Search - Hep Stars :: Hep Stars on Stage

Benny Andersson of ABBA and the Hep Stars live!

John Bernhardt | Falmouth, Ma United States | 05/14/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"KRILLE! JANNE! LELLE! BENNY! SVENNE!-THE HEP STAARS! That's how this album starts. A very Swedish announcer pronounces all the

Hep Stars names with same ending syllable, (Krill-lee was the nickname of the Heps' drummer -Christian Peterson. )



ON STAGE is a highly vigorous live album recorded on the Swedish folk park circuit in the summer of 1965. The early Hep Stars were not known for restraint on stage. The fan screaming on here is not manufactured and it's not totally without justification. The early Hep Stars were good showman . This album is more exciting

than ABBA's live album, albeit, with far worse sound, material and musicianship.



Most of the material played here are covers -a limitation which would drive Benny to write material for the group. Benny mainly plays electric organ here.

At one point Svenne asks the Swedish audience to "Clap Your Hands" but he does it in English,

as if saying such things in Swedish wouldn't be cool. The finale "whole Lot-Ta Shak-In Goin On" iis typcial of thr tracks -hyper, excited if not overly expert playing on this track Krille's drums are featured heavily , and lots of Hammond organ...



All the recent CD reissues of Hep Stars albums include non album A and B sides

as bonus tracks. The bonus tracks here include "So Mystifying" (the Kinks song), the single

version of "Cadillac" and" Should I" (originally by Chad and Jeremy) ." Should I" blindsides with a blistering organ solo at 1:33. Although this is a good live album, it is of less interest to ABBA fans simply because

there is only one song written by Benny here.

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