Bo Hansson
page 2

written by: Nigel Camilleri

Album Reviews
Albums reviewed here are:

• Music Inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings (1970)
• Magician's Hat (1972)
• Attic Thoughts (1975)
• Music Inspired By Watership Down (1977)
• Best Of (1983)
• Mitt I Livet (1985)

Bo Hansson - Music Inspired by
J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP CD Record Label: Silence/Charisma/PVC Silence Catalogue #: 4600/CAS 1059/7907 SRSCD 3600 Year of Release: 1970/1972 2000 Time: 38:31 38:31 Info: Silence Records

Tracklist: Leaving Shire (3:28), The Old Forest/Tom Bombadil (3:43), Fog On The Barrow Downs (2:29), The Black Riders/Flight To The Ford (4:07), At The House Of Elrond/The Ring Goes South (4:40), A Journey In The Dark (1:10), Lothlórien (4:01), Shadowfax (0:51), The Horns Of Rohan/The Battle Of The Pelennor Fields (3:51), Dreams In The House Of Healing (1:56), Homeward Bound/The Scoring Of The Shire (2:54), The Grey Havens (4:57)

Bonus Tracks (on Remastered Version): Findhorn's Song (1:43), Before The Rain (1:31), Fylke(1:50), Playing Downhill Into The Downs (1:39), Wandering Song (3:13), Excursion With Complications (3:23), Rabbit Music, Attic Thoughts, A Happy Prank

Lineup:Bo Hansson (organ, guitar, moog, bass), Rune Carlsson (drums, congas, percussion), Gunnar Bergsten (saxophone), Sten Bergman (flute).

Recorded and Mixed by Anders Lind at Bo Hansson's summerhouse and at Studio Decibel, Stockholm.
All music produced by Anders Lind and Bo Hansson
All music composed by Bo Hansson.
Cover painting by Peter Lindholm on original issue). Further issues on the Charisma label utilised a sleeve design by Rodney Matthews.

Before delving into the details of this classic album one must stress the fact that the bonus tracks on the remastered edition of the album are not tracks originally intended for the LOTR album, but are tracks that would later surface on two of Bo Hansson's albums, Magician's Hat and Attic Thoughts.

As the name implies, the entire album was dedicated to the epic work of J. R. R. Tolkien, a timeless epic tale which was garnering interest in the early seventies because of the release of a film based on the book, much like today! Tribute to Tolkien is given not only in the title of the album but also with an insert that was included with the album (possibly just those on the Charisma label) which featured a photograph of J.R.R.Tolkien. The tale itself was sub-divided into six books, not all of which are given equal attention by Hansson. In fact he only dwells on Books I, II and VI with books III and IV completely swept by over a few seconds.

The album starts off with Leaving Shire, a track which immediately sets the mood and more importantly the tone that will be present throughout the whole of the album. There is a sort of Middle Eastern feel to the music as Hansson merges the characteristic wavy Hammond sound with the delicate nature of the Moog. The Old Forest/Tom Bombadil starts off in a spacey kind of mood with the first use of "sound effects" to appear on the album. If one listens carefully during the first (The Old Forest) section one can make out the cries of the Nazgul. The entry of Tom Bombadil creates an upsurge in tempo as the music takes on a more psychedelic twist with sounds reminiscent of early Pink Floyd.

Fog on The Barrow Downs has an extremely eerie sound to it, mainly due to the high-pitched moog with the sounds of various flying insects and wolfs filling in the background scenario. With a title as The Black Riders/Flight To Elrond, one can only expect the track to be fast paced. The style on the track is starkly different to the rest of the album with it's Latin Santana-like percussion, complete with guitar solo. As we reach At The House Of Elrond/The Ring Goes South the music loses its Latin touch becoming more plaintive and moody. The guitar plays an important role in the creation of the right atmosphere which blends in well with much of the previous tracks.

The second side opens with the short A Journey In The Dark with its dark foreboding atmosphere as the party enter the Moria mines with the sounds of Gollum groping in the background. This track merges into Lothlorien, which features a slight percussive touch, yet which seems to be a variation on the theme that has been played out on the first side of the album. The re-evocation of a horse, this time Shadowfax, Gandalf's horse, brings in the Latin flavour and guitar work.

