May Birthdays 
IvanP wrote:
mistgreen63 wrote:
btv. I dont know any norwegian guitar bands from sixties similar to rautalanka. Im sure there have been some bands. It would be nice to hear some of them.
Check out the Zodiacs from the early '60s Norway. Not exactly rautalanka, but close enough....
http://www.instromania.net/D2/ART/ART_Z/ZODIACS%20The.php
http://www.45cat.com/record/tr122
A bit more on the Zodiacs. I have a CD-R with nine songs by them. Sadly, I've forgotten how I got it. I think it was about ten years ago that somebody from Norway (or nearby) sent me this CD. Here are the tracks I have by the Zodiacs:
- Gjest Bardsen
- Eg Hetter Anne Knudsdotter
- Sov Dukkelise
- The Pearls
- Jezebel
- Rush On
- Melodi in F
- Spanish Harlem
- Ave Maria
Honestly, before this thread made me look up this CD, I kinda forgot about it, and haven't listened to it in many years. Well, since then I've been listening to it quite a bit, and I have to say the quality of the music is extremely good. The band features a heavy electric organ on most of the songs, but otherwise it sounds like a mix of rautalanka and maybe the Jokers (from Belgium). These guys could really play, and had some beautiful tones.
The most rautalanka-like track is The Pearls, which to my ears sounds more Finnish that most real rautalanka bands! Pure melancholy with a gorgeous echo lead guitar. Rush On is also highly rautalanka-influenced, a faster song with confident and powerful drumming under a beautiful melody. Jezebel (the old standard, as covered in the US in the '60s by the Illusions) sounds like the Tornados of the Telstar fame, with a faster, bouncier feel heavily driven by the organ, though the guitar handles the lead - very capably, even with excitement, I should add. I'd expect a cover of Spanish Harlem to be pretty cheesy, but it's not - it's just beautiful. Highly sensitive playing by the entire band, and just an astonishing echo guitar sound that really plays well off the open space in the melody. And finally Melodi in F sounds more than a bit like Los Relampagos from Spain - meaning, good!
I don't know where one can find most of the these tracks, and I have no idea where the tracks on my CD-R come from, but they're all definitely worth seeking out. It never ceases to amaze me how much phenomenal music was produced in our (broader) genre back in the '60s, and how we continue to discover true gems.
Ivan
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