SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA

Samla Mammas Manna's first record, made 1971, is partly very good and gives a wink of how good they were going to be. This was though far from the magificent sound of Snorungarnas symfoni or Knossa knapitatet. On this record there is no Costa Apetrea, they actually didn't have a guitarist. Lars Hollmer played organ, piano och sung, Lars Krantz played bass, Hasse Bruniusson played drums and sung and Bebben Öberg played drums and percussion. The driving instrument is organ and Hollmer seems to have been a great organist.

First I thought this to be a great five star record because of wonderful "Circus Apparatha". That track is amazing, built up by a cirkus stroll and becomes deep and eventful. The lyrics are both silly and sad. It's about different people and animal at a circus. Folks laugh at them and they smile but inside them it is dark. If every track had been like this how amazing it would have been.

Other great tracks are "Flickan i skogen" which is also dark but very beautiful and has a fast and melancholic melody, "Pausus" which however is short but nice and "Vidgat läge" which has a deep and little jazzy seventies picture.

The other tracks are good but it is not the melodic "Samla" I am found of. Many of the tracks seems to resemble jam sessions. I think about "Manna Jamma" and "At-one-ment" for example. Good work but not interesting. I lack something, a distinct and driving melody instrument, perhaps what came with Coste Apretea's guitar the year after. This is in some way not enough to enlighten me. I would recommend some tracks but not everything. I would say "Circus Apparatha" is an essential prog piece and I give you an advice: learn Swedish. It's a great language. Without guitar "Samla" should have sung more, just an opinion.