The Horns Of Rohan/The Battle Of Pelennor Fields sees Hansson re-introducing various sound effects into his music via various instruments. At times one can sense the arrows flying through the air together with the clashing of swords as the Battle takes place, amidst various percussive rhythms. Dreams In The House Of Healing, features a mixture of two moods as the music toys between the idea of a healing place, thus playing out a spacey theme, interrupted by various unpleasant dreams characterised by the strong percussion.

Homeward Bound/The Scouring Of The Shire is similar to Dreams In The House Of Healing, in that one senses a mixture of emotions being played out. There is a sense of festivity (courtesy of the use of the congas) together with a sense of a feeling of disappointment. However, all this is negated with The Grey Haven, with its organ drifting in and out of the mix, much like the sound of the rolling surf.

Unfortunately one of the main drawbacks that this album tends to suffer from is the fact that the sound of the organ is totally outdated. Nowadays the modus operandi of keyboards and synthesizers is worlds away from the days of the Hammond organ and the Moog synthesizer. The lack of variety within the overall tone of the album does tend to afflict the listener. Nevertheless the album still remains one of the most contemplative works related to Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings and when one takes into consideration the primitive nature of the moog, it is actually impressive how Hansson managed to convey such a variety of emotions and variations in colour and one can only wonder what he would have conjured up if he had to redo his work with the armamentarium available today.

Nigel Camilleri

Bo Hansson - Magician's Hat

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP CD Record Label: Silence/Charisma Silence Catalogue #: 4615/CAS 1073 SRSCD 3615 Year of Release: 1972/1973 2000 Time: 38:20 38:20 Info: Silence Records

Tracklist:Big City (7:20), Divided Reality (6:17), Elidor (1:34), Before the Rain (1:31), Fylke (1:50), Playing Downhill Into The Downs (1:39), Findhorn's Song (1:43), The Awakening (2:43), Wandering Song (3:13), The Sun (Parallell or 90°) (7:07), Excursion With Complications (3:23)

Lineup:Bo Hansson (Hammond organ, guitar, syntheziser, slide bass), Rune Carlsson (Drums, conga, cowbell), Kenny Håkansson (Guitars),Rolf Scherrer (acoustic guitar), Gunnar Bergsten (Saxophone, flute), Sten Bergman (Flute), Bobo Svensson (Electric Piano), Owe Gustavsson (Bass), Pelle Ekman (Drums), Göran Freese (saxophone), Bill Öhrstrom (congas)

Cover Painting by Jan Ternald; Back Photo by Gunnar Naeslund
Recorded, mixed and produced by Anders Lind and Bo Hansson at Studio Decibel, Stockholm.

All tracks composed by Bo Hansson

Arrangements: Kenny Hankasson (Track 10), Gunnar Bergsten (Tracks 1, 4)

Bo Hansson's second album, another instrumental piece of work was a more full-blooded affair than his first attempt. The fact that all recordings took place inside a proper studio, unlike LOTR which had been partly recorded on 8-track at his summer home, allowed for a more polished sound. Furthermore the line-up was augmented to create a broader musical texture allowing for various musical sounds to permeate throughout the recording and thus do away with the relatively atonal nature of his debut album. The CD release of the album on Silence Records is said to have added previously unreleased six minutes to the first track (The City), something which I cannot however confirm as I only posses the vinyl version of the album.

Once again the majority of the themes on the album have a fairy tale/fantasy association and it has oft been said that many tracks on the album are actually pieces of music that were already in existence during the making of LOTR, yet which for some reason or another did not make it to the final cut.

The new jazzier approach to recording by Bo Hansson is immediately felt in the opening The City with a much fuller involvement from various other instruments especially the saxophone. Furthermore, the much improved sound allowed for the drums to come to the fore of the recording allowing one to appreciate continuously changing time signatures. Another interesting point of interest on this album is the use of voices in an acapella format within the track, the first piece of music from Hansson to involve vocals. Much of the track has a very easy listening jazz touch with a constant conga rhythm, so very commonly used in many B-movies of the seventies.

