Unreleased ABBA demos to be performed

I completely agree. The Chiquitita Story? We knew about that already, and have heard a part of one version. Just A Notion? Yep, we know that exists in full as well. I'm actually quite disappointed there isn't more to learn. Who cares about single/album covers? I can google them and find various sites on the web. Am I missing something? What is there to get excited about?

Thanks orf, that would be great to hear a comparison between the two editions. I have actually got the original (bought second-hand, years after it came out). It does sound like there's a bit too much padding in the new one. A lot of stuff not really connected to ABBA's recording sessions?

Well, are we allowed to spoiler?

I mean, I just received mine today, quickly scanned through it and nearly fainted when i saw that there are recordings of the 1979 rehearsals which feature a couple of tracks that were not included in the final show. The thing is, though, should I mention these songs? I'm pretty sure there's more like this in the book but it's like talking about a film that people haven't seen. 

Just got home from London, and the event was brilliant. The ABBATalk guys really know how to lay on a do.

CMP was great as usual. Maria Nicholas was absolutely delightful... I had no idea she was an actual fan!

As for the songs performed, I was blown away. CM presented each one in a lightheartedly academic way, so we knew what the story was and what we were listening out for so, for me at least, it actually didn't matter that it wasn't ABBA singing. At the very least, it was most certainly the next best thing. The songs we heard were:

Bang-A-Boomerang (full original version)
Terra Del Fuego
So Simple
Been And Gone And Done It
Ladybird
In The Arms of Rosalita
Hole In Your Soul (full length)

Terra Del Fuego in full?! I can't believe my eyes! Considering Benny and Björn's negative feelings towards this one it's suprising they approved it. Another surprise is Ladybird, but this one is said to be a great song and the only reason for abandoning it is that it was similar (or even borrowed some parts?) from a song released by somebody else. The others are what I expected. But it must have been interesting!

I attended the Abbatalk event yesterday as well which was fantastic. Even better to hear some earlier versions of songs. There was a male and female vocalist who did a great job.

Bang A Boomerang- This was sung by both the male and female vocalist. The chorus was pretty identical to the released version but the verses were completely different. It was a nice performance but you can listen to the version by Ulla Pia on Spotify which was taken from this earlier version.

Terra Del Fuego- This wasn't quite complete with the second verse just being a repeat of the first. The chorus sounded fine, not quite sure B&B dislike it so much.

So Simple (I Wonder) - This was sung solo by the male vocalist. The lyrics are about the girl falling in love and wanting to marry her manager so completely different from the finished version. The verses were repeated and they hadn't been completed at the time the 1977 rehearsals were recorded.

Been And Gone And Done It- This was sung by the female vocalist and the verse was repeated 3 times with the same lyrics. It detailed a female who had just got married and regretted being tied down. The instrumental part at the end of the live Wembley version was repeated throughout which sounded great being played on the piano. CMP observed that on the 1979 rehearsal tape, Agnetha and Frida sounded as though they didn't know the song that well.

Lady Bird - This was a nice instrumental. The only part I recognised was the middle eight that was used in Someone Else's Story. Apparently a part was used in a Kristina song as well. CMP has described this as sounding like a Chess demo and this perfectly describes this song I think.

In The Arms of Rosalita - This was definitely the highlight. The verses before the chorus detailed a woman sitting by a window watching a man getting into his car going to see Rosalita. There is a line in the chorus which describes Rosalita as a "fake and a cheater" to which everyone in the audience started laughing. It's a shame we probably won't get to hear the ABBA version.

Hole In Your Soul- This was nice but probably the least interesting version with the additional middle eight and verse. Good way to end the performances though.

It's interesting to hear first-hand reports of the event yesterday. It sounds like people had a great time. I wish I could have got a ticket!

But the reports also confirm, I think, my impression from reading the book. There simply isn't much in the vaults that is really new. Everything is early or different versions of songs we already know.

The problem (if there is one) is that Benny and Bjorn were never very prolific songwriters. I remember a quote from one of them saying that they only wrote about 12 songs a year. And if they came up with something good, it was released or it was reworked, often much later. There will never be an ABBA equivalent of Bruce Springsteen's Tracks or Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. Those two writers often wrote many more songs for an album than were used (for example, Springsteen wrote at least 50 songs each for his albums The River and Born In The USA).

The quality of the songs that Benny and Bjorn wrote is amazing, and they maintained very high standards. But I don't think it came easily to them. It was hard graft!

MORE SPOILERS:


An earlier version of Happy Hawaii was an Agnetha-solo with many of the harmonies also done by herself while Eagle was sung by all four in unison in an earlier more acoustic guitar driven version.

In The Arms Of Rosalita is not, as we all thought, a Frida-solo. Instead, Agnetha sings the first two verses and Frida the second two verses. The instrumental outro is used as the middle eight with a vocal line by Agnetha while Benny and Björn join the girls for the chorus.

I'm a bad Abba fan. I probably wouldnt listen to these alt versions - outtakes, even if they were available. Not interested, unless its a completely different musical direction. Seems to me these are just endless tiny variations on something I've already heard many times before...

Sorry, my bad.....

a third verse doesnt excite me, nor does an acoustic guitar version of Eagle. They arent new songs, they're only working versions of something I've already heard. Rosalita, maybe. But its a working version of Chiq with different lyrics.

I'm not a collector. I dont have to have every single thing they ever did. I mean, I was thrilled awhile back when I found Hovas Vittne on a bootleg. I had never heard that, and it was a brand new song for me. Most of this stuff isnt like that. Bits and pieces that were completed later.

Not really interested, sorry.

Are any of you folks big Beatles fans? There is no end to the alt version working version outtake versions of Beatles stuff. This Abba thing is a drop in the bucket compared to the endless vault of Beatles rejects...

I've been to Beatles forums and the collectors there are mad for all of it. I'm not putting anyone down for pursuing all this, if it makes you happy, then go for it. Me? Nope, but different things make different people happy.

^

It is rather pretty!

^^ Does that mean the earlier two versions of JLT have been junked? If so, I wonder what else has been wiped?

This surely explains why, when Diego posted those odd mixes on the old forum, they had the Spanish version of IHAD and not the English one. Perhaps for the same reason he posted Slipping Through My Fingers in Spanish as well, since the English vocals were also erased during the recording (and we already know that the mastertapes of ABBA the album were lost, which is why Diego had Lena Andersson's version of SOS, though it doesn't explain where did the extended version of I do I do came from).