Svein Finjarn

Norwegian guitarist from Oslo (15 November 1946). Svein's great role models were the British instrumental group The Shadows, and with a repertoire of cover versions of Hank Marvin & Co, early in the year in 1961, Svein helped start the group The Lightnings together with a group of like-minded people, who soon changed their name to The Beatniks after Svein had seen the word Beatnik embossed on a wallet. This is not only Norway's longest-living band, but has also acted as a student factory for training our leading rock artists and a hatchery for new groups, and testing new musical styles. When the big rock gathering of 1960s bands got off the ground at Jordal Amfi on 22 August 1982, there were as many as three appearances of the band who entered the podium in turn; The Beatniks with instrumental rock, The New Beatnicks with beat music and heavy rock, and Titanic with a mix of progressive rock and heavy. The group also faced another far more profound change. In the autumn of 1963, they were invited to hold a concert in Gothenburg. The British pop group The Beatles were also in town and were already about to put the whole of Europe at their feet with a brand new sound; beat music. Together with a number of bands from the north-west coast of England, they stood as the foremost exponents of what was also referred to as Merseybeat. The Beatnicks got to meet The Beatles before their appearance on Swedish television. It was Paul McCartney who first came into contact with the Norwegian colleagues, but immediately afterwards George Harrison and John Lennon also threw themselves into the conversations. Among other things, John wanted to know how they had come to call themselves the Beatnicks. The group, led by Svein Finjarn, were among the Nordic region's most skilled instrumentalists, but now they had practiced singing harmonies and focused considerably more on their vocal performances. The Beatnicks recorded a heavily Beatles-influenced single with Svein's instrumental composition, Mustang, on the B-side, which also represented a final farewell to the Shadows style. In the summer of 1965, Svein quit The Beatnicks, after an internal argument about the length of his hair. Svein wanted everyone in the band to have long hair. He was replaced by Freddy Lindquist. Svein became a member of The Blue Secrets and participated as guitarist and second vocalist during the recording of the single "Please Stay" / "I Want You Back". Both A- and B-sides were written by himself. With The Blue Secrets he also played at the legendary Cavern in Liverpool. He also started designing album covers for various companies, but in 1966 he returned via The Cannons as guitarist for The New Beatnicks, where drummer Truls Lorck was the only member from the group he had left a year earlier. They first released the single "Something On My Mind" and during a studio week, 18.-23. February 1967, they had recorded the LP And Now! The New Beatnicks. When Terje Rypdal left Vanguards to start The Dream, Svein stepped in as his replacement. In autumn 1969, Svein Finjarn, together with Freddy Lindquist, drummer Leif Jensen and bassist Tore Syvertsen started the band Jumbo which was the first Norwegian group that managed to build up the massive and broad soundscape that characterized heavy rock. Jumbo slowly started recording an album. In 1971 Svein now tried in a slightly different direction with the band Fresh Air. With Fresh Air, Svein Finjarn's position as an innovator in Norwegian rock was over. In 1976, Svein was brought back as a musical performer by the New Jordal Swingers. Here, nostalgic rock tones and more danceable music were on the agenda, but it was done with a modern soundscape, professionalism and always a refined expression. In the next six years, he released seven albums and several singles with New Jordal Swingers, as well as three solo albums where he was able to demonstrate what an eminent guitarist he is.