Divided Reality starts off with a much more dramatic approach with some strong vocal accentuations, reminding me of 666 by Aphrodite's Child or even Italian seventies prog-band Area. Following the strange introduction, the track takes on a more acoustic approach with some strong percussion playing alongside some strong acoustic guitar and of course Hansson's organ and keyboards. At times one is reminded of the LOTR album, but one cannot deny that the music is definitely more mature and possesses a greater degree of variability.

Following these two rater lengthy tracks, Side One comes to an end with four short pieces of music each having its own unique touch though all having the flute dominate musical proceedings. The flute gives the band a new dimension bringing them closer to bands such as Focus and possibly King Crimson Mark I and though the final track, Playing Downhill Into The Downes sees a return to the conga-driven beat that was also present on LOTR, the group never distances itself from this "new" musical path.

Side 2 opens with Findhorn's Song, which has a spaghetti western feel to it, much in the vein of Ennio Morricone! Awakening on the other hand shows a degree more of musicianship with the unlikely use of the harmonica whilst Wandering Song is the first track since Divided Reality which can really stand it on its own as an individual track. The guitar work has a Steve Howe touch to it with frequent use of harmonics though the track does tend to become a bit bland after a short while.

With The Sun (Paralell or 90°), Hansson has enetered the realm of many of the electric based bands that have come before him such as Traffic indulging in a lengthy track which just churns out what sounds to be a somewhat improvised tune as guitar and piano lead out one solo after the other. The album comes to a close with Excursion With Complications, one of three noteworthy tracks on the album (together with the first two tracks). The change halfway through the track shifting from the dramatic keyboard sound to that of a big band swinging along gives the album that light hearted touch that was much needed.

Stylistically Magician's Hat sees Bo Hansson exploring a broader musical territory than he did on Lord Of The Rings. However the rather vague feeling on most of the tracks, many of whom involve just snippets of musical ideas which had not been expanded on leave the listener with a sense of unaccomplishment. The improvement in terms of production and musicianship over Lord Of The Rings is there for all to see, however there still seems to be that special touch missing from Bo Hansson's music that envelops the whole of the album to be able to call it a coherent piece of work.

Nigel Camilleri

Bo Hansson - Attic Thoughts

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP CD Record Label: Silence/Charisma/Sire Silence Catalogue #: SRS 4625/CAS 1113/7527 SRSCD 3625 Year of Release: 1973/1975 1995 Info: Silence Records

Tracklist:Attic Thoughts a) March b) Repose c) Wandering, Time and Space, Waiting..., Waltz for Interbeings, Time for Great Achievements, The Hybrills, Rabbit Music a) General Woundwort b) Fiver, Day and Night, A Happy Prank

Lineup:Bo Hansson (Organs, guitars, bass, synthesiser, mellotron and special effects, Rune Carlsson (Drums), Kenny Håkansson (Electric guitar), Jöran Lagerberg (Bass and acoustic guitar), Gunnar Bergsten (Saxophone), Rolf Scherrer (Acoustic guitar), Thomas Netzler (Bass), Mats Glenngård (Violin)

Recorded now and then during 1974/75 - sometimes at Bo's home, but mostly in Studio Decibel, Stockholm, Sweden. Mixed at Systems Lab 800
Cover paintings by Jan Ternald.
Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Anders Lind and Bo Hansson
All tracks composed by Bo Hansson except for Waiting... (Hansson/Håkansson)

Though Attic Thoughts would not match the sales of Lord Of The Rings and Magician's Hat, it is without doubt Bo Hanssons culmination in terms of musicianship. The experimentation with a band that had taken place on Magician's Hat had culminated in the writing of the album, the first album one can consider to be a full blown band contribution. There is even the first track present (Waiting) in which Hansson shares songwriting credits!

