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Mikael Rickfors

 

 
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Mikael Rickfors
 
 
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Mikael Rickfors was born in Stockholm
Stockholm

is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....
, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, 4 December 1948. From 1968 he was the lead singer and bass guitaristist
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
 in popular Swedish
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 band Bamboo
Bamboo

The bamboos are a group of woody perennial plant evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae....
. The band released two singles before breaking up in 1970. Rickfors would later join the British rock group The Hollies
The Hollies

The Hollies are an England Pop music band from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British bands of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart success until the early 1970s....
.

The Hollies
In 1972 Rickfors joined popular British rock group The Hollies
The Hollies

The Hollies are an England Pop music band from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British bands of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart success until the early 1970s....
 as a surprise replacement for lead singer Allan Clarke
Allan Clarke (singer)

Allan Clarke is a retired United Kingdom singer who was one of the founding members of The Hollies. He withdrew from music and public life in 1999....
, who had left to pursue a solo career---Rickfors's lower-register voice contrasted almost completely to Clarke's distinctive tenor, and there appeared articles wondering aloud whether the change would damage the Hollies, whose trademark vocal harmonies were time-tested and immediately identifiable.






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Mikael Rickfors was born in Stockholm
Stockholm

is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....
, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, 4 December 1948. From 1968 he was the lead singer and bass guitaristist
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
 in popular Swedish
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 band Bamboo
Bamboo

The bamboos are a group of woody perennial plant evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae....
. The band released two singles before breaking up in 1970. Rickfors would later join the British rock group The Hollies
The Hollies

The Hollies are an England Pop music band from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British bands of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart success until the early 1970s....
.

The Hollies


In 1972 Rickfors joined popular British rock group The Hollies
The Hollies

The Hollies are an England Pop music band from Manchester formed in the early 1960s. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style they became one of the leading British bands of the era, and they enjoyed considerable popularity in many other countries although they did not achieve major US chart success until the early 1970s....
 as a surprise replacement for lead singer Allan Clarke
Allan Clarke (singer)

Allan Clarke is a retired United Kingdom singer who was one of the founding members of The Hollies. He withdrew from music and public life in 1999....
, who had left to pursue a solo career---Rickfors's lower-register voice contrasted almost completely to Clarke's distinctive tenor, and there appeared articles wondering aloud whether the change would damage the Hollies, whose trademark vocal harmonies were time-tested and immediately identifiable. But Rickfors soon achieved an international hit as his first single with the group "The Baby" reached no. 26 in the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 as well as charting in various other territories. The band followed up by releasing the album Romany
Romany (album)

Romany is an album by The Hollies, the first not to feature distinctive, tenor-range lead singer Allan Clarke, who had left to try a solo career and was replaced by a Swedish singer with lower vocal register, Mikael Rickfors---prompting a somewhat radical reshaping of their trademark vocal harmony style....
, with one song, "Touch," written by Rickfors. This was a transitional period in the band's history and though the group seemed to be winning a new found in respect in the United States their fortunes in the single market were declining. (Mikael also sang the band's hit "Magic Woman Touch" and the European 45 "Don't Leave The Child Alone" which he also wrote.)

The group suddenly received an unexpected boost as a single extracted from the group's previous album shot up the American charts. This created a problem as the song featured former singer Allan Clarke's distinctive vocals. The Hollies were now forced to undertake their first major US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 tour without their signature vocalist. The tour was not a commercial success.

The band then recorded a second album, Out on the Road which featured a major song writing contribution from Rickfors. On both albums and on stage Rickfors also sang, played guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
, bass, conga
Conga

The conga is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum of African origin, probably derived from the Congolese Makuta drums or Sikulu drums commonly played in Mbanza Ngungu, Congo....
s and keyboard
Keyboard instrument

A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
. Out On The Road was effectively shelved, however, only being released in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 and Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
.

Solo


The experiment having seemingly failed, Rickfors departed The Hollies as Allan Clarke rejoined.

In 1975 Rickfors released the first of eleven solo albums. 1988 saw the release of his hugely successful Vingar album. In 1990, he embarked on his first collaboration as part of the Swedish supergroup Grymlings (named after Rickfors' farm).

Among the artists who have recorded songs Mikael has written, in addition to The Hollies, are: Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana

Carlos Augusto Santana Alves is a Grammy Award-winning Mexican-American Rock music musician and guitarist. He became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana , which created a highly successful blend of rock music, salsa music, and jazz fusion....
 ("Daughter Of The Night"), Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper

Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an Music of the United States Grammy- and Emmy award winning singer-songwriter and actress. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual, and became the first artist to have four top-five singles released from one album....
 ("Yeah Yeah" on her multi-million selling debut album), Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge is an United States Rhythm and blues and soul music performer....
 ("Blue Night", "Misty Morning", "Shining Through The Rain", "Road Of No Return"), Richie Havens
Richie Havens

Richie Havens is an United States folk music singer and guitarist. Havens is perhaps best known for his intense rhythmic guitar style, soulful cover version of pop music and folk music songs and his opening performance at the Woodstock Festival....
, Jim Capaldi
Jim Capaldi

Nicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English people musician and songwriter and a founding member of Traffic . He drummed with several famous singers and musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Alvin Lee and Mylon LeFevre....
, Carla Olson...

Discography

  • Mikael Rickfors, 1975
  • The Wheel, 1976
  • Kickin' A Dream, 1979
  • Tender Turns Tuff, 1981
  • Rickfors Live, 1981
  • Skin Is Thin, 1982
  • Blue Fun, 1983
  • Hearthunters, 1985
  • Rickfors, 1986
  • Vingar, 1988
  • Judas River, 1991
  • Happy Man Don't Kill, 1997
  • Greatest Hits, 1999
  • Lush Life, 2004


External links