"Working men in all countries, let us unite in vengeance, for the time has come to
annihilate the bourgeoisie and suck up the rest. Now is the time!"--Inspired Machine
Wigwam (L to R):
Ronnie Österberg: Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals.
Jukka Gustavson: Vocals, Pianos, Organs, MiniMoog & VCS3 Synthesizers.
Jim Pembroke: Vocals, Pianos, "Sermon"
Pekka Pohjola: Bass, Violin, Piano, MiniMoog Synthesizer.
For the past year and a half, or so, I have become increasingly enamored with progressive and psych music of the 1960s and 1970s gifted to us by Finland. Whenever I convey my love of for the sounds from the Land of the Midnight Sun, I get the same perplexed look I had the first time I layed eyes on printed Finnish word. At any rate, what we have here in Helsinki-based Wigwam's 1974 release, BEING , is an absolute masterpiece of music that was extremely well-received in the band's native Finland (Album of the Year, lead to the band's eventual contract w/ Virgin Records, garnered interest from Frank Zappa, etc.), the album barely made a peep beyond the Baltic Sea. That being said, my introduction to this amazing album was made possible by the brilliant folks at anthologyrecordings.com, a highly recommended site featuring rare and out-of-print music available for digital download. Where was I? BEING, to me, is anti-progressive rock progressive rock album. The record never gets too full of itself. Even the most "gaudy" moments on this album are concise and enjoyable.
Brief history lesson: Wigwam was a Finnish band that rose out of the ashes of the moderately successful popsike band The Blues Section (Pembroke, Österberg, Måns Groundstroem--future Wigwam bassist). Wigwam's first 2 albums,"Hard N' Horny & "Tombstone Valentine" both aired on the side of jazz and blues tinged pop-rock with hints of progressive leanings to come. The band's "Fairyport" (1972) along with bassist Pekka Pohjola's "Pihkasilmä Kaarnakorva" & singer/keyboardist Jim Pembroke's "Wicked Ivory" (both 1972) hinted at the direction the band was heading. Unfortunately, BEING would be the final album released by the classic Wigwam lineup. The band was pulling in different directions with Pembroke, Gustavsson and Pohjola fighting for their ideas and styles to be prominent. Naturally, this lead to the band's demise in this form, with Gustavsson exploring his Christian faith (musically and otherwise) and Pohjola pressing on and becoming one of Finland's greatest composers/artists in the last half of the 20th Century. Pembroke and Österberg reformed Wigwam in 1975, taking more of an art rock/deep pop road (think 10cc, Steely Dan, Wings)that lead to the band almost "making it" outside of Finland (1975's "Nuclear Nightclub" has been voted best Finnish rock album ever by many leading critics.)
Now, on to the rise before the fall.
The point at which Wigwam 2.0 was just about to snap was also their crowning achievement and a highly unique addition to the progressive rock lexicon.
This is BEING.
BEING starts with the dark, moody, almost ominous "Proletarian". Complete w/ an organ, accordian, crash cymbal driven intro, Jukka Gustavsson's beautiful Moog synthesizer leads, harmonious chant-like vocals from Gustavsson and Jim Pembroke, the opening track strongly indicates this is a different progressive rock album than you may be used to. Proletarian's protest march, almost slow witch hunt with burning torches feel, is oddly hypnotic, but not to a monotonous degree. This segues (goosebump inducingly, if you're turned on by sudden time signature and key changes like this guy)to the equally haunting, but faster paced "Inspired Machine." We keep the sexy march going, with almost a downtempo polka beat. If the album's message of leftist, Marxist leanings wasn't made known before, here's your none too subtle clue! Gustavsson takes the lead vocals on this baby and shows us what we're in for. To me, his voice sounds like a fusion of Stevie Wonder and Gilbert O' Sullivan. Very soulful and deliberate. Give the guy a break for his cadence and pronunciation. I still have a tough time figuring out a great deal of what he's singing about...(did he say "skungaa?" what the hell?). The lyrics sheet really does help. You try learning and singing in Finnish! (Props to my man Mats Hulden, original Wigwam bassist for providing Mr. Gustavsson the Finnish-English lyrical translations). Heavily
Next up, we have "Petty-Bourgeois," the very namesake of this blog! My lord and savior, Jim Pembroke takes the vocal reigns here. Pembroke, a British ex-pat, has breathy, (Bob)Dylanesque phrasing that shines in this jam rife with unique syncopation and pop sensibility. Pembroke's lyrics are graphic in their depiction of mass chaos or "sunny disaster" as he calls it. The somewhat heavy subject matter is offset by an upbeat, progressive pop musical backing. The song is textbook Pembroke with odd backing voices (think parrot vocal mimicking). The bridge ("Sentimental memories...") sounds subtlely "Life on Mars (?)" inspired, which I'm cool with. For more Pembroke genius, check out the brilliant Hot Thumbs O'Riley (Pembroke) "Wicked Ivory" album.
"Pride of the Biosphere" is the one point where the listener may want to check out or go outside for a smoke. Pembroke dons the character of the "chaplain" and gives his sermon; a diatribe that airs on the side of explicit sexuality and violence amid a beautiful piece of music written by the incomparable Pekka Pohjola (the music would later serve as the main theme of the song "Kädet Suoristavat Veden" ("Hands Calming the Water") on Pohjola's 1977 album with Mike Oldfield ("Tubular Bells"), "Keesojen Ledolta" (Mathmatician's Air Display). The "chaplain" character is similar to the personas that Pembroke adopted on his Hot Thumbs O' Riley endeavor. For those of you who find this too quirky for your tastes, it's only a few minutes of your life or a skip button press. As for me, Pembroke can do no wrong!
