Abba - Tivedshambo

Music / Lyrics: Stig Anderson
Tivedshambo was recorded on January 16 1986 in Benny's attic studio at Polar Studios in Stockholm for the appearance of Abba's manager Stig Anderson on the Swedish tv program "Har Ar Ditt Liv" (This Is Your Life) 2 days later on January 18. Tivedshambo was the first song Stig ever wrote, in 1947 aged just 16. This is the only time the group reformed after they retired at the end of 1982 and is Abba's last ever performance. Frida's good friend Daniel Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash two days previously. Frida arrived just a few hours before the recording and left just one hour after. Guests on the tv show included Stig's wife Gudren, John Spalding, Svenne & Lotta and Lena Anderson. Lill-Babs sent a recorded message. Björn and Benny hastily flew to Malmo to appear in person. Abba had previously recorded an instrumental version of Tivedshambo on January 18 1981 as a tribute for Stig's 50th birthday. This was released as a B side to "Hovas Vittne" in a limited edition of 200 copies on 12 inch red vinyl on 25 January 1981.
Stig Anderson was born January 25 1931 in the small town of Hova, the son of Ester Andersson and a father he never knew. Stig grew up in abject poverty in a shed-like cottage and began taking on various jobs at an early age. "There was plenty of work to be had for anyone who wanted it" he recalled. Stig's mother bought an old gramophone and six 78 rpm records when he was 5 years old. Stig felt an immediate connection to music, and enjoyed singing along to the hits of the day in front of people. When he was in his teens his mother bought him a cheap guitar, and he started performing in local revues. He wrote his first song at 16 after being rejected by a girl he fancied. "I went home and wrote a satirical ballad called Tivedshambo about her. Then I performed it during a meeting with the local temperance society and got a great response. That's when I realised that it's fun to write songs." A folksy number, its colourful depiction of a particularly wild traditional Swedish dance festivity in the woods proved that Stig was already able to tap into the public consciousness. In 1951 it became the first of his songs to be recorded. The song was to become one of his most well known, as well as a Swedish accordion classic. Although making a name for himself as a performer and song writer in the fifties, Stig never quite made it into the big league. In 1955 he married his wife Gudrun and by the end of the decade they had two children: Marie and Lars with a third child Anders born in 1966. To achieve some kind of security Stig found employment as a teacher at an elementary school in 1957. In 1960 Stig founded his own publishing company Sweden Music, and quit his teaching job. Stig imported songs and copyrights to Sweden, writing the Swedish lyrics himself, securing a cover version with a famous artist, and thus gradually built up a music publishing empire. "It was hard work" he recalled of the days when he would churn out lyrics by the dozens. "I had office work to take care of during the day-time, so I had to write the lyrics in the evenings. During the night-time I would handle the correspondence with foreign publishers." In 1963 Stig and Bengt Bernhag founded the record company Polar Music. Their very first signing was a group called the Hootenanny Singers, where one of the members was 18-year-old Björn Ulvaeus. Björn later brought his friend Benny Andersson from The Hep Stars to Polar and Sweden Music and the trio of Stig, Björn and Benny established a collaboration as song writers and in-house producers. As ABBA exploded on the global scene, Stig played an incredibly important part. Not only did he contribute lyrics and song titles that could work on an international level - ' Waterloo' being the prime example - but he put his relentless energy and ambition to good use, as he prepared the launch of ABBA once they had received the all important exposure in the Eurovision Song Contest. As ABBA's international success became a full-time occupation for Stig, his lyric writing wound down. The expansion of Sweden Music into a music publishing empire continued, with the acquisition of many of the major Swedish publishing companies. By the end of the 80's with Abba long over, Stig felt it was time to wind down himself. His publishing empire, including the Polar Music record label, was sold to PolyGram which itself later merged with Universal Music. Part of the money he raised from the sale was invested in the prestigious Polar Music Prize, which was first awarded in 1992. Stig's workaholic lifestyle took its toll on his health. On September 12 1997 he suffered a cardiac arrest and died at 66. His funeral was broadcast live in Sweden, an honour otherwise only reserved for distinguished statesmen or royalty. Bjorn said in his tribute: "Stig Anderson meant a lot to me, both as a human being and as a mentor". Stig had written more than 3,000 songs.

