Alice Babs
AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:
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Alice Babs
- Genres: Vocal Music
Biography
A popular singer when she was still a young teenager, Alice Babs has had a long and varied career. She made her recording debut in 1939 at the age of 15 and, although her yodelling made her initially popular and the novelty "Swing It, Mr. Teacher" was her first hit, Babs even at the start had a highly appealing voice and a lightly swinging style. She mostly recorded in jazz and swing-oriented settings throughout the years of World War II. Babs remained active throughout the 1950s and '60s in Europe, singing everything from jazz (recording with Duke Ellington in 1963 and performing the classic "Heaven" at his second spiritual concert) and pop to a bit of classical music. By the late '70s, Alice Babs had become less active but into the mid-'90s, she occasionally performed on special occasions. Although her important first set with Duke Ellington (on Reprise) remains out of print, a Phontastic CD (Swing It!) does a fine job of summing up her first 15 years on records. ~ Scott Yanow, RoviWikipedia on Answers.com:
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Alice Babs
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This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011) |
Alice Babs (born Hildur Alice Nilsson on 26 January 1924) is a singer and actor from Kalmar, Sweden. While she has worked in a wide number of genres - e.g. Swedish folklore, Elizabethan songs and opera - she is best known internationally as a jazz singer. Making her breakthrough in Swing it magistern (Swing It, Teacher!) (1940),[1] she appeared in more than a dozen Swedish language-films. Despite playing the well-behaved, good-hearted, cheerful girl, the youth culture forming with Alice Babs as its icon caused outrage among members of the older generation. A vicar called the Alice Babs cult the "foot and mouth disease to cultural life".[citation needed]
In 1958, she was the first artist to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing in 4th place with the song "Lilla stjärna" ("Little Star"). The same year, she formed Swe-Danes with Ulrik Neumann and Svend Asmussen. The group would later tour the United States together, before dissolving in 1965. A long and productive period of collaboration with Duke Ellington started in 1963.[1] Among other works, Alice Babs performed his second and third Sacred Concerts that were originally written for her. Her voice had a range of more than three octaves; Duke Ellington said that when she did not sing the parts that he wrote for her, he had to use three different singers.[citation needed]
Alice Babs currently resides in Sweden.
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Contents
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Filmography
- 2008 Alice Babs - Swing´it (orig. Naturröstens hemlighet)Documentary film, 80´minutes
- Det svänger på slottet (1959)
- Musik ombord (1958)
- Swing it, fröken (1956)
- Sommarflickan (1955)
- Resan till dej (1953)
- Kungen av Dalarna (1953)
- Drömsemestern (1952)
- Sången om Stockholm (1947)
- Skådetennis (1945) (short film)
- Örnungar (1944)
- En trallande jänta (1942)
- Vårat gäng (1942)
- Sjung och le (1941) (short film)
- Magistrarna på sommarlov (1941)
- Swing it, magistern! (1940)
- Blixt och dunder (1938)
Discography
Alice Babs' discography includes more than 800 recordings since her debut with Joddlarflickan in 1939. The following is a list of her recordings available on CD, listed chronologically from when they were originally recorded.
- Vax Records CD 1003 Alice Babs & Nisse Linds Hot-trio, originally recorded: 1939-41
- Naxos 8.120759 Swingflickan, originally recorded: 1939-44
- Vax Records CD 1000 Early recordings 1939-1949
- Klara skivan KLA 7802-2 Joddlarflickan (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1939-51
- Phontastic PHONTCD 9302 Swing it! Alice Babs!, originally recorded: 1939-53
- Sonora 548493-2 Swing it, Alice! (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1939-63
- Sonora 529315-2 Ett glatt humör, originally recorded: 1940-42
- Odeon 7C138-35971/2 Alice Babs, originally recorded: 1942-1947
- Metronome 8573-84676-2 Guldkorn, originally recorded: 1951-58
- Metronome 4509-93189-2 Metronomeåren, originally recorded: 1951-58
- Metronome 5050467-1616-2-7 Alice Babs bästa (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1951-61
- Bear Family BCD 15809-AH Mitsommernacht, originally recorded: 1953-59
- Bear Family BCD 15814-AH Lollipop, originally recorded: 1953-59
- EMI 7243-5-96148-2-3 Diamanter (2 CDs), originally recorded: 1958-60
- EMI 7243-5-20153-2-0 Just you, just me, originally recorded: 1958-72
- Pickwick 751146 Regntunga skyar, originally recorded: 1958-72
- Metronome 4509-95438-2 Swe-Danes Scandinavian Shuffle, originally recorded: 1959
- RCA 74321-12719-2 Alice and Wonderband, originally recorded: 1959
- Swedish Society Discofil SWECD 401 Sjung med oss mamma (Alice Tegnér), originally recorded: 1963
- Swedish Society Discofil SWECD 400 Alice Babs, originally recorded: 1964
- Swedish Society Discofil SWECD 402 Scandinavian songs (Svend Asmussen) originally recorded: 1964
- Prophone PCD 050 Yesterday, originally recorded: 1966-75
- Vax Records VAXCD 1006 "Illusion" (with Jan Johansson and Georg Riedels orchestra) Originally recorded 1966
- Vax Records CD 1008 "As time goes by" Alice Babs with Bengt Hallbergs trio and Arne Domnérus Big Band with Svend Asmussen. Originally recorded 1960-1969
- EMI 7243 5398942 2 Den olydiga ballongen/Hej du måne, originally recorded: 1968-76
- Prophone PCD 045 What a joy!, originally recorded: 1972-80
- Bluebell ABCD 052 There's something about me, originally recorded: 1973-78
- Prophone PCD 021 Serenading Duke Ellington, originally recorded: 1974-75
- Swedish Society Discofil SCD 3003 Om sommaren sköna - Sjunger Alice Tegnér, originally recorded: 1974
- Bluebell ABCD 005 Far away star, originally recorded: 1977
- RCA Victor 74321-62363-2 Swingtime again, originally recorded: 1998
- Sony SK 61797 A church blues for Alice, originally recorded: 1999
- Prophone PCD 062 Don't be blue, originally recorded: 2001
References
- ^ a b Yanow, Scott. "Alice Babs: Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/alice-babs-p166008. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alice Babs |
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Debut entry |
Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1958 |
Succeeded by Brita Borg with "Augustin" |
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists
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Mentioned in
Yesterday & Close to You/Said the Willow Tree
(2000 Album by Alice Babs)
In Sweden 1973
(1999 Album by Duke Ellington & Alice Babs)
Det Glada Kalaset
(1946 Film)
Swing It!
(Album by Alice Babs)
Don't Be Blue
(Album by Alice Babs)
» More