Calle Lindström (1868–1955) was a Swedish singer and comedian from

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

Career

Trained as a stucco worker, Lindström eventually left that line of work to become a ''bondkomiker'' (peasant comic) and ''bygdemålstalare'' (dialect storyteller). In 1901 he appeared for the first time at the newly dedicated folk park in

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

. He took part in local revues there for many years, and was on the folk park circuit until the end of the 1940s. A long-term contract enabled him to become one of Sweden's most prolific recording artists with over two hundred sides to his credit. His motto was: "Above all else, be original!" Calle Lindström had perhaps the most varied background of any peasant comic. Born in 1868, in his youth he was a circus artist, who worked in every facet of the entertainment industry. The concertina was his instrument as he regaled audiences despite missing four fingers on his right hand — he had to turn the instrument upside down and hide the disfigured hand with a handkerchief. He sometimes used a method of presentation called the "tintamarresque theater". A common practice in Swedish variety halls, the performer would stand behind a photographed foreground and slip his head through an opening in the picture for comic effect. Lindström's 1908 recording of ''Chikago'' achieved popularity on both sides of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. The song, whose music and lyrics he wrote, has been recorded by many artists since then and published in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

songbooks.

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

was one of the major urban centers for

immigrants. Lasse from Ossebo, the character in the song, has heard many marvelous things about

from his brother who lives there. He is impressed by the stockyards and the

elevated railway An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

, but perhaps even more by the fact that "at night it's just like daytime, there are so many lights" — and "everybody smokes cigars instead of chewing snuff." Lasse decides to go there himself: "And there I'll make my fortune and be a proper gent. Good-bye to each and all of you, it's time now that I went!" The humorist

Albert Engström Albert Engström (1869–1940) was a Swedish artist, author and member of the Swedish Academy from 1922.:sv:Albert Engström, Albert Engström. ''sv.wikipedia.org''. Retrieved: 27 June 2013. Career Engström was born in Lönneberga, Kalmar Cou ...

coined the word "Grönköping" in 1895 as a caption for some of his drawings, thereby inventing the fictional Swedish town of the same name. In 2002 the CD ''Grönköping Tar Ton'' was issued in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

to commemorate one hundred years of ''

Grönköpings Veckoblad ''Grönköpings Veckoblad'' is a Swedish satirical monthly magazine. The name translates as "''The Grönköping Weekly''", or "''The Greenville Weekly''", Grönköping being a fictional Swedish town. The name Grönköping predates the magazine; i ...

'' (Grönköping's Weekly), a satirical monthly magazine that was founded in 1902. The album, depicting Grönköping in recordings made between 1908 and 1946, has two recordings by Calle Lindström .''Grönköping Tar Ton'' (Stockholm: Ancha, 2002).

Legacy

Calle Lindström never visited the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, but some of his songs and stories made the journey. Several of his recordings were repackaged for the

market and issued on

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

. Songs such as ''Sven Svenssons Sven'' and ''Josefin mä symaskin'' (Josefin with the sewing machine) were recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

by other Swedish-born artists. In 1972 the

actor

John Harryson John Edvard Harryson (17 April 1926 – 28 November 2008) was a Swedish actor. He was the father of famous Swedish actor and television host Peter Harryson. Born in Katrineholm, Harrysson was a renowned actor in Sweden. For a younger gene ...

released cover versions of two songs written by Lindström.''John Harryson sjunger bondkomikernas visor'' (Stockholm: Knäppupp, 1972). More than a half century after his death there continues to be interest in Lindström's recordings, which are sold in the original vinyl format and as digital downloads or posted on video-sharing websites.

Selected discography

*''Cecilia Vals:'' John Harryson 1972 *''Chikago:'' Anne-Charlotte Harvey 1996 *''Chikago:'' John Berquist and the South Side Swedes 2001 *''Chikago:'' Lucas Stark och Bruksorkestern 2009 *''Grönköping Tar Ton:'' various artists 2002 *''Josefin (with the sewing machine):'' Jack Pearson 2000 *''Mitt Handklaver:'' John Harryson 1972

Selected bibliography

*''Emigrantvisor'' 1981: Swedish lyrics for ''Chikago'' and musical notation *''Mel Bay's Immigrant Songbook'' 1992: Swedish and English lyrics for ''Chikago'', guitar chords and piano arrangement *''Mike and Else's Swedish Songbook'' 1997: Swedish and English lyrics for ''Chikago'', guitar chords and piano arrangement ''Mike and Else's Swedish Songbook'' (Minneapolis: Skandisk, 1997).

References

External links

Calle Lindström
Image files
Calle Lindström
on

.
Calle Lindström's tintamarresque theaterJohn Harryson LPGrönköping CD
Selected recordings (Sweden)
''Chikago'' 1908''Josefin mä symaskin'' 1911''Korperal Storm''''Sven Svenssons Sven'' 1914
Swedish discography
Calle Lindström
at the Swedish media database. Selected recordings (America)
''Sven Svenssons Sven'' 1921''Josefin mä symaskin'' 1928Bert Leman songbook 1928
''Josefin mä symaskin'' did not have words and music by Bert Leman. The lyricist was Skånska Lasse. Song lyrics
''Chikago''

by

Gustaf Fröding Gustaf Fröding (; 22 August 1860 – 8 February 1911) was a Swedish poet and writer from Alster, Värmland. The family moved to Kristinehamn in the year 1867. He later studied at Uppsala University and worked as a journalist in Karlstad.

Sven Svenssons Sven
Songbook
Calle Lindström songbook
Streaming audio
''När ja' va'te Stockholm''
at the

National Library of Sweden The National Library of Sweden (, ''KB'', meaning "the Royal Library") is Sweden's national library. It collects and preserves all domestic printed and audio-visual materials in Swedish, as well as content with Swedish association published ab ...

.
''Sven Svenssons Sven''
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

.
Calle Lindström
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindstrom, Calle 1868 births 1955 deaths People from Norrköping Swedish comedy writers Swedish entertainers 20th-century Swedish songwriters Swedish-language writers Swedish male comedians