|
Biografy
Famous and controversial All copies are sold out in no time and his career is firmly launched. His next album releases are a success. One of his biggest hits ‘Brev från kolonien’ (letter from camp) tells the story of a boy on summer camp writing a cheerful letter home about what is going on at night. E.g. setting the camp leaders' tent on fire. (Based on an original by a certain Pucinetti.) This songs starts a small scandal. Worried parents take the song too literally and refuse to send their children to summer camp any longer. This is not the only time Vreeswijk upsets the paternalistic Swedish society of the sixties. Radio and television stations regard most of his songs unsuitable for broadcasting and mark them with the dreaded yellow skull adhesives to point out they have a bad influence on youngsters. In the announcements of other songs the dj's clearly state that the audience should not take notice of the meaning of the lyrics. Vreeswijk reacts to this by prohibiting the public broadcast of his records. At that time his stardom has already risen to the extend that his record sales hardly drop. Initial success in The Netherlands, 1966-1972
Success does not last, 1972-1982 The 1973 allbum release, titled ‘Leven en laten leven’ (live and let live), contains songs like ‘Liedje voor Linnea’ (song for Linnea), ‘Morgenpsalm’ (morning psalm) and ‘De bekommerde socialist’ (the worried socialist). The album is received well but the record sales far from equal those of his debut. In 1974 Vreeswijk returns to The Netherlands to promote his third Dutch album 'Liedjes voor de Pijpendraaier en mijn Zoetelief' (songs for the piper and my sweetheart). Some tracks on this lp are: ‘Teddybeer’ (teddy bear), ‘Marjolijn’, ‘Kleurenblind’ (colorblind), ‘Ik wil ‘t niet pikken’ (I don't want to take it) and the Bellman-translation ‘Epistel 81’. The Album is hardly successful in The Netherlands, just like its successors 'Foto’s en een souvenir' (photographs and a souvenir) (1976) and 'Het recht om in vrede te leven' (the right to live in peace) (1978). The first of the above mentioned albums contains Dutch translations of Jim Croce songs, the latter translations of the songs from Victor Jara, the folk singer from Chili who was murdered during the 1973 coup by Pinochet. It is hard to point out why the record sales are this disappointing. Fact is that in the meanwhile the problems in his private life are piling up. He divorces from his wife and he has a serious drinking problem. Not before 1982 a refined Vreeswijk will again record in Dutch. 'Ballades van de Gewapende Bedelaar' (Ballads by the armed beggar) is according to many his best Dutch album ever, with songs like ‘Is er nog plaats in de schuilkelder’ (is there still room in the underground shelter), ‘De dolfijnen’ (the dolphins), ‘De capucijnersamba’ (the marrowfat samba) and ‘Persoonlijke Peter’ (personal Peter). In this album Vreeswijk simultaneously expresses his musical and poetical talents and his great sense of humor. But in 1982 he is only remembered as someone from 1972 who once sung the story of a teddy boy and a nun. And in the early eighties there are no longer teddy boys in The Netherlands and nuns are getting scarce. The End, 1987 The star Vreeswijk in Sweden never fades. He has
a great many loyal fans. In the consecutive years they are treated on a new
album once a year and with every release his lyrics cut deeper into the heart.
He also starts to publish poems. On the other hand there still are many Swedes
that do not appreciate what this bearded minstrel is producing. The subtle way
he ridicules and criticizes the Swedish society and his erotic lyrics do not
comply with the accepted norms and rules. Critics and journalists spend little
time discussing the quality of his products but write lengthy articles about his
turbulent private life instead. And it must be admitted that there are plenty of
events to be described. Booze, women, taxes and the strong arm of the law are
the story of his life. In the early eighties however he seems to have dealt with
most of his problems. Some new albums are released with modern arrangements of
his earlier recordings. A new and young Swedish audience is getting interested
in Vreeswijk. Then in 1985 the fatal diagnosis of a cancer in the liver comes
across his path. During the last few months of his life he puts all his effort
in finishing a final album 'Till Fatumeh', again with new arrangements of
old material, as a goodbye to his fans. Sadly enough, due to financial
circumstances, he has to change hospital a few weeks before his death. On
November 12, 1987 he dies, almost bankrupt, at the age of fifty.
The Netherlands Too Even in The Netherlands there seems to be a
Vreeswijk revival. On November 12, 1999 in Utrecht the first Cornelis Vreeswijk
Music Night turned out to be a well visited meeting. The Cornelis Vreeswijk
Association to be was introduced to the fans with the aim to keep the memory of
Vreeswijk vivid. On May 27, 2000 a second meeting was held and the Association
was officially founded. |
|||||||||||||||
