Bjork´s first album,published in 1977 when Bjork was 11

$

66

 

   This is an original copy (in very good condition) of Bjork´s first solo album, an LP published in 1977 when she was 11 years old.

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   In 1993, Icelandic singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir, better known just as Björk, recorded her album Debut, which kicked of her solo career after the breakup of The Sugarcubes. What few people know (OK, maybe not quite so few, as it is mentioned in the Wikipedia article and it even got a bad review on AMG) is that Björk's real debut came out 16 years earlier, a self-titled album released only in Iceland, at a time when she was 11 years old. Björk sings and plays flute, and the backing band is led by her stepfather Saevar Arnason on guitar. The album allegedly went gold in Iceland (which means it sold more than 5000 copies), and though it never saw an official re-release, there are lots of bootleg CDs and even bootleg LPs in circulation. The cover was designed by Björk's mother Hildur Hauksdóttir.                                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One day when Björk was 10 years old there was an "open-house-day" at her school. All the childrens' parents were invited and all the children had to do some individual performances, like singing or reading poems. Björk sang a song named "I love to love", which reached number 1 in the Icelandic charts in 1976. The Icelandic radio did a special feauture about the event and a man who worked for Iceland's leading record-company Falkinn (today a bicycle-manufacture) heard Björk sing and was surprised by the maturity in her voice. He asked the 10-year-old singer to make a record and the result was this hippie-/disco-oriented children's album, which made Björk to a domestic Icelandic child-star. The very young Björk sings and plays the flute assisted by hippie-musicians and members from her step-father Saevar's band The Pops, which was one of Iceland's most popular rock-bands at the time. Saevar wrote the cachy Arabic-influenced disco-song "Litli arabadrengurinn" (title can be translated as "Little Arabian boy"), which became a massive hit in Iceland. The young chanteuse herself wrote a cute folk-oriented, semi-classical piece named after the famous Icelandic landscape-painter Johannes Kjarval. 

    The record contains a beautiful Icelandic version of The Beatles' classical  "The fool on the hill" ("Alfur ut ur holl") and a dreadful reggea-version of Stevie Wonder's "Your kiss is sweet" (titled "Bukolla" after an Icelandic cow). The remaining songs are 70s pop- and disco-versions of traditional Icelandic folk-tunes and children's songs. "Baenin" is a nice, laid-back, somewhat Elgar Sisters-remiscent closing-piece but otherwise it isn't possible to trace any hints of Björk's adult career. I'm quite impressed by the powerful expressions and the maturity in the 11-year-old Björk's voice, though it's naturally way below the levels of the adult Björk.

   "Björk" sold 5000 copies, which is gold in Iceland, but it's extremely hard to get an original LP-copy of it today. The adult Björk hasn't allowed any re-releases, which is quite understable, because of the dated hippi-esque arrangements, but there is quite a big selection of bootleged CD-versions around. Of course it's a must-have for Björk-fanatics and completists, not only because of the couriosity but also for the meldoic sweetness of "Litle arabadrengurinn" and "Johannes Kjarval".

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   Ceci est le premier album de Björk (elle avait 11 ans). Il est sorti en 1977 sur le label islandais Fálkinn. Il est limité à 1000 copies. Label: Fálkinn( This is not right, there where a bootleg published in the nineties that had  labelled on the back of it’s  cover  something like “limited 1000 copies”  bla bla bullshit. The original album was published in at least 5000 copies, possible 7000 partly as LP´s and partly Cassettes)


Catalog#: FA-006
Format: Vinyl, Album, Stereo
Pays: Iceland
Année: 1977

01 Arabadrengurinn - Composé par Sævar Árnasson et écrit par Björgvin Hólm
02 Búkolla - Composé par Erient et écrit par Björgvin Hólm
03 Alta Mira - Composé par Edgar Winter et écrit par Pálmi Gunnarsson
04 Jóhannes Kjarval - Composé par Björk Guðmundsdóttir
05 Fúsi Hreindýr - Composé par Björgvin Gíslason et écrit par Björgvin Hólm
06 Himnaför - Composé par Björgvin Hólm
07 Óliver - Composé par Jóhann Helgasson et écrit par Björgvin Hólm
08 Álfur Út Úr Hól - Composé par John Lennon et Paul McCartney et écrit par Björgvin Hólm
09 Músastiginn
10 Bænin - Composé par Melanie et écrit par Kolbrún Jónsdóttir

 

More at: http://boardsofelectronica.blogspot.com/2007/04/bjrk-bjrk.html