Cornelis Vreeswijk
Cornelis Vreeswijk | |
|---|---|
,_Bestanddeelnr_918-7635.jpg) Vreeswijk in 1966 | |
| Born | 8 August 1937 IJmuiden, Netherlands |
| Died | 12 November 1987 (aged 50) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Burial place | Katarina Church, Stockholm |
| Occupation(s) | Troubadour, singer-songwriter, poet |
| Years active | 1964–1987 |
| Spouses | Anita Strandell
(m. 1978–1981)Bim Warne (m. 1970–1975)Ingalill Rehnberg
(m. 1962–1968) |
| Children | Jack Vreeswijk |
| Website | www |
Cornelis Vreeswijk (ⓘ; ⓘ; 8 August 1937 – 12 November 1987) was a Dutch-born Swedish singer-songwriter and poet.
He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at events for students with idiosyncratic humor and social engagement. Vreeswijk is considered one of the most influential and successful troubadours in Sweden. In 2010, the Swedish drama film Cornelis was made about his life, directed by Amir Chamdin.[1]
Early life
Cornelis Vreeswijk was born and grew up in the Netherlands. He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He left school in 1955 and went to sea, where he passed the time playing the blues. He returned to Sweden in 1959.[2] He was educated as a social worker at Stockholm University[3] and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at events for students with idiosyncratic humor and social engagement.
Swedish career
Vreeswijk explained in one of his few interviews that he had taught himself to sing and play in the fifties by imitating his first idols Josh White and Lead Belly. His first album, Ballader och oförskämdheter (Ballads and rudenesses, 1964), was a hit which immediately gained him a large following among the emerging radical student generation. In this period he also played with Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson and his trio. His songs "Ångbåtsblues" ("Steam Boat Blues") and "Jubelvisa för Fiffiga Nanette" ("Joyful song for Clever Nanette") are classics from these recordings. His abrasive, frequently political lyrics and unconventional delivery were a deliberate break with what he was later to describe as a Swedish song tradition of pretty singing and harmless lyrics, "a hobby for the upper classes". Influenced by jazz and blues and especially by the singing style and social criticism of Georges Brassens, Vreeswijk "speak-sings" his "insults", and compels his listeners to pay close attention to the words.
His 1965 loose translation of
A political singer with a bohemian lifestyle, Vreeswijk remained controversial in the sixties and early seventies, idolized by his fans but disapproved of by many others for his "rude" language and persistent interest in "unsuitable" people like prostitutes and criminals. Some of his records were blacklisted by the public broadcasting company
Later in his career, Vreeswijk was to gain increasing fame and a wider audience both for his songs and his other work. He published several volumes of poetry in his lifetime and left a considerable manuscript legacy of poems which have been published since. He also became an important musical interpreter of the works of other people, recording the songs of
Vreeswijk's own best-known songs of the later seventies and early eighties tend to be dark in tone, like "Sist jag åkte jumbojet blues" ("Last time I Went by Jumbojet Blues", a metaphorical bad trip) and "Blues för Fatumeh", both addressing heavy drug addiction. Even though in this period Vreeswijk was a prey of tabloid scandal and in the news for his drinking problem and his debts (about both of which he spoke with frankness) rather than for his achievements, he remained highly productive. He is also known as the co-writer of the Hep Stars song "Speleman" which was released for their album Songs We Sang 68.
Towards the end of his life his reputation soared again, aided by the televising of some highly regarded nightclub shows, and by Agneta Brunius' TV documentary Balladen om den flygande holländaren (The Ballad of the Flying Dutchman) in 1986. By the time of his death from liver cancer at the age of fifty, Vreeswijk had become an icon of the Swedish music scene, and he was honored with burial at the cemetery of
Dutch career
In 1966, the Dutch broadcasting organisation
Nowadays, only "De nozem en de non" is still known by the general Dutch public. Vreeswijk still has some fans in the Netherlands, however, and in 2000 the Cornelis Vreeswijk society was founded.