The opening Attic Thoughts, immediately shows that the whole of the sound of Hansson's repertoire has been beefed up with all instruments joining in the fray with prominence given to various musicians and instruments. This thus allowed for the music to develop on an unprecedented level vis-a-vis Hansson's previous works. It is true that the organ/synthesizer still remained the dominant force within the music, but guitars and flute also responded to various licks whilst the drums and bass also seem to be brought forward in the mix. Furthermore, one is struck by the relatively more accessible melody lines which seem to have a definite beginning and ending on this album, something which was sorely lacking on Magician's Hat.

Time And Space is nothing but one of the usual short spacey interludes that Hansson tends to like introducing into his albums which merges into Waiting... The fact that one of the co-writers of this track is in fact Kenny Håkansson is a clear indicator as to why the whole nature of the track is very different from anything else on Hansson's albums. The music has a more dramatic element to it with constant shifts in time signature altogether with a much more powerful driving force and rhythm. The constant shifting in time signature is further upped with Waltz For Interbeings with as can be expected the waltz making its presence every now and again. At times the music takes on an almost folksy feel, possibly because of the inclusion of the violin as a solo instrument, something which never happened previously.

Side Two opens with Time For Great Achievements, and for the first time we get Hansson playing a bombastic style that is so very reminiscent of many keyboardists from the seventies such as Wakeman and Vangelis. The Hybills is just one of those fillers, much like Time And Space on Side One, though the two-part suite Rabbit Music is the confirmation that was needed to prove Hansson's continuing musical maturity within the progressive rock instrumental field. Apart from the impressive musical nature of this track, one should also make an important consideration regarding the two sub-divisions of this suite. Both General Woundwort and Fiver are two of the protagonists of the Watership Down novel, an indication that this novel was already of musical inspiration to Hansson, even before his album which was to be titled Music Inspired By Watership Down!

Unfortunately, just when the music seems to be growing in stature, along comes a track such as Day And Night which takes us back to the style present on the Lord Of The Rings featuring a totally unconstructed piece of music though A Happy Prank saves the day. Though shorter than most of the pieces on the album it features some delicate interplay between guitar and mellotron, creating a dramatic closer to what is essentially an excellent album.

Unfortunately Attic Thoughts does not get the mention that Hansson's previous two albums gets, though as I have already said, it is musically his strongest piece of work to date. This is the first album from Hansson's repertoire that can be pinpointed as a definite progressive rock album and is the one which in my opinion has best withstood the test of time.

Nigel Camilleri

Bo Hansson -
Music Inspired By Watership Down

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP Record Label: YTF/Charisma/Sire Catalogue #: 73550/CAS 1132/6044 Year of Release: 1978/1977 Info: None Available

Tracklist:Born Of The Gentle South - After dark vapor have opress'd our plains for a long dreary season, comes a day born of the gentle south, and clears away from the sick heavens all unseemly stains. (Keats)
Allegro For A Rescue - Oh Happy state! When souls each other draw, when love is liberty and nature law. (Pope)
Legend And Light - The intellect of the wise is like glass; it admits the light of heaven and reflects it. (Hare)
Trial And Adversity - In this wild world the fondest and the best are the most tried, most troubled, and distress'd. (Crabbe)
The Twice - Victory - A victory is twice itself when the achiever brings home full numbers. (Shakespeare)
The Kingdom Brightly Smiles - O Peace! And dost thou with thy presence bless the dwellings of this war-surrounded isle; soothing with placid brow our late distress, making the triple kingdom brightly smile? (Keats

All sonds written by Hansson except for Born Of The Gentle South and Legend And Light (Håkansson/Hansson)

For the second time in his career Bo Hansson returns to the inspiration of a novel to be able to translate his music. This time round it is the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams, a novel which had already been an inspiration on his previous album for the track Rabbit Music. However, apart from the titles of the individual tracks, little more can be attributed to the novel and even then each track is accompanied by a quotation from a poem from various poets such as Keats, Pope and Shakespeare.

The information pertaining to this album is practically non existent. Seemingly it was released on the Charisma label prior to being released in Sweden, where as for all other Hansson albums it was given another title, El-Ahrairah. The album itself is devoid of the usual information one tends to expect on such an album such as the various musicians that participated in the recording and the only certainty is that Kenny Håkansson was once again involved due to his sharing of some of the songwriting credits.