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yes we'd have been quite happy to see them continue just doing great Swedish folk dances like this - nobody could do it like them!

[@stevensheldon4655]

I don't know but it looks about the time of the bands break up but still a lot of respect for each other??🤞🤞👋👋♥️♥️♥️

[@ginger0612]

Man, so good and so warm. ABBA should have never broken up.

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Francisco - Stig doesn't often get the credit for all the hard work he put in to get Abba recognised internationally and then become world famous. He gave Benny & Bjorn jobs at Polar, then wrote lyrics for Abba and organised their tours and setup record sales abroad in many countries - nobody could possibly have done more. And he was a pretty good songwriter himself, to write this cracking folk dance song at just 16!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Lepton - this was a great performance to go out with, going back to their traditional Swedish folk dance roots!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Anita - this was their last performance together, 4 years after they had retired!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Honours for this video (2) #61 - Most Discussed (Today) - Music #100 - Top Rated (Today) - Music

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Carl - yes Benny could play the accordian from about 5 years old. He learnt in from father and grandfather and got his first one at just 6 years old! He then learnt Swedish folk music and maybe this catchy song was among his early playlists!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yes its pretty good Bruno - it was written by their manager Stig Anderson when he was just 16 in 1947. He got into music very early, just like the group members - they all got plenty of family encouragement over there!

[@caquerio]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing this especial performance and thanks for the information.

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yes this is highly significant in the Abba story Bill. It shows they did not fall out after they retired and that Stig was a very good song writer himself to have written this at just 16! Yep - I had to have a double take to work out which was which as well!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 2: Throughout the forest and valley we rarely see female beauty And inside the cool hut hambo is like an illusion But now we have the opportunity to create some memories to bring back home They're good to have when you get old as a comfort for things we then have to go without

[@bruno270787]

Awesome Song

[@shmuleson48]

The thing that through me for a loop on this video the first time I saw it was that Frida's hair color is platinum blonde and Agnetha's hair is almost reddish brown. Because the resolution is not that sharp, I kept asking myself --- is that really Agnetha and Frida ? Is that really them ? Are they wearing wigs ?

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yes its surprising what a difference 4 years away has made since their last appearance together! Frida's good friend Daniel Balavoine was killed in a helicopter crash two days previously, which might explain her sad and pale appearance.

[@abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Shay - yes Stig was a talented songwriter as well as being Abba's manager who did so much to get them going and achieve worldwide fame. This would be suitable to do again as it represents traditional Swedish folk music and is written by their manager and mentor - though you have to wonder what went on in the forest after reading the translated lyrics. I can see why they stumbled half way through!

[@stevensheldon4655]

I would have loved to meet Stig but it probably would have been embarrassing because I would have gone down on one knee!♥️♥️👃👃

[@abbafanglosuk]

Hello yes I've had that book for about 2 years and can definitely recommend it. Its where I get a lot of my info from for my video descriptions and comment replies - I'd be lost without it! There's 554 pages of fascinating reading, including plenty about Stig and his mismanagement!

[@boyhey1]

another video from john... wow, i like the way benny do the accordion... very nice video, 5 stars for that vid...

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks Elin - I believe this has become a traditional Swedish barn dance based on Stig's early experiences. I'm gearing myself up to do the wild translated lyrics for the guy below!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 1: It's Saturday night and the blissful girl from Tived has walked out of the dark forest And everywhere people say: This Saturday there's a barn-dance The charcoal-burner shuts the door of his hut with a grateful bang since it's Saturday night Because when there's dancing somewhere in the area He wants to be there and have fun

[@abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Claudio - its the tale of a typical Saturday night Swedish barn-dance in the forest that gets out of hand! The translated lyrics by Claes Davidsson are a bit too wild to put down but include things like: "Women, wine and singing We fight at the same time and rip apart our clothes" They were hard men in the Tived forests!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 5: Then it may happen that the Tived blood starts to boil Then coat and hat will start flying if it's a beating you need We're used to hard work, life in huts and the woods of Tived We rely on our strength and knuckles to give us courage and confidence

