Totta is dead – long live the blues!
I just read on Aftonbaldet’s web site that Totta Näslund passed away. I’m sad. Totta was one of the best bluesmen I’ve ever known. I got to know him in the mid-70’s when he was with Nationalteatern. I worked at AVAB. When the Tent Project (Tältprojektetet) started, Totta was one of the anchors. We, at AVAB, built all the equipment, but also discussed the political and ideological grounds for the narrative. Later, when the Tent Project was over, I had left AVAB and running my own company (working together with Musik Utan Gränser), Totta, Bernt and Nicke (now Totta’s Blues Band) often called in to our shitty lab in Gothenburg city.
One particular occasion I remember is a wintry day. Tottta had bought a new Davy Crocket hat. When he walked into our lab (a.k.a. Gruvan [the Mine]), our St Bernard “Bastian” went apeshit. It was the fecking hat! Also, around the same time, Bernt’s Hammond B3 motor failed. We ordered a replacement, but it was for 60 Hz, not 50. So, overnight, I designed an inverter that took 50 Hz mains and converted into 60 Hz. As we didn’t have the parts to make it spot-on 50, we decided to cut a hole in the left-hand panel of the Hammond organ to fit – a pitch-wheel! So, after that Bernt’s B3 was probably the first (perhaps only) B3 to have a pitch wheel.
I’ve been listening to my Totta’s Blues Band tracks on my iPod tonight.
Peter Sikström, Bruce, Roger, Kent Flood, and many others, if you happen to read this, you should comment!
The blues goes on.
