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There's more information about the new book Benny's Road to ABBA now up on CMP.com, including a few sample pages from inside the book. For all you ABBA photo nuts, there's an alternate photo (that I've not seen before) from the Ring Ring album cover session!

http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/bennysroad.html

Thanks to ABBAMAIL's Ian Cole

Check out the latest reviews of Cadillac Madness right here:
http://carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/ovrigt/cadillacmadnessreviewsextr.html

This is the book that crept up on us unawares. We already knew about Carl Magnus Palm's book about the Hep Stars, "Cadillac Madness: The Incredible Story of the Hep Stars" written in conjunction with mega Hep Stars fan Dan-Eric Landén. Many fans were disappointed about the book being in Swedish and being denied the chance to read about this crucial chapter in the ABBA story.

"Benny's Road To ABBA" is based on "Cadillac Madness" and is in English. With ABBA fans in mind, the book focuses more on Benny and his time before, during and just after the Hep Stars phenomenon. The book takes us right up to "People Need Love" which of course was the beginning of ABBA as a group.

We have all heard how popular the Hep Stars were and how they were Sweden's answer to the Beatles - an unfair comparison and is more an indication of the hysteria provoked. This book takes us on the Hep Stars journey and allows us to experience Hep Stars mania, albeit second hand, via the narrative, the photos and selected excerpts from newspaper reviews at the time. At times, it really feels like you, the reader, are there experiencing the sweat, the adoration and the hysteria. After reading about the concerts, I took a break and had a listen to the Hep Stars live album. By closing my eyes and with the book fresh in my mind, it really felt like I was there!

Magnus has a really clear, factual and interesting writing style, not ego-driven at all. One of the strengths of "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows" was his ability to recreate what it must have been like to live in Sweden back in the 60s and this theme also runs through "Benny's Road to ABBA". I literally found it hard to put the book down. While much of the basic story we already know, this book is able to go into a lot more depth, even more than "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows". It is fascinating to see how Benny came to join the Hep Stars, originally a very shy and withdrawn character. He develops literally before our eyes into the main songwriter in the group and also into more of a leader and decision maker. For example, it is Benny who suggested that Lotta join the group and Benny who wanted to steer the group more towards cabaret. I enjoyed reading about how Benny's songwriting developed and his friendship with Björn, which of course lay the foundations for ABBA. It made me dip into the Hep Stars back catalogue with a special emphasis on the songs written or co-written by Benny. It was fun to rediscover the music and some of it is very good, pointing the way towards ABBA, as the book's title suggests.

The discography section of the book is a description of all the tracks recorded by the Hep Stars between 1964 and 1969 and is a valuable information resource. I love a good discography and this doesn't disappoint. It is more than just a summary of what has appeared in the main text. Some of the information only appears in the discography so make sure you keep reading.

The book is illustrated with many rare photos of Benny and the Hep Stars, as well as Festfolk and the members of ABBA in the early days. There are quite a few photos from the disastrous attempt to make a feature film in Africa. It's easy to forget that Benny was very cute in his younger years.

I highly recommend this book to any ABBA fan. It is a fascinating and compelling read and goes a long way towards filling in some of the gaps in the ABBA story.

Grant Whittingham Sydney, Australia

PRESS INFORMATION 4th of July 2004

Premium Publishing is releasing a new book in the United Kingdom called: BENNY'S ROAD TO ABBA by Carl Magnus Palm

ABBA superstar Benny Andersson's early years with The Hep Stars now portrayed in a lavishly illustrated new book by ABBA authority Carl Magnus Palm "Benny's Road To ABBA" tells the true prelude to ABBA...

In the 1970s, Benny Andersson reached worldwide fame as the genius songwriter and keyboard player in ABBA, one of the all-time classic pop acts. However, his first taste of stardom came a decade earlier, when he was a member of The Hep Stars - Sweden's biggest pop band of the 1960s. In a marked contrast to ABBA's studio-based career, The Hep Stars swept through the country like a tidal wave, scoring hit after hit and playing hundreds of gigs each year in front of hordes of screaming teenagers.

Benny's Road To ABBA is a new book and tells the amazing story of Benny's life, from his first discovery of music as a young child, through the whirlwind Hep Stars years, and up until the very first ABBA recording. Author Carl Magnus Palm describes how a fresh-faced teenager became one of Sweden's most celebrated pop stars, the life-changing discovery of his songwriting talent, the chaotic Hep Stars tours, and the inevitable crash after the mismanagement of the group's finances. Along the way, Benny met up with Bj"rn Ulvaeus, forging a partnership that continues to this day - the book vividly relates the events that led up to the formation of ABBA.

Benny's story is told by the superstar himself, in an interview made especially for this project, and by eyewitnesses such as his fellow Hep Stars members and the group's many associates. Benny's Road To ABBA is richly illustrated with photographs from these early years, many of which are previously unpublished.

