Totta Näslund

Biography

Erik Torsten "Totta×Totta1995 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Det blåser en vind4:432Manuel, augusti '944:313En clown i mina kläder4:334Bara månen är full5:105Mycket vill ha mer4:096Alltid inom mig4:297På väg igen4:048Bibelord i hyresrum4:179Allt är bra3:5410Louise3:4611Om våren6:0612När du kommer hem till mig2:17" Näslund (1 April 1945 – 19 June 2005) was a Swedish blues musician and actor.

Biography

Näslund was born in Sandviken and grew up in a small working-class town in Ångermanland in the middle of Sweden called Köpmanholmen, but moved to Gothenburg in 1970 to find work. He was working in the Gothenburg docks when he joined Nynningen, a rock group with leftist political texts and inspired by the Russian Communist poet Mayakovsky. Totta Näslund became the group's main singer.
In the mid-1970s, Nynningen fused with Nationalteatern, a musical theater ensemble with many members. Totta Näslund joined the group as singer, guitar-player and actor. Nationalteatern developed away from the theater and became a straight rock group, a rock orchestra as they called themselves. Even though Totta never wrote any own songs for the band, he was probably the most prominent member, next to Ulf Dageby.
Nationalteatern was one of the many leftist music and theater groups that came together in 1977 to form Tältprojektet, The Tent Project, a musical theater performance on the history of the Swedish working class, which toured the country that summer. Totta Näslund played the Beggar, the central story telling character of the play, and he sang some of the lead songs, like Aldrig mera krig (Never War Again) and Vi äro tusenden (We are legion). Tältprojekted, a non-profit making experiment financed by its members and supporters, was highly successful.
In the beginning of the 1980s, Nationalteatern dissolved and Totta Näslund directed his full energy to his hobby project, Totta's Bluesband with lyrics in English and several smaller tours in the U.S.
In 1995, when Totta turned 50 years old, he decided to go for a solo career and has released 8 solo albums with mostly songs written directly for him by other artists, or covers of other songs.
One of Totta Näslund's main sources for inspirations was Bob Dylan, and in May 2005 he went to Dylan's hometown Hibbing, Minnesota despite his terminal cancer, where he performed his own interpretation of Bob Dylan songs. Totta had also started making an album together with Mikael Wiehe, with Dylan×Dylan29 March 2006 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Längesen5:332Du får hålla dej här3:303Den blindes pojk'2:584Vad var det du ville4:385Jag ska bli fri4:216Där anar jag din hand3:567Ni som tjänar på krig5:168Flykten4:229Dagen är kommen3:0010När natten faller som sten6:0911Blinde Will McTell5:0612När vårt skepp slår till3:1513Inte natt än5:1214Adjö Angelina3:44 songs translated to Swedish, but this was interrupted when he suddenly died.

Death

Totta Näslund died on 19 June 2005 of liver cancer. He was scheduled to perform in his hometown Köpmanholmen the next day. He was 60 years old.

Selected discography

With Nationalteatern

1976 - Kåldolmar och kalsipper
1978 - Barn av vår tid
1980 - Rövarkungens ö
1987 - Peter Pan
With Tottas Bluesband

1981 - Live at Renströmska
1983 - Saturday night boogie woogie
1985 - Combination boogie
1988 - Compilation boogie (1981–1986)
2003 - Sitting on top of the world
As a solo artist

1995 - Totta
1996 - Totta 2 - Hjärtats slutna rum
1999 - Totta 3 - En dåre som jag
2001 - Totta 4 - Duetterna
2002 - Totta 5 - Turnén
2002 - Totta 6 - Bortom månen & mars
2004 - Totta 7 - Soul på drift
2005 - Totta 8 - Greatest Hits - Bättre begagnat
2006 - Totta & Wiehe - Dylan, posthumous, songs by Bob Dylan translated to Swedish, together with Mikael Wiehe