Musically the album once shows that with the progress of time, the production facilities available to Hansson were continuously improving though one also feels that on this album Hansson has moved away from the relatively complex structures that were building up with each subsequent album. From the opening Born Of The Gentle South one feels that Hansson seems to be losing the plot. The track itself features a mixture of influences and feelings. At times one can still sense the fabled sounds of LOTR still lurking amongst the keyboard sections yet at the same time Håkansson's influence seems to be growing in stature with his guitar taking centre-stage giving the music a new approach with a distinctive Middle-Eastern flavour. Another possible attribution to the shift in style as well as approach was the continuous development of the synthesizer and various keyboards which thus allowed Hansson to vary his sound somewhat, especially when compared to the primitive conditions he would have worked in for his first album. Born Of The Gentle South remains one of the most intriguing pieces on the album with variations from a space-rock style similar to Tim Blake's solo works to Håkansson's guitar licks and runs. Possibly one of the flaws on this lengthy track is the time it takes for rhythm section to show any form of variety and this does become a bit tedious after a while. What is definite is that on tracks like this, the music has taken on a definite rock feel and moved further way from the jazz influences that Hansson seemed to be more enlightened by earlier in his career. The short Allegro For A Rabbit is just one of those typical Hansson fillers with little or nothing noteworthy to comment on.

The second side of the album opens with Legend And Light which has an uncharacteristic (for Hansson) slow pace to it with little in terms of variety. There is a nice flute and guitar duet accompanied by moving crescendo though not much else to write home about. Trial And Adversity is one of the more adventurous tracks on the album with what could be considered the most avant-garde approach of all Hansson's compositions. Elements of musique concrete appear throughout with plenty of Floydian references, yet at the same time Hansson manages to maintain that characteristic trademark fablesque touch of his.

On the other hand The Twice Victory has Hansson reaching for an Eric Serra/Vangelis approach with a slow paced build up with lots of repetition with the crescendo taken right out of The Lord Of The Rings album. The album comes to a conclusion with The Kingdom Brightly Smiles, a piece written for solo piano and admittedly one of the better of the short filler tracks that Hansson has presented on all of his albums.

Music Inspired By Watership Down seems to be an under appreciated album, possibly because of the quality and style of the albums that Bo Hansson had perviously released. As an individual album it features some great music, yet to those who have come to love the first few albums Hansson had released, Watership Down involved too much of a break away from the "old" mould. Having said that, of Hansson's first four album sit is the one that has best stood the test of time.

Nigel Camilleri

Bo Hansson - Best Of...

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP Record Label: Fontana Catalogue #: ? Year of Release: ? Info: None Available

This compilation of material from Bo Hanssons early albums does not show up on any of the main record labels and the only reference I have to the album is actually a picture of the album cover which clearly depicts the Fontana label logo at the side. Apart from that I have still to see a copy of this album or at least find some literature on the album!

Bo Hansson - Mitt I Livet

Country of Origin: Sweden Format: LP Record Label: Silence Catalogue #: 4700 Year of Release: 1985 Info: None Available

The only information I have managed to find on the album is on the website of Silence Records who mention the album in passing. Apparently it involves ahnsson's music with other artists supplying vocals and lyrics, was entirely in Swedish and sounds completely different from anything else Hansson had done previously. Suffice to say it is the only album from Bo Hansson's repertoire not to have been released on CD, which is a pity for collectors (like myself!). A few comments about the album seem to suggest that it is of an inferior quality, especially when compared to the standards of Hansson's seventies albums. Nevertheless it is still unfortunate that this music cannot be appreciated today because of the unwillingness of a label to release material.

Related Websites

Very little information is found on the net regarding Bo Hansson. The Silence Records website does have a small section dedicated to this artist, However not all the links on the site seem to function properly, which is a pity. However, should you have any further information regarding Bo Hansson that could be added to the site, do not hesitate to contact me.