The book comes with a detailed Hep Stars discography, telling the story behind each and every song the group recorded. There is also an overview of the records released by the duo Bj"rn & Benny. Benny's Road To ABBA is a highly entertaining story of the ups and downs of a 1960s pop star - an essential read for anyone who wants to discover the life's journey of one of the most successful songwriters and performers of the rock and pop era.

Author Carl Magnus Palm was born in Stockholm in 1965. His earlier books include From ABBA To Mamma Mia! - The Official Book (with Anders Hanser, Virgin Books 2000) and Bright Lights, Dark Shadows - The Real Story Of ABBA (Omnibus Press 2001). He has also written books about The Beatles and Swedish jazz singer Monica Zetterlund, and contributed research and liner notes for several ABBA CDs and DVDs.

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Lex Corbach Ten Boer The Netherlands

Benny's Road To ABBA

On June 12, 2004, I will be a guest at the ABBA fan club convention at the ABBAfest in Brighton, England. In conjunction with this event, I will also be launching my brand new book, Benny's Road To ABBA.

Back in 2002, when I began writing the Hep Stars biography Cadillac Madness, Premium Publishing asked me if I would consider doing an English version of the book. Their idea was to use the information about The Hep Stars' extraordinary career, remove most of the personal details about all the members except Benny Andersson, then extend the time-frame of the English book to encompass Benny's career during the three-year period from the break-up of The Hep Stars up until the recording of 'People Need Love'.

Thus, the book would start with Benny's childhood, tell the story of his time with the Hep Stars in the 1960s, and then the formation of his relationship and initial collaboration with Björn, Frida and Agnetha - ergo Benny's Road To ABBA. The purpose of this approach was, of course, to produce a book that would be more interesting for readers outside Sweden.

I eventually began preparing the manuscript for this book, and it was completed a while ago. However, Premium Publishing thought it would be a nice surprise if we kept this title a secret for a while. So it is only now, just a few weeks before publication on June 12, that we announce Benny's Road To ABBA.

The book is a little less extensively illustrated than the Hep Stars book. However, I believe it still contains around 100 pictures, and - needless to say - more photographs of Benny than the Hep Stars book. Some of the pictures are very rare, of course. Also, we have a couple of photographs from the Festfolk cabaret show, alternate to the one used in my ABBA biography, Bright Lights Dark Shadows. Finally, there are some early ABBA pictures - and even a photograph of Björn and Agnetha!

The book ends with a discography that is quite different to the one in Cadillac Madness. That discography is what I would call a "collector's discography", focusing on reproducing all the label and sleeve variations, foreign releases and so on (you can view a sample spread of the discography if you go to the Cadillac Madness page and click on "A look inside the book"). The discography in Benny's Road To ABBA, however, is a detailed, chronological track-by-track description of every song recorded by The Hep Stars between 1964 and 1969, put together by yours truly. I hope to publish an excerpt on this site before the publication date of June 12. Stay tuned!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Carter London, UK

Order the book:
http://www.premiumpublishing.com/eng/produkter.html

CADILLAC MADNESS – den otroliga berättelsen om The Hep Stars (Cadillac Madness – The Incredible Story Of The Hep Stars).

On March 23, 1965, five long-haired young men caused a sensation on the Swedish television screens. Running back and forth across the stage, and jumping up and down on the speakers, they performed a song called ‘Cadillac’. After this legendary performance, lead singer Svenne Hedlund became Sweden’s biggest teen idol, and organ player Benny Andersson took the first steps in a career that would later bring him worldwide fame.

This is the first book ever written about the band that swept through the Swedish pop landscape. Authors Dan-Eric Landén och Carl Magnus Palm offer a gripping and entertaining story about the rise and fall of a pop band: the road to success, the chaotic tours, the hysterical fans, the record-breaking record sales, the African movie adventure, the financial disasters, the conflicts within the group, the inevitable end…

All the former members of The Hep Stars – Svenne Hedlund, Benny Andersson, Lelle Hegland, Chrille Pettersson and Janne Frisk – have been interviewed for the book, along with their many associates: managers, roadies, sound engineers and many more. Cadillac Madness is richly illustrated with hundreds of photographs from the group’s career, many of which are previously unpublished.

The book also comes with a discography, detailing every Hep Stars record issued in Sweden and abroad during the group’s glory years. The discography is fully illustrated in colour, and details the many variations between different pressings. There is also a price guide, which helps the reader determine which records are the most sought-after on the collector’s market.

