Biography
During the 1970s the experimental, off-kilter avant-progressive rock unit Samla Mammas Manna first gained notice chiefly through its association with Lars Hollmer, attracting a Scandinavian audience from the decade’s earliest years onward. The ensemble took shape in Uppsala in 1969, its founding roster featuring keyboardist Hollmer alongside bassist Lars Krantz, drummer Hans Bruniusson, and percussionist Henrik “Bebben” Öberg. All early sessions took place at the Chickenhouse, a studio literally erected on the site of a disused chicken coop once owned by Hollmer’s mother; there the quartet cut its 1971 self-titled debut for Silence Records. Öberg exited that same year, leaving the remaining members to operate as a trio for several months until guitarist Coste Apetrea joined in 1972.
Silence issued the second album, Måltid, in 1974; Klossa Knapitatet followed on the same imprint the next year, while the 1976 MNW set Snorungarnas Symfoni was composed by Gregory Fitzpatrick, an ex-Californian who had settled in Sweden in 1968. Continued lineup shifts prompted a name change to Zamla Mammaz Manna once Apetrea departed in 1977 and Eino Haapala stepped in; Haapala appears on the 1978 Silence double album Schlagerns Mystik/För Äldre Nybegynnare and on 1980’s Familjesprickor. After that release the group disbanded—Bruniusson had already quit mid-session, yielding his drum chair to Vilgot Hansson—yet the original Samla Mammas Manna appellation resurfaced in 1990 when Bruniusson, Apetrea, Hollmer, and Krantz reconvened at Bruniusson’s fortieth-birthday celebration and scheduled a reunion concert.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the quartet toured Scandinavia, Quebec, Russia, Japan, and the United States while recording for the Swedish Amigo label. Bruniusson stepped away following the 1999 album Kaka and was succeeded by Tatsuya Yoshida, whose résumé includes Hollmer’s SOLA project as well as Ruins and Koenji Hyakkei. The same four musicians—Hollmer, Apetrea, Krantz, and Yoshida—later documented a limited-edition live disc, Dear Mamma, drawn chiefly from Uppsala performances in May 2002. Their final North American appearance occurred in September 2007 at Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal. Hollmer fell gravely ill the following year and died on Christmas Day, bringing the band’s story to a close.
Also in January 2008 the Japanese Arcangelo imprint reissued every Samla and Zamla album from the 1971 debut through Familjesprickor, each disc remastered and housed in a miniature cardboard LP sleeve that replicated the original artwork, with selected volumes augmented by bonus tracks. The same reissues were collected in the eight-disc Samla/Zamla Box, which additionally contained Gregory Fitzpatrick’s Bildcirkus—an album not by the group itself yet featuring both Apetrea and Bruniusson.
Silence issued the second album, Måltid, in 1974; Klossa Knapitatet followed on the same imprint the next year, while the 1976 MNW set Snorungarnas Symfoni was composed by Gregory Fitzpatrick, an ex-Californian who had settled in Sweden in 1968. Continued lineup shifts prompted a name change to Zamla Mammaz Manna once Apetrea departed in 1977 and Eino Haapala stepped in; Haapala appears on the 1978 Silence double album Schlagerns Mystik/För Äldre Nybegynnare and on 1980’s Familjesprickor. After that release the group disbanded—Bruniusson had already quit mid-session, yielding his drum chair to Vilgot Hansson—yet the original Samla Mammas Manna appellation resurfaced in 1990 when Bruniusson, Apetrea, Hollmer, and Krantz reconvened at Bruniusson’s fortieth-birthday celebration and scheduled a reunion concert.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s the quartet toured Scandinavia, Quebec, Russia, Japan, and the United States while recording for the Swedish Amigo label. Bruniusson stepped away following the 1999 album Kaka and was succeeded by Tatsuya Yoshida, whose résumé includes Hollmer’s SOLA project as well as Ruins and Koenji Hyakkei. The same four musicians—Hollmer, Apetrea, Krantz, and Yoshida—later documented a limited-edition live disc, Dear Mamma, drawn chiefly from Uppsala performances in May 2002. Their final North American appearance occurred in September 2007 at Le Festival des Musiques Progressives de Montreal. Hollmer fell gravely ill the following year and died on Christmas Day, bringing the band’s story to a close.
Also in January 2008 the Japanese Arcangelo imprint reissued every Samla and Zamla album from the 1971 debut through Familjesprickor, each disc remastered and housed in a miniature cardboard LP sleeve that replicated the original artwork, with selected volumes augmented by bonus tracks. The same reissues were collected in the eight-disc Samla/Zamla Box, which additionally contained Gregory Fitzpatrick’s Bildcirkus—an album not by the group itself yet featuring both Apetrea and Bruniusson.
Albums
Live
