ABBA The Complete Recording Sessions Update

More info about the new edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions.

Published December 28, 2014

 

If you're interested in the stories and details of how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, there are exciting times ahead. After many years of requests from fans, I will finally go back to the book ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions, which was first published in 1994, and present a revised and expanded edition. If all goes well, that is.
I've long wanted to revisit the book and ever since I started thinking seriously about it I've known that I would want to self-publish. Why? One reason is that by the very nature of the book - the details about how ABBA created their music - it was always going to be a "special interest" title, meaning that it would have a comparatively small readership but one that would be very interested in taking part of its contents. That would mean that although there might be publishers who would be interested in publishing the book, the edition would be so small that they wouldn't be able to offer me the kind of money I would need to spend adequate time on truly updating and improving upon the book (I should add that we're not talking about millions of dollars here, but even the relatively small amount I would need would be too much). However, by cutting out as many middle-men as possible, I would be able to put together a budget for the book allowing me to do such things as eat and pay the rent during the lenghty period of writing and researching.
Another reason for self-publishing is that I, as the author, want to have full control of the project. What will the book look like? My decision. When is the deadline for submitting the manuscript? My decision. When will it be published? My decision. This need for control is not because I'm a raging egomaniac, but simply because I want the book to be the best I could possibly make it - that would be my priority rather than having it out "in time for the Christmas market" or whatever other priorities a regular publisher would have (those priorities are completely understandable, but would be a hindrance for the kind of book I want to create). In other words, I want to make a book for the committed readers out there, rather than the casual browser.
The revised, upated and expanded edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions will be a lot thicker than the original edition - I'm looking at somewhere between 300 and 400 pages; probably closer to 400 than 300, actually. By comparison, the original edition comprised 128 pages. There will be A LOT more text in the new edition, plus all kinds of relevant illustrations, so that's why the book will be so much thicker.
With the ambitions I have, and the fact that I want it to be a good-looking, full-colour book, nicely produced and printed on nice paper, coupled with the fact that it's going to be a comparatively small edition, the book is going to be more expensive than the average book. The entire project has to carry all its costs. There is no financial backer investing in it from the goodness of his or her heart - the entire project will be financed by you, dear prospective reader. So, if you're interested in seeing this book become a reality, please back the crowdfunding campaign when it starts on 28 January 2015.
More information about the updated version of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions can be found here.
More details about the contents of the book in my next blog. Watch this space...

Carl Magnus Palm

http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/blogs/abba-blog/more-info-about-the-new-edition-of-abba-the-complete-recording-sessions

Frida & Dan's New Song Available Soon !

Just 2 more days till you can preorder (and pre listen into) the new Dan & Frida Song "1865" on iTunes. We really hope you´ll like the song as much as we do Actually we don´t know if the song will be uploaded directly at midnight January 1st. Hopefully!! But our experience is, that sometimes it needs some more hours till this works. Lets see.
And: …..here is one more picture that we have taken just our of the window during the recording session. We recorded in Zermatt with... "Matterhorn View" to feel the vibe and the magic of 1865 and its story while singing and recording.
Enjoy the last days of 2014 till jubilee year 2015!!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/1865Matterhorn

Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas !

Wishing everyone a very happy, fun and safe Christmas and an abbasolutely spectacular 2015 !

ABBA Monopoly Being Played At Universal Music Sweden !

Staff at Universal Music Sweden playing the newly released ABBA Monopoly !

Can't wait for mine to arrive :)

Ordered yours yet ?

Grab it now from ABBA The Museum webshop:

http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en/shop-en

Thank ABBA For The Music Book Update

The book of fan messages to ABBA thanking them for the music is ready for the printer !

Over 600 pages with over 10,000 messages !

I have a feeling some ABBA members will be quite overwhelmed when they receive their copy of this unique book :)

More info will follow

'Dancing Queen' Inducted Into Grammy Hall Of Fame 2015 !