One reason for his lack of popularity in the Netherlands was the impression that he was a bit old-fashioned. Because of his long stay in Sweden, though he never became a citizen,[5] the Dutch pronunciation and idiom that he had learned to speak in his youth were out-of-date in the seventies and eighties.
Although he was fluent in both Dutch and Swedish, the latter became his primary language. His Stockholm-accented Swedish was famously witty and expressive.
Later life
He gave his last concert in Uppsala in September 1987, suffering from liver cancer and diabetes. He recorded his last album and a book of poetry, both entitled Till Fatumeh. He travelled one last time to the Netherlands to see his family, returned to Stockholm and died soon afterwards.[2]
Discography
Swedish
Main article –
Dutch
- 1972 – Cornelis Vreeswijk
- 1973 – Leven en laten leven
- 1974 – Liedjes voor de Pijpendraaier en mijn Zoetelief
- 1976 – Foto's en een souvenir: Vreeswijk zingt Croce
- 1977 – Het recht om in vrede te leven
- 1978 – Het beste van Cornelis Vreeswijk
- 1982 – Ballades van de gewapende bedelaar
- 2005 - " Het Mooiste van Cornelis Vreeswijk"
Bibliography
- En handfull gräs, 1970.
- I stället för vykort, 1974. ISBN 91-1-731331-7
- Felicias svenska suite, 1978. ISBN 82-03-09752-9
- Till Fatumeh, 1987. ISBN 91-7608-384-5
- Till Fatumeh (paperback), 1989. ISBN 91-7642-471-5
- Sånger, ed. Jan-Erik Vold, 1988. ISBN 91-7608-399-3
- Dikter, ed. Jan-Erik Vold, 1989. ISBN 91-7608-439-6
- Osjungna sånger, 1990. ISBN 91-7608-488-4
- Skrifter, ed. Jan-Erik Vold, 2000:
- Samlade sånger. ISBN 91-7324-770-7
- Enskilda sånger. ISBN 91-7324-770-7
- Dikter Prosa Tolkningar. ISBN 91-7324-771-5
- Samlade sånger.
Anthology
- En bok om Cornelis (chosen texts, articles and interviews), ISBN 91-7324-798-7
Also appears on
- Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia (3 CDs, Nascente 2011)
References
- ^ "Cornelis (2010)". Swedish Film Database. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
- ^ a b Lovén, Lars. "Cornelis Vreeswijk | Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ "Cornelis Vreeswijk". MyHeritage.com. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Nilsson, Hans. "BELLMAN PÅ SPÅREN" [Bellman Recordings] (in Swedish). Bellman.net. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
- ^ Strömmer, Gunnar (13 June 2012). "Ceremonier för en ny plats på jorden". Svenska Dagbladet.
Sources
- Rolf Fridholm, Polarn Cornelis, 1989. ISBN 91-7029-016-4
- Klas Widén, Cornelis Vreeswijk: En förteckning över hans produktion med kort biografi, 1991.
- Ulf Carlsson, Cornelis Vreeswijk: Artist-vispoet-lyriker, 1996. ISBN 91-564-1025-5
- Rolf Fridholm, Medborgare! En vänbok om Cornelis, 1996. ISBN 91-88144-25-9
- Oscar Hedlund, Scener ur en äventyrares liv, 2000. ISBN 91-34-51809-6
- Klas Gustafson, Ett bluesliv_: Berättelsen om Cornelis Vreeswijk, 2006. ISBN 978-91-7343-199-6
- Rutger Vahl, Misschien wordt `t morgen beter, 2014. ISBN 978-90-388-9871-1
External links
- Cornelis Vreeswijk at IMDb
- Swedish Cornelis Vreeswijk Society (Cornelis Vreeswijk Sällskapet)
- Dutch Cornelis Vreeswijk homepage
- Cornelis Vreeswijk discography at MusicBrainz
- Cornelis Vreeswijk discography at Discogs
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