Björk Gudmunsdottir - “Björk” (1977) (Front Cover)

Download the album here:

MP3s: bjork_1977_mp3.zip
FLAC: bjork_bjork_1977_FLAC.zip 
Artwork: http://helpfulresources.org/bjork/ 
Wiki Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Björk_(album)  

Björk Gudmunsdottir - “Björk” (1977) (Rear Cover)

Before she was known simply as Björk, she had a two part name like the rest of us: Björk Gudmunsdottir.

In 1977, one of her teachers sent a recording of the young Miss Gudmonsdottir singing the disco hit, “I Love To Love (But My Baby Loves To Dance)” to Iceland’s lone radio station at the time, RÚV. A representative from the Fálkinn record label heard it, and contacted Björk to offer her a record contract. And so Björk, with the help of stepdad Sævar, released her first solo album in December of that year.

The songs are a mixture of covers translated into Icelandic, like The Beatles hit “The Fool On The Hill” (’Álfur Út Úr Hól’), Edgar Winter’s ‘Alta Mira,’ Melanie Safka’s ‘Christopher Robin’ (’Bænin’) and Stevie Wonder’s song “Your Kiss Is Sweet” (’Búkolla’), but it also contained some songs written specifically for the album, like the song “Arabadrengurinn” (’The Arab Boy’) written by stepdad Sævar, and one instrumental flute-tribute to Icelandic painter Jóhannes Kjarval written & performed by 11-year old Björk herself.

The album went Platinum in Iceland (5,000 sold, not the 1 million of a US Platinum record) and she was offered the chance to do a second album, but she turned it down. With the money she earned she bought herself a piano and started composing new songs of her own.

The album was released in two formats, vinyl and cassette, in fairly limited edition (at least 7000 copies) and is rare to find outside of Iceland.

It was recorded at Hljarijinn Studios in Reykjavik. Hildur Hauksdóttir (Björk’s mother) designed the cover and the photo was taken at a local Reykjavik studio.

CAVEAT:

This is probably of interest to fans only. It is dated-sounding, definitely a product of it’s time; a hippie disco folk album, in the Nordic stylee. But, if you are a Björk fan, or just a fan of bizarre, offbeat music, you should find this interesting.

Download the album here:

MP3s: bjork_1977_mp3.zip
FLAC: bjork_bjork_1977_FLAC.zip 
Artwork: http://helpfulresources.org/bjork/ 
Wiki Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Björk_(album) 

Track listing:

1. “Arabadrengurinn (The Arab Boy)” [Sævar] – 5:00
2. “Búkolla (Your Kiss is Sweet)” [Stevie Wonder; Syreeta Wright] – 3:16
3. “Alta Mira” [Edgar Winter] – 2:30
4. “Jóhannes Kjarval” [Björk Guðmundsdóttir] – 2:15
5. “Fúsi Hreindýr” – 3:27
6. “Himnaför” – 2:32
7. “Óliver” – 2:47
8. “Álfur Út Úr Hól (The Fool on the Hill)” [Lennon/McCartney] – 3:04
9. “Músastiginn” – 2:44
10. “Bænin (Christopher Robin)” [Melanie Safka] – 2:00