Per-Åke Tommy Persson (20 December 1946 – 27 June 2021), known by the stage name Peps Persson, was a Swedish

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

musician and

social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The origin of modern ...

from Tjörnarp,

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

. Throughout his career he mostly made music in Swedish and was well known for his

Scanian dialect Scanian ( ) is an East Scandinavian dialect spoken in the province of Scania in southern Sweden. Broadly speaking, Scanian has been classified in three different ways: # Older Scanian formed part of the old Scandinavian dialect continuum, an ...

. At an earlier stage he made a few albums in English. His songs from the 1970s have become Swedish classics, including "Falsk matematik", which was number-one on ''

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing on Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982–1985. In the years leading up to the January 20 ...

'' for 15 weeks. Persson was the recipient of an honorary award at the

Grammis The Grammis (sometimes referred to as the Swedish Grammy Awards) are music awards presented annually to musicians and songwriters in Sweden. The oldest Swedish music awards were instituted as a local equivalent of the Grammy Awards given in t ...

ceremony in 2007, and was inducted into the in 2015.

Career

Persson was born on 20 December 1946 in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

and grew up in Tjörnarp. His first band, Pop Penders, was started in 1962. He later formed Peps Blues Quality together with . Persson's career up to 1975 was mostly inspired by the blues, and he's known for having reworked many famous blues and reggae tunes into Swedish, by such artists as

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

Elmore James Elmore James ( Brooks; January 27, 1918 – May 24, 1963) was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader. Noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice, James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ...

and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

. After 1975, his career turned away from the blues and focused mostly on reggae. Some of his songs, like "Falsk matematik" and "Hög standard", made a political statement, and were considered part of the

progg Progg was a left-wing and anti-commercial musical movement in Sweden that began in the late 1960s and became more widespread in the 1970s. Not to be confused with the English expressions "progressive music" or "prog rock," progg is a contraction ...

movement. Persson died on 27 June 2021, at the age of 74, at his home in Vittsjö.

Discography

Solo career

*''Blues Connection'' (1968) *''The Week Peps Came to Chicago'' (1972) *''Blues på svenska'' (1975) *''Rotrock'' (1980) – 23 in Sweden *''En del och andra'' (1984) – No. 49 in Sweden *''Oh Boy'' (1992)

Peps Blue Quality

*''Sweet Mary Jane'' (1969)

Peps Perssons Blodsband

*''Blodsband'' (1974) *''Hög standard'' (1975) *''Droppen urholkar stenen'' (1976) *''Spår'' (1978) *''Fram med pengarna!'' (1988) *''Spelar för livet'' (1993) *''Röster från Södern'' (1994) – No. 1 in Sweden *''Rotblos'' (1997) – No. 32 in Sweden *''Äntligen!'' (2005)

With Pelle Perssons Kapell

*''Fyra tunnlann bedor om dan'' (1977) *''Persson sjonger Persson!'' (1982)

Compilations

*''Bitar 1968–1992'' (1993) – No. 29 in Sweden *''Bästa'' (2004) – No. 59 in Sweden *''Oh Boy! – Det bästa med Peps Persson'' (2006) – No. 2 in Sweden

Singles

*"Oh Boy!" (1992) – No. 43 in Sweden

Curiosity

The picture on the cover of the album ''Hög standard'' shows the band sitting in the back seat of a car with a private driver and drinking coffee. The picture on the cover of ABBA's album ''ABBA'' shows the band sitting in the back seat of a car with a private driver and drinking champagne.

References

External links

Progg.se – Peps Persson
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Persson, Peps 1946 births 2021 deaths English-language singers from Sweden Musicians from Helsingborg People from Höör Municipality Swedish harmonica players Swedish guitarists Swedish male musicians Swedish male singer-songwriters Swedish reggae musicians Swedish singer-songwriters Swedish-language singers