William Clauson (May 2, 1930 – September 3, 2017) was a

Swedish-American Swedish Americans ( sv, svenskamerikaner) are Americans of Swedish ancestry. They include the 1.2 million Swedish immigrants during 1865–1915, who formed tight-knit communities, as well as their descendants and more recent immigrants. Today, ...

singer of

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

s from various nations, including some of the songs of

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

in both English and Swedish.

Biography

Clauson was born in

Ashtabula, Ohio Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the United States micropolitan area, Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, nort ...

, to parents who were immigrants from Sweden. When he was two, the family returned to live in Viskafors, Sweden, and William began studying violin and singing at a music conservatory in

Borås Borås ( , , ) is a city (officially, a locality) and the seat of Borås Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 66,273 inhabitants in 2010. Geography Borås is located at the point of two crossing railways, among them the ...

. At the age of six, he returned to the US to live with an uncle in

Covina, California Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, " ...

, and began playing the guitar. Four years later, he won the title of "All American Boy" at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

, and began taking occasional small uncredited acting roles in movies including

Abbott and Costello Abbott may refer to: People *Abbott (surname) *Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist * Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act Places Argentina * Abbott, Buenos Aires United States * Abbott, Arkansas ...

's ''

The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap ''The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap'' is a 1947 black-and-white comedy Western film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was released on October 8 and distributed by Universal-International. Plot Ches ...

'' (1947). Mats Johansson, Magnus Nilsson, "William Clauson", ''sunkit.com''
Accessed 13 April 2015 Biography, William Clauson official site
Accessed 13 April 2015 According to Clauson, his big break as a performer came when he attended a lecture and concert by

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

, at which Sandburg asked to borrow his guitar and later asked to hear some of Clauson's own songs. Sandburg became his mentor and helped launch his performing career. Inspired by

Burl Ives Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades. Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...

, Clauson began performing folk songs from different countries. He moved to Sweden in 1954, married, and made his first recordings in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

with the orchestra of

Lille Bror Söderlundh Bror Axel (Lille Bror) Söderlundh (21 May 1912 – 23 August 1957) was a Swedish composer and singer. He composed music for many Swedish films. He also wrote classical music, including the ''Concertino for Oboe and Strings'' which has been perfor ...

. He became a popular singer in Sweden, appearing regularly on Swedish television and radio. He also toured around Europe, India, Australia, and the Americas, including appearances at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in London. His repertoire included

children's song A children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that children invent and share among themselves or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home or education. Although children's songs have been recorded and studied ...

s, and

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

folk songs. Among the songs which he recorded in the 1950s were " La Bamba" – which he claimed to have first heard when visiting

Veracruz, Mexico Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

,Ed Bedford, "The Salad? The Salad — Caesar's Restaurante in TJ", ''San Diego Reader'', February 23, 2011
Accessed 13 April 2015 and to have helped popularise – and "

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional African-American spiritual, first published in 1927. It became an international pop hit in 1957–58 in a recording by English singer Laurie London, and has been recorded by many other si ...

" which he heard when visiting a church service in

Leesville, Louisiana Leesville is a city in, and the parish seat of, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,612 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area and is additionally served by th ...

. He worked extensively in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with the

Trío Calaveras Trío Calaveras is a Mexican guitar and vocal trio, notable for its performances and recordings with the pop singer Jorge Negrete. History ''Calaveras'', in Spanish, means "skulls". The original members of the trio in the 1930s were Guillermo ...

, becoming known there as "El Charro Guero" (the blond cowboy). Working with song collector Percy Jones, he also performed and popularised many previously forgotten Australian folk songs. He recorded over 40 albums, on a variety of labels. These include ''Folk Songs and Ballads'' (1957), ''Click Go the Shears'' (1960), ''Stories in Song'' (1961), ''William Clauson sjunger

'' (1963), and ''William Clauson Sings With His Latin American Trio Los Guaramex'' (1965). In the late 1960s he opened a Mexican restaurant in Stockholm, before returning to live in the US, where he began collecting and performing

cowboy songs Western music is a form of country music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open ranges, Rocky Mountains, a ...

. He later moved to live in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Mexico, where he died in September 2017.Magnus Nilsson, "William Clauson är död", ''Sunkit.com'', 11 September 2017
Retrieved 25 June 2018

Discography

Clauson published the following recordings. * ''Folk Songs with John Gregory and his group'' (RCA Victor, 1956) * ''Folk Songs and Ballads'' (HMV, 1957) * ''Clauson in Mexico!'' (Capitol, 1958) * ''Click Go the Shears'' (1960) * ''Stories in Song'' (1961) * ''William Clauson sjunger Carl Michael Bellman'' (1963) * ''Swedish Songs'' (MGM, 1964) * ''William Clauson Sings With His Latin American Trio Los Guaramex'' (1965) * ''An Evening at El Sombrero'' (Polydor, 1967) * ''William Clauson with the Mariachi Sound'' (Polydor, 1971) * ''Jag Är På Väg'' (with Rune Eliasson, 1972) * ''He's Got The Whole World In His Hands'' (with the Delta Rhythm Boys, Nett, 1974) * ''Scandinavia!'' (Monitor, 1974) * ''Evert Taube Favoriter'' (Polydor, n.d.) * ''A Guitar A Voice In Songs Of Love'' (with Ulf Göran Åhslund, RCA Victor, n.d.) * ''Folk Songs of Scandinavia'' (HMV, n.d.) * ''A Clauson Concert'' (HMV, n.d.) * ''All Among the Wool Boys'' (RCA, n.d.) * ''Serenaden I Prästgatan'' (with Evert Taube, Polydor, n.d.) * ''Treasury of Folk Songs'' (SMC, n.d.)

References

External links

Discography Discogs.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clauson, William 1930 births 2017 deaths People from Ashtabula, Ohio American folk-song collectors American folk singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Swedish folk singers English-language singers from Sweden 20th-century Swedish male singers Interpreters of Carl Michael Bellman's works