Benny Andersson is a Swedish musician, composer, former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA (1972–1982), and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. As of 2011 he is active with his own band Benny Anderssons Orkester (BAO!), and was executive producer for the film version of the musical Mamma Mia! Anderssons musical background comes from his father and grandfather; they both enjoyed playing the accordion, and at six, Benny got his own. Father Gösta and grandfather Efraim taught him Swedish folk music, traditional music, and the odd schlager. Benny recalls the first records he bought were Du Bist Musik by Italian schlager singer Caterina Valente and Elvis Presleys Jailhouse Rock. He was especially impressed by the flip side Treat Me Nice as this featured a piano. This smörgåsbord of different kinds of music was to influence and follow him through the years. When Andersson was ten he got his own piano, and taught himself to play. He left school aged 15 and began to perform at youth clubs. This is when he met his first girlfriend Christina Grönvall, with whom he had two children: Peter (born 1963) and Helen (born 1965). In early 1964, Benny and Christina joined Elverkets Spelmanslag (The Electricity Board Folk Music Group), the name was a punning reference to their electric instruments. The repertoire was mainly instrumentals, one of his numbers was Baby Elephant Walk, and he wrote his first songs. youtu.be/p4QqMKe3rwY
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 07:52:11 +0000
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