"The GRAMMY Hall Of Fame embodies the creative spirit and cultural significance of the greatest recorded music of all time."
Alice Cooper, Abba Songs Among 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame Inductees

Christopher Morris
Music Reporter

Recordings ranging from a 1909 gospel recording to the Sex Pistols’ epochal punk album are among the 2015 inductees into the Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall of Fame.
The 27 new inductees, which cut across the entire spectrum of musical genres, brings the total list of Hall of Fame titles (both albums and single recordings) to 987. Each year a special member committee determines a group of recordings, at least 25 years old, which exhibit qualitative or historical importance.
Hall of Fame titles are displayed in an interactive exhibit at the Grammy Museum in downtown L.A. This year’s inductees will be commemorated in a collector’s edition book that will also focus on the Grammy Foundation’s Grammy Camp program and its preservation and archiving initiatives.
Recording Academy prexy and CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement, “This year’s Grammy Hall Of Fame entries not only represent a diverse collection of influential and historically significant recordings but also reflect the changing climate of music through the decades. These memorable, inspiring and iconic recordings are proudly added to our growing catalog — knowing that they have become a part of our musical, social, and cultural history.”

http://variety.com/2014/music/news/2015-grammy-hall-of-fame-inductees-1201380039/#

The complete list of 2015 Grammy Hall of Fame inductees can be seen here:

http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/press-release/the-recording-academy-announces-2015-grammy-hall-of-fame-inductees

Read my full take on the Induction on ABBAChat Forum here:

http://abbachat.com/thread/366/dancing-queen-added-2015-grammy?page=1#scrollTo=2294


 

Revised, updated and expanded edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions in the works

http://www.carlmagnuspalm.com/blogs/abba-blog/revised-updated-and-expanded-edition-of-abba-the-complete-recording-sessions-in-the-works

Revised, updated and expanded edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions in the works

Published December 16, 2014

I'm delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of an updated edition of my very first ABBA book, ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions. Originally published in 1994, this revised version will incorporate all the new information that has come to light since the book was first issued. It will also feature hitherto unpublished or long-forgotten facts and stories that I've unearthed during my ongoing research on ABBA and their music.

Even more exciting: Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson - and Polar Music International - have authorised me to listen to much more unreleased music than was possible in the analogue days of the early Nineties. When Björn, Benny, Michael Tretow and I spent a day listening to tapes back in 1993, none of the multi-track tapes or the alternate mixes were available in a digital format. Since then, however, all the tapes have been digitized, meaning that it's much easier to access the music. Needless to say, in 1993 I would have wanted to hear much more than I was able to hear during the six hours I spent together with Björn, Benny and Michael, so I'm excited to finally get this opportunity to really delve into the archives.

Moreover, the scope of the book will also be expanded in many other different ways, but without ever losing focus of ABBA's music. Perhaps even more importantly, the prose will be significantly improved - I'm basically re-writing the book from the ground up.

I am going to publish the book myself, so as not to be beholden to a publisher's requirements regarding design, deadlines and so on. I hope to be able to publish towards the end of 2016, but the date may change: making the book as good and as nice-looking as it can possibly be will be my main objective.

I've already begun work on the book, but in order to get it finished and printed I will need to finance the project with the aid of a crowdfunding campaign. The projected start date for the campaign is 28 January, 2015. It will then run for a month, ending on 28 February 2015.

If you're as excited as I am about this brand new and much-improved edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions, please support the crowdfunding campaign - if it fails, the book will not be written; simple as that. And please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in the book, including Facebook groups and other social media - the more people who are made aware of the upcoming campaign, the greater the chance that it will succeed.

Between now and the launch of the crowdfunding campaign at the end of January, I will publish regular updates and reveal more information about the book here on my website. It's easy to be notified of the updates by following me on Facebook or on Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/carlmagnus.palm.3

https://twitter.com/carlmpalm

ABBA Monopoly - Order Now !

Latest images for ABBA Monopoly.

Still seems to be on schedule for a December 8th release.

You can pre-order from the following sites:

ABBA The Museum Webshop:

http://www.abbathemuseum.com/en/shop-en

ABBA Fan Club Shop:

http://www.abbafanclubshop.nl/

Ginza:

http://www.ginza.se/product/abba-monopoly/61229/

And now also at Universal:

https://store.universalmusic.com/abba/