Kalevala

KALEVALA

People No Names / Boogie Jungle (1972 / 1975)

Kalevala Orchestra: Abraham's Blue Refrain (1977)

Pop Liisa 07 (1973 / 2016)

FinnArctic-esittely:

Kalevala was founded in 1969 as a straightforward hard rock band named Vietnam. However, their manager refused to book gigs for a band with a risqué (at the time) name like that, and reputedly told the band: "Name yourself Kalevala (the name of the Finnish national epic) and you'll get gigs!"

Among the original members were Juha "Lido" Salonen (bass) and "Beaver" Aitto-Oja (drums). Future Hurriganes frontman Henry "Remu" Aaltonen was also drummer at one point, but when Kalevala decided to turn their music into a more progressive, jazzy style, Remu, whose style of drumming was considered too straightforward, had to leave the band. Several more line-up changes followed: Matti Kurkinen was recruited as the new guitarist, and former Topmost member Harri Saksala took over the vocal duties. Markku Luukkanen became the new drummer.

The first album, "People No Names" (1972) is a recommendable progressive album despite poor sound. The gem in this collection in my opinion is "Where I'm From", which begins and ends with a beautiful instrumental section consisting of piano and very gentle background chanting. The middle section is a jazzy, rhythmic vocal section where Saksala's deep voice and guest musician Raimo Wallen's flute add flavour.

Kalevala split in 1974, when Saksala and Luukkanen decided to move on to different projects. Salonen switched to playing guitar and re-founded Kalevala with Kurkinen. The line-up was completed with Ari Vaahtera (bass), "Beaver" Aitto-Oja (drums), and Zape "Limousine" Leppänen (vocals). The second album, "Boogie Jungle" (1974) is exactly what the title implies, a funky boogie rock album with heavy reliance on bass and drums. Easy to snap your fingers and tap your toes to. Jim Pembroke from prog giant Wigwam wrote the lyrics to Kurkinen's and Salonen's catchy melodies, and sang backing vocals.

In 1975 Kalevala experienced a major setback, when Matti Kurkinen was killed by a truck while waiting for the bus after a band rehearsal. The band decided to replace him with a keyboardist, but finding a suitable one proved difficult.

In 1977, with a new keyboardist named Heikki Hiekkala, Kalevala released their third album "Abraham's Blue Refrain" bearing a new, more international-sounding name Kalevala Orchestra. The album was again different from the previous ones: this time, the band played straightfoward hard rock with slight progressive overtones.

Yhdessä radio-ohjelmassa jota kuuntelin viikottain 90-luvun alussa - siinä jonka ansiosta sain tunnistettua isän 1978 nauhoittamalla kasetilla olleen Kollaa Kestään Tähtien rauhan (siitä lisää myöhemmin) - soi Kalevalan Where I'm From. Nauhoitin sen kasetille. Tiesin jo Kalevalan Esko Lehtosen Suomalaisen rockin tietosanakirjan ansiosta. Leppävaaran kirjastosta lainasin sitten People No Names -LP:n, mutta siitä ei löytynyt muita yhtä ihania kappaleita kuin Where I'm From. Itse asiassa en tykännyt levystä juuri lainkaan.

1995 tai 1996 kun asuin Mäkkylässä äidin ja isäpuolen luona, lainasin kirjastosta People No Names / Boogie Jungle -CD:n, kuullakseni myös Kalevalan kakkoslevyn. Sehän olikin oikein maukasta rokkia, ihastelin rumpuja ja hyvää sykettä.

Abraham's Blue Refrainin lainasin vielä Kauniaisten kirjastosta kasettina jossain vaiheessa, en muista milloin tai missä elämänvaiheessa, asuinkohan silloin jo omassa kämpässä?

En edelleenkään oikein pidä People No Namesista (Where I'm Fromia lukuunottamatta), mutta kahta seuraavaa levyä arvostan korkealle.

Boogie Junglen kansitaiteilija Matti Louhi oli melkoinen tekijämies. Hänen levynkansistaan olisi ollut myös kiva luoda lista RateYourMusiciin, jos niitä vain olisi enemmän. Hullujussin Bulvania sekä kokoelmat Harva meistä on rautaa ja Bingo Bulvania. Loirin ja Ahvenlahden Lasihelmipeli. Heikki Sarmannon Everything Is It. Siinä kaikki jotka tiedän. Ei noin pienestä määrästä listaa väsätä.