stockholm's Studio Decibel for follow-up work. He used the same team plus guitarist Kenny Håkansson who brought new energy to the sessions. Ur Trollkarlens Hatt was released on Silence Records in late 1972 and appeared as Magician's Hat in the UK in October 1973. Critics praised the record but it failed to match the popularity of the earlier work. It did not chart in the UK despite receiving positive reviews from reviewers. Popularity in Sweden pressured Hansson to tour with a hastily assembled band. The reclusive keyboard player cancelled the tour citing lack of motivation instead. He returned to Studio Decibel to begin work on his third album called Mellanväsen. This record came out in October 1975 and was issued as Attic Thoughts in the UK in February 1976. Despite being considered the most accomplished record to date it received disappointing reception from audiences. The song Rabbit Music pointed toward his next project while remaining largely overlooked by mainstream listeners.

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• 4. Watership Down Adaptation

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  Hansson parted ways with Silence Records in 1976 and negotiated a worldwide deal with Charisma. He began recording music inspired by Richard Adams' novel Watership Down at Studio Decibel. New producer Pontus Olssen worked alongside session musicians to create El Ahrairah which was issued in September 1977. The album appeared as Music Inspired by Watership Down on Charisma in the UK and Canada and on Sire Records in the US. Another disappointing chart performance led to Hansson's withdrawal from the popular music scene. He continued working on various projects with friends but little was heard from him until 1985. That year he released Mitt I Livet only in Sweden through Silence Records before falling into obscurity. The commercial failure of this adaptation marked the end of his major releases during that decade despite critical interest in his earlier work.

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• 5. Obscurity And Rediscovery

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  Swedish DJs found new appreciation for Hansson's music and sampled his tracks extensively. This sampling activity apparently pleased him enormously even though he had withdrawn from public view. Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings made it onto CD in 1988 as a remixed version with selected tracks from Magician's Hat and Attic Thoughts. His other 1970s albums were reissued in 2005 on CD by Silence Records through EMI. These digital remasters included previously unreleased extra material for fans who had waited decades. Hansson & Karlsson reunited in 1998 for live concerts and a compilation album called Hansson & Karlsson. He occasionally performed live sets with fellow organist Eric Malmberg who greatly admired his work. Bo Hansson died in Stockholm on the 23rd of April 2010 after years of relative silence from the music world. His legacy grew among independent musicians who recognized his pioneering contributions to progressive rock.

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