Pugh Rogefeldt

During the 1970s Pugh Rogefeldt scored several hits while widening the reach of Swedish mainstream rock through whimsical arrangements that fused disparate genres. His decisive impact on Swedish rock lay in dismantling the language barrier: he performed in Swedish with a previously unexplored emphasis on the tongue’s expressive range and married it to the vocal techniques of contemporary rock. Toward the decade’s close he adopted a more direct rock & roll approach, yet the 1980s brought a steep reduction in output once other styles eclipsed rock. Early-1990s membership in Grymlings yielded strong sales, after which scattered recordings appeared before his activity ceased.

Born Torbjörn Rogefeldt in Västerås in 1947, he sang as a child in a local church boys’ choir and later performed blues with regional groups, among them the R&B outfit Mercy Sect. He began composing Swedish lyrics and issued the solo single “Haru’ Vart’ På Circus?” in 1968. After mailing demos to several labels, he received a reply from Metronome only after military service had begun; although leave was denied, he attended the sessions anyway and later served a three-month prison term for the decision. The resulting album Ja, dä ä dä, cut in 1969 with guitarist George Wadenius and drummer Jan Karlsson of Hansson and Karlsson—then among Sweden’s foremost funk and jazz percussionists—and produced by Anders Burman, became a commercial success and earned a Swedish Grammy for best album. Pughish followed in 1970, preserving the first record’s symbiotic rock while incorporating funk, jazz, folk, and blues-rock elements alongside light, nonsensical pop lyrics that even touched on children’s music. Hollywood appeared the next year without Karlsson and Wadenius.

Recognized for his skill in choosing partners, Rogefeldt made Pugh on the Rocks with reggae and blues trailblazer Peps Persson and guitar virtuoso Janne Schaffer, then formed Rainrock in 1974 alongside brother Ingemar Rogefeldt, drummer Bo Frölander, and bassist Roger Pettersson. The mid-1970s marked his strongest commercial phase; the live album Ett Steg Till, which featured Janne “Lucas” Persson and Ola Magnell, represented its apex. With Rainrock he cultivated a harder rock edge and set aside some of the earlier playfulness, issuing a solo album in 1977. The country- and R&B-inflected Bamalama, recorded in part at Muscle Shoals Sound in Alabama with an array of musicians, included the track “Nattmara,” which qualified for Sweden’s Eurovision entry.

After Rainrock disbanded, Rogefeldt moved to EMI, cut several unsuccessful albums with assorted groups, then rejoined Rainrock for the 1986 release Pugh Rogefeldt, which contained a hit single yet failed to generate further 1980s releases. Five years later he surfaced with Grymlings, a collective modeled on the Traveling Wilburys and also comprising Mikael Rickfors, Magnus Lindegren, and Göran Lagerberg, formerly of Tages. Their self-titled debut achieved substantial sales. Rogefeldt’s 1991 solo album Människors Hantverk drew favorable notices but modest figures, whereas the subsequent Grymlings effort restored commercial momentum. By Swedish standards his catalog sold well enough to allow a countryside relocation and retirement from music, though the same releases diminished his standing among critics. A seven-year hiatus ended with the 1999 album Marathon, which earned positive reviews and aligned with the era’s country and roots-rock resurgence. That same year he duetted with Swedish rap artist Petter on Bananrepubliken.

The acoustic live set Opluggad appeared in 2005, followed by the final studio album Vinn Hjärta Vinn in 2008. Dä Va’ Då Dä’: Pugh Rogefeldts Bästa 1969-2012, a double-CD anthology issued in 2012, closed his recording career. He published an autobiography in 2013 and concluded his professional work in 2021. Rogefeldt died on May 5, 2023, at age 76.