Samla Mammas Manna
{{Short description|Swedish progressive rock band}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Samla Mammas Manna
| image =
| image_size =
| landscape =
| alt =
| caption =
| background = group_or_band
| alias = SMM
| genre = Progressive rock, Rock in Opposition, avant-prog
| years_active = {{start date|1969}}–{{end date|1980}}, {{start date|1990}}–{{end date|2008}}
| label = Silence
| associated_acts = Greg FitzPatrick, Fred Frith, The Objections, Ramlösa Kvällar
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members = Lars Hollmer
Lars Krantz
Hasse Bruniusson
Coste Apetrea
Tatsuya Yoshida
Henrik Öberg "Bebben"
Eino Haapala
Vilgot Hansson
}}
Samla Mammas Manna was a Swedish progressive rock band often characterized by virtuosic musicianship, circus references and silly humour, similar in many ways to the song-writing style of Frank Zappa. They were one of the founding members of the Rock in Opposition (RIO) movement in the late 1970s. In 1979 they were Fred Frith's backing band on his solo album, Gravity (1980). Musically, they bore a resemblance to the Canterbury scene.
The original line-up was Lars Hollmer (keyboards), Hasse Bruniusson (drums), Lars Krantz (bass) and Henrik Öberg (percussion). For Måltid, jazz fusion guitarist Coste Apetrea joined the group.
They were on the fringe of the Swedish political "progg" movement, although their lyrics were humorous and not explicitly political.{{Cite news |last=Gren |first=Bert |date=15 April 1994 |title=Nu Samlas Mammas Manna – bandet uppstår i lyckliga stunder |work=Göteborgs-Posten}} The title of the album Klossa Knapitatet is a play on the Swedish phrase krossa kapitalet, a common slogan in the 1970s that means "crush the capital", and also the title of a seminal progg song by Blå Tåget, called "Staten och Kapitalet (Den ena handen vet vad den andra gör)". Some more serious elements of the progg movement were not amused by this frivolous attitude.
They spent a significant part of the 70s touring in Sweden, but also in other European countries.{{Cite news |last=Bergström |first=Karolina |date=13 August 2016 |title=Technogubben klär sig i proggkostym |language=Swedish |pages=4–5 |work=Upsala Nya Tidning}}
The band underwent line-up and name changes over the years (they released albums as Zamla Mammaz Manna and von Zamla), reinventing their sound each time. In 1999, the band reformed under their original name for a one-off release entitled Kaka.{{Cite news |last=Backman |first=Dan |date=21 May 1999 |title=Samla Mammas Manna |language=Swedish |work=Svenska Dagbladet}} In 2002 they reunited again, this time with Japanese musician Tatsuya Yoshida on drums, for some performances and their final album Dear Mamma. The band played their first concerts in the US in August 2003, in Chicago at Schuba's, and at the annual Progday festival in North Carolina.
In 2005 the band opened the international progressive rock festival that took place in Moscow, Russia, InProg 2005.
Hollmer died in December 2008.
Musical style
The musical style of Samla Mammas Manna has been described as a fusion of progressive rock and various national folk styles.
This being the result of complex rhythms using instruments not commonly used in the rock genre including the marimba, bouzouki, veena, and accordion.{{cite web |last=Askounes |first=Michael |title=Samla Mammas Manna - Kaka |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/kaka-samla-mammas-manna-musea-parallele-review-by-michael-askounes |website=All About Jazz |access-date=21 April 2023}}
Having no direct political stand, being neither "a traditional Swedish folk group" nor, "a leftist folk-rock band" as stated by Andrew Jones in his book Plunderphonics, Pataphysics & Pop Mechanics: An Introduction to Musique Actuelle, they freely weaved in and out of the styles of both groups creating their own unique sound.{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Andrew |title=Plunderphonics, Pataphysics & Pop Mechanics: An Introduction to Musique Actuelle |edition=1st |publisher=SAF Publishing Ltd |year=1995 |isbn=978-0946719150}}
Discography
as Samla Mammas Manna
- Samla Mammas Manna (1971)
- Måltid (1973)
- Klossa Knapitatet (1974)
- Snorungarnas symfoni (1976)
- Kaka (1999)
- Dear Mamma (2002)
as Zamla Mammaz Manna
- För äldre nybegynnare (1977)
- Schlagerns mystik (1978)
- Familjesprickor (1980)
as von Zamla
- Zamlaranamma (1982)
- No Make Up! (1984)
- ... 1983 (live) (1999)
See also
References
External links
- {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p20334|label=Samla Mammas Manna}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Swedish progressive rock groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1969
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1980
Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1990
Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2008