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yeah - that's what it translates as! Hope its not snowing, but they were a hardy lot in the forest! I did say it was a bit wild!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Annie, I've got 3 books - "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows", "Abba The Book" and "The Inside Story Of Mamma Mia" and I search all over the web for it. Usually I get more info for each video than youtube will allow me to put in, so I have to leave some out! Its a pity that I can't do this for a living - have to get to sleep now as its official work tomorrow!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Thanks - yes its a bit different from Dancing Queen!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 6: You hear shoe heels dance quickly when the Tivedshambo plays Has Frida's Verner gone crazy? People from Tived dance in the clutches of the hambo dance And Verner chases the district police superintendent Yes, if there's a quarrel it's settled with a knife because this is like the Wild West The Rappe snuff is best for everyday use as well as for festivities Come over here and let's carry away the orchestra

[@XxxDebiloguysxxX]

nice one 5star for me

[@mistofoles]

Yes, I'm beginning to see why they didn't record this one in English, like their other songs!

[@abbafanglosuk]

That's right he lost a lot of their money in the mid-80's through mismanagement and bad investments and high tax and credit demands and had taken a percentage of profits over the years. They ended up suing him in June 1990, which was settled out of court in July 1991 in undisclosed terms. I ran out of space to put that down, and preferred to emphasise the good things he did to get Abba recognised. His mistake was to try to build a business empire instead of concentrating on music publishing.

[@abbafanglosuk]

Hello - I've found a translation by Claes Davidsson, who I guess is Swedish. There are 6 verses, so I'll try for 1 verse per reply. Its all a bit wild and not for the squeamish - surprising what they got up to at these barn dances!

[@oyyour]

Ahhh, thanks for the recommendation. I often wondered where you got your encyclopedic ABBA knowledge from. I've moved it to my "Wish List."

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 4: Women, wine and singing We fight at the same time and rip apart our clothes And if you don't have any clothes left, you'll have to walk around with bare buttocks and hope for continued good weather We don't throw darts We have a different style Something that's more reckless Isn't it still my right to fight when they flirt with Hilda?

[@steve998]

Stig Anderson wrote this

[@TheAnniebab]

Hadn't heard this before, very cute & obviously they enjoyed doing it thanks for posting it John . WHERE on earth do you get your information ???

[@TheAnniebab]

@TheAnniebab > Hi John, I have "Bright Lights--------etc" & also "Abba unplugged" by Karl French. Published in 2004. by Portrait Books.Welcome cool weather today 23 celcius & raining. ----------Cheers Annie.

[@oyyour]

Isn't it true that ABBA wound up suing Anderson for mismanagement of funds and other things that seem all too common in the music industry?

[@mistofoles]

Interesting. Anybody have a translation of the lyrics?

[@oyyour]

Abbafanglosuk: Have you ever read the book "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows; The Real Story Of ABBA"? I found it on Amazon's site, where it has many, many positive reviews. Just wondering if you're familiar with it and if it's worth reading.

[@Carolarny1]

They sound far more confident singing in Swedish than they did in English. Maybe it's because they have to remember the English lyrics because they can't understand English. De låter fortfarande säkrare sjunga på svenska än vad de gjorde på engelska. Kanske är det för att de måste komma ihåg det engelska texter eftersom de inte kan förstå engelska. (Google Translate)

[@mistofoles]

"You'll have to walk around with bare buttocks"?!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Yeah - it would have got banned straight away!

[@abbafanglosuk]

Verse 3: You hear shoe heels dance quickly when the Tivedshambo plays Has Frida's Verner gone crazy? People from Tived dance in the clutches of the hambo dance And Verner chases the district police superintendent Yes, if there's a quarrel it's settled with a knife because this is like the Wild West The Rappe snuff is best for everyday use as well as for festivities Come over here and let's carry away the orchestra