Next up, we have "Pedagogue," a Gustavsson number that, to me, is him at his most Stevie Wonder-esque with soulful vocals and electric piano to provide further evidence. Beautiful reed work by the late great Pekka Pöyry, who always turns in memorable sax and flute work, as well as some of Finland's finest reed musicians. Something I love about Gustavsson's broken English vocals is his method in which he disects the lyrics in a way that you get lost along the way. Listen and try to follow along, and you'll see what I mean. At least once or twice, I've thought "there's no way he fit all of those lyrics in 5 seconds!!!." Highly underrated drumming ace, Ronnie Österberg (RIP) shines on this song, especially the end, as we break into....
"Crisader", again featuring Gustavsson on vocals is a more upbeat jam than the previous cut. It again evokes a strong Stevie Wonder influence with a bit of Steve Winwood thrown in for good measure. The musicianship is amazing, as always, and the song is a prime example of soul-prog mastery that Wigwam pulls off brilliantly.
Pekka Pohjola takes the liberty of giving us "Planetist", which, to me, is textbook Pohjola. Love the pulsating, muted bass line to open this one. Mr. Pohjola, who passed away in November 2008, was a national treasure in Finland and was catapulted into superstar status upon his departure from Wigwam in 1974. Anyway, the song, an instrumental, captures each of the members showcasing their virtuosity in a highly-accessible jazz/prog jam. This is the tip of the iceberg as far as what Pohjola has to offer playing and composition-wise. Please check out his solo work. You will not regret it!
"Maestro Mercy" is a Jim Pembroke-penned track that is at a slower pace and the only ballad-esque song on the album. It's a well written, short pop piece that seems to serve as a gap between the high-energy "Crisader" and the amazing 1-2 punch that closes the book on BEING.
"Prophet" is a synth-laden, Gustavsson-led jazz/soul/prog excursion. The mind-blowing synth work along w/ the cracked-out, but smooth key changes used to illicit what I call "girlfriend face." This is when you play something that your girlfriend can't even pretend to go along with, so she makes this face of disgust and can't help but mutter "uuuuuugggghhhh"...I see this as sign that whatever I'm listening to must be amazingly bad ass. Another reason why BEING is so appealing...wanna piss off a carload? make your significant other cringe and make you turn on some Duran Duran? Look no further! I used to pull this and anything by The Soft Machine or Robert Wyatt whenever I wanted to drive my ex up the wall on long car rides...enough about me! Gustavsson, once again, segues us beautifully to BEING's closer.
"Marvelry Skimmer (Friend From the Fields)" is a perfect song to end the album and is also Wigwam's only "hit" from BEING. Simple, but with a great melody and message, Pembroke drives the point home that with all of the oppression and ignorance plaguing society, there are still people who do what they do in spite of what's expected of them. This is widely considered Pembroke's shining moment of this version of the band, and is a sign of things to come from Wigwam 3.0.
BEING, to me, is the most brilliant album to come out of the 1970s progressive rock movement. Don't get me wrong, I love King Crimson, Genesis, Yes and ELP, but not one of those bands constructed an album, in my opinion, that was such an enigma: musically complex, innovative, unique, experimental and downright "out there", yet remaining completely accessable. Thank you Wigwam 2.0 for this righteous swan song, and my favorite album of all time...
To compare Wigwam 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0, here you go:
Wigwam 1.0
"Frederick & Bill" off of 1970's "Tombstone Valentine". Pembroke rocking the vocals & featuring Finnish guitar god Jukka Tolonen. Definitely my favorite of this Wigwam lineup.
Wigwam 2.0
"Losing Hold" off of 1971's "Fairyport". Another example of the classic Pembroke/Gustavsson/Pohjola/Österberg lineup. Much more organ-driven and jam-based. "Fairyport" is a superb album in its own right and is often spoken in the same breath as "Being" when discussing the greatest Finnish rock albums of all time. Definitely my #2 favorite Wigwam release.
Wigwam 3.0
"Freddie Are You Ready?" of of 1975's "Nuclear Nightclub" The band shed a whole bunch of it's progressive leanings when Gustavsson and Pohjola left the band in 1974, but the band retained much of its swagger in Pembroke and Österberg while adding guitar maestro Rekku Rechardt and bassist/keyboardist Mans Groundstroem to the mix.
This lineup was Wigwam at its most successful, with the band gaining a record deal with Virgin Records, a European Tour and success in the UK as well as Finland. Of course, as was the case with many bands of the era, punk rock came in an spelled the end for less-successful progressive bands who couldn't adapt or continue due to financial reasons. (Finland is notorious for squashing funding for the arts and for being a rough place to try to "make it" in the music industry, and played a large part in the band's demise). Wigwam disbanded after releasing 2 albums that didn't reach the same level of success "Nuclear Nightclub" did. Pembroke and Österberg formed The Jim Pembroke Band in 1979 in the hopes that they would pick up where Wigwam left off. They released the highly acclaimed, but tragically unnoticed album "Flat Broke" in 1980. Sadly, depression and health problems plagued Österberg throughout 1980 and the drumming legend took his own life in December 1980 at the age of 32, putting an end to any hopes for a reunion of the classic Wigwam lineup. The band reformed with Pembroke and original bassist Mats Hulden in the early '90s and they're still kickin' it (although they haven't played in 2 years). Forgive me if this is long winded, but this is a band that's near and dear to me and I hope you enjoy their music as well!
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Lyrics to "Being" @ Wigwam's Nuclear Netclub
Anthology Recordings (works like the iTunes store. Download "Being" and other rare albums here)