A sensational bonus CD is included with the first edition of the book. Entitled Someday Someone, it features four previously unreleased studio recordings by The Hep Stars, all of which were made during the golden years of 1966 and 1967! The title track is a Benny Andersson/Svenne Hedlund song, which is featured in two different versions – one which contains echoes of the future ABBA sound, and one “spinet version” in the classic style of Sunny Girl. The CD also contains a version of Rag Doll, plus a psychedelic adventure entitled Massa’s Mess.

Swedish language, hardbound, 169 x 239 mm, 416 pages i color

ISBN 91-89136-04-7

You can buy the book from these sources:

Premium Publishing: http://www.premiumpublishing.com/eng/buy.html

 ABBF Record Service: http://home-4.tiscali.nl/~t097528/

Popimport: http://w1.370.telia.com/~u37000242/

And if you want a personally signed copy direct from CMP himself:
http://carlmagnuspalm.com/abba/cadillacmadness.html

I am talking about the four track bonus CD that comes with the new Hep Stars book "Cadillac Madness" (my thoughts on the book to come later).

The first song is "Someday Someone" (band version) and is 2'42. It is a Benny Andersson/Sven Hedlund composition, and was recorded at Philips studio in Stockholm on 31 August 1966.

The song melody itself is actually quite good, though the vocals are fairly dire. There are two versions of the song the 'band' version, which is a full rock'n'roll type recording, while the other is the 'spinet' version (2'53), which sounds very much like a demo and has a slightly different melody. This has the same harpsichord sound that was used on "Sunny Girl".

Someday Someone (Benny Andersson/Sven Hedlund)

Did I hurt you bad By telling you those lies If I made you sad I will apologise Now you know it was me Who gave your love its freedom In my jail (?) it was pining away

Someday, someone will adore you Future's always waiting for you Someday, somewhere Someone's waiting for you Someday, somewhere Someone's waiting for you

Did I hurt you bad I really didn't mean To destroy all you had You're still a girl in teens Now you know my resolve To give your love its freedom In my jail (?) it was pining away

Someday, someone will adore you...

The second track is from 1966 as well and is "Rag Doll", which is a cover version of a song originally recorded by The Four Seasons and written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio. Length is 2'58.

The final track is titled "Massa's Mess" (4'36) and is credited to Benny Andersson-Lennart Fernholm-Jan Frisk-Christer Petterson and is really a jam session, with lots of funky tremolo organs, hooters and guitars. This was clearly never meant for release. It was recorded in 1967 at Europa Film Studios. This has to be weirdest Hep Stars recording ever!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Carter, London, UK

The CD single Someday Someone is a bonus item included with the book Cadillac Madness - den otroliga berättelsen om The Hep Stars. The CD contains four tracks, all of which are previously unreleased. This is the track listing:

1. Someday Someone (Band Version) 2.38 (Benny Andersson - Sven Hedlund) Recorded at Philips Studio, Stockholm, August 31, 1966.

'Someday Someone' was recorded during sessions for the group's third album, simply entitled The Hep Stars. Two attempts were made, and this one is a full band version featuring bass, drums, guitar, organ, piano and vocals. A curiosity is Benny's piano playing in the choruses, which is very much in the style he would use during the ABBA years, but which was otherwise not very prominent during his time with The Hep Stars.

2. Rag Doll 2.56 (Bob Crewe - Bob Gaudio) Recorded at Philips Studio, Stockholm, September 20, 1966.

This cover of The 4 Seasons' US number one hit was also recorded during sessions for the 1966 album The Hep Stars. Although the band had achieved their breakhtrough via cover versions, their ambition for this album was to have original material only, in as far as this was possible. After all, they had enjoyed major hits with the self-written 'Sunny Girl' and 'Wedding' earlier in the year. This may have been the reason why this recording of 'Rag Doll' was shelved.

3. Someday Someone (Spinet Version) 2.59 (Benny Andersson - Sven Hedlund) Recorded at Philips Studio, Stockholm, August 31, 1966.

This second attempt at 'Someday Someone' features spinet and vocals only. It's likely that further overdubs were meant to be made later on, but sessions for the song were cancelled. However, the chorus of 'Someday Someone' was rescued and used in the song 'Like You Used To Do', recorded a few months later.

4. Massa's Mess 4.35 (Benny Andersson - Lennart Fernholm - Jan Frisk - Christer Pettersson) Recorded at Europa Film Studio, November 9, 1967.

One could be forgiven for thinking that this track features a British psychedelic band who'd accidentally stumbled into a Swedish recording studio. Or perhaps it could be an early example of Swedish underground in the tradition of progressive bands such as International Harvester. But it is in fact a jam session by The Hep Stars, recorded during sessions for their 1967 Christmas album, Jul med Hep Stars. The title of the track, 'Massa's Mess', alludes to the group's nickname for manager Åke Gerhard, which was Massa. However, it's doubtful that he would want to accept responsibility for this psychedelic ... well, mess!

Thanks to ABBAMAILer Paul Carter, London, UK