Arvid Franzen (1899–1961) was a Swedish-born accordionist and bandleader, whose live performances and numerous recordings made him a household name in Scandinavian communities throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Career

A native of

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

, Franzen settled in the

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area and fronted a large ensemble that performed on stage and at dances and social events for over four decades until his death in 1961.''Nikolina: early Scandinavian bands and entertainers'' (Minneapolis: Banjar Records, 1983). Accordion pioneer

Pietro Frosini Pietro Frosini (9 August 1885 – 2 September 1951) was one of the first famous "stars of the accordion." He was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1885 and began to play the chromatic button accordion at the age of six. In 1905 he emigrated to San Fran ...

played many concerts with Franzen and as a token of his esteem gave him an autographed photo with the following inscription: "To my 'old pal' Franzen with my greatest admiration for his efforts to place the accordion before the public in an artistic manner."

Recordings

Franzen's first recordings were made in 1919, and over the years his music was released on the Colonial, Columbia, Scandinavian, Standard and

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labels. Many of the records featured two accordions, and his long list of duet partners included Eric Berg, Walter Eriksson, Harold Freeman, Ture Gadde, Einar Holt, Eddie Jahrl, John Lager and Ragnar Sundquist.''Ethnic music on records: a discography of ethnic recordings produced in the United States, 1893-1942'' by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) LCCN 89-020526. Volume 5, pp. 2651-2653. Franzen also toured with accordionists Eric Olson and Ragnar Sundquist and with the comedian

Hjalmar Peterson Hjalmar Peterson was a singer and comedian from Sweden, who achieved great popularity during the 1910s and 1920s. His stage name was Olle i Skratthult (Olle from Laughtersville). Life Career Hjalmar Peterson was born in Munkfors, Värmland ...

. Between 1927 and 1929 the Hjalmar Peterson Orchestra released eighteen instrumental tracks on

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

. Peterson's own band did not appear on the records, which were made by studio musicians in

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and

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. Among the session players were country music singer

Carson Robison Carson Jay Robison ( – ) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although his impact is generally forgotten today, he played a major role in promoting country music in its early years through numerous recordings and radio appear ...

on guitar and Arvid Franzen on accordion. In 1929 Franzen played on six

recordings and on six Hjalmar Peterson Orchestra recordings. The same year he was a guest artist with

Peterson's Peterson's, founded in 1966, is an American company that has a wide range of print and digital products and services, including test preparation, career exploration tools, memory retention techniques, and school, financial aid, and scholarship se ...

traveling company of singers, dancers and musicians on a tour of the

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. The newspaper in

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wrote of an upcoming visit by "Arvid Franzen, the celebrated accordion artist, whose

and Columbia records are found in tens of thousands of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n homes." Fifty years after his death Franzen's recordings are still sold by vintage music stores and online retailers. They can also be found at video-sharing websites and other digital archives. In 2011 the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

opened its National Jukebox website with streaming audio for fourteen songs by Arvid Franzen.National Jukebox
''loc.gov''. Retrieved July 7, 2013.

Gallery

File:Arvid Franzen.jpg, Arvid Franzen in Victor catalog File:PietroFrosini21YearsOld.jpg, Pietro Frosini 1906 File:OlleGustavNyberg1919.jpg, L to R: Gustav Nyberg and Olle i Skratthult 1916 File:Ragnar sundquist.jpg, Ragnar Sundquist 1920

References

External links

Book excerpt
''A Passion for Polka''
at the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

.
Eddie Jahrl in a ''A Passion for Polka''
Historic American Newspapers
Arvid Franzen
Image files
Photo inscribed by Pietro Frosini to Arvid FranzenArvid Franzen and Walter Eriksson
Discographies
Arvid Franzen
on

.
Franzen-Holt Instrumental Quartet
on

.
Eric Berg
on

.
Einar Holt
on

.
Eddie Jahrl
on

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Eric Olson
on

. Swedish music and film
Arvid Franzen

Streaming audio at the Library of Congress
Arvid FranzenEric BergJohn Lager
Streaming audio at the Internet Archive
Arvid FranzenScandinavian old-time

On tour with Olle i Skratthult
Video *. {{DEFAULTSORT:Franzen, Arvid 1961 deaths American accordionists American bandleaders Columbia Records artists Musicians from Gothenburg Swedish accordionists Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish migration to North America Victor Records artists 1899 births 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century accordionists