Short Summary
PLEASE NOTE: AS OF JULY 31, 2015, PRE-ORDERS FOR ABBA - THE COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTED ON THIS PAGE. TO PRE-ORDER THE BOOK, PLEASE GO TO:
abbathecompleterecordingsessions.com.
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My book on ABBA's recording history, ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions, will be published in a completely revised, updated and expanded edition. Originally published in 1994, this new edition will feature more details on exactly how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, including classic hits such as ‘Waterloo’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’.
I've been authorised by ABBA’s record company, Polar Music International/ Universal Music, and ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to listen to unreleased mixes: plenty of alternate mixes of familiar songs and mixes of a handful of songs that were never released. The scope of the book has also been expanded to feature a lot more information about ABBA and their music: how it was packaged, received by the critics, and much more.
Please note: The book will only be published if it is successfully funded through this Indiegogo campaign.
You can pre-order the revised, updated and expanded edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions in two different formats:
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Printed hardcover format shipped to your address anywhere in the world
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ebook (electronic book) format supported by Sony Reader, Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and most other readers and devices. (Read more about ebooks here.)
Please see the Perks section on the right side of this page for the various bundles available. Then simply click on the appropriate perk to pre-order.
When you pre-order, your contribution will be immediately withdrawn from your credit card or PayPal account. If the campaign does not reach its goal, you will automatically receive a full refund.
You can contribute as many times as you like and choose as many perks as you like. If you’d like to contribute on behalf of a friend, or several friends, this option is also now available. Read more about it here.
Project Background
The first edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions was published in 1994, at a time when ABBA were still a long way from being the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees they are today. The book, which detailed the background stories on how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, was based on interviews with all four ABBA members, their invaluable sound engineer Michael B. Tretow, as well as the most frequently employed session musicians who played on ABBA’s records. At the time, the book made quite a splash in the fan community—it was the first time anyone had published a serious book about the group’s music—and many have referred to it as their favourite ABBA book since then, which of course has been immensely gratifying for me.
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Original edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions.
This was my very first ABBA book, written at a time when I knew a lot less about the group than I know now. The publication of the book opened up an entirely new chapter of my life, and for the past 15 or so years it has been my profession to research and write books about ABBA, and to plan, conceive and contribute to official releases on CD and DVD, along with many other ABBA-related activities.
Why this new edition?
I’ve long been itching to publish an updated edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions, and ABBA fans have let me know on a regular basis that this is something they would like to see as well. “But what could there possibly be to add?” I hear you ask. “Didn’t you cover everything in the first edition?” The answer to that is, quite simply: no!
Certainly, at the time I had access to all sorts of written documentation, tape boxes and such, from which I was able to piece together most of the hard facts of what was recorded and when and where. But—and this is crucial—I only had one single day of listening to tapes together with Björn, Benny and Michael B. Tretow in Michael’s studio. We spent six hours together listening to multitrack tapes, and what with putting those tapes on the machines, locating the songs I wanted to hear, playing them once or twice, then taking the tapes off again, general chit-chat, a lunch break etc., the total amount of music I got to hear—measured in minutes—was not that much. At the time nothing had really been transferred to a digital format, so the only way to listen to tapes, would be to hire a studio at my own personal expense. There was no way I could afford that at the time.
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Some of my notes from the tape-listening session with Björn, Benny and Michael Tretow in 1993.
Today the situation is quite different. Everything has been transferred to a digital format, which means that listening to tapes requires very little effort, and thanks to the encouragement and support of Polar Music International/Universal Music I will be able to listen to every alternate mix in the archives; however, the remaining multitrack tapes will probably be off-limits. Of course, ABBA’s
Björn Ulvaeus and
Benny Andersson have also approved my revisiting the mix tapes. So, now I will finally be able to hear what those alternate mixes are like.
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Potential cover design concept for the revised and expanded edition, subject to change. Photos: Ola Lager © Premium Rockshot
Why are you self-publishing?
There are several reasons for self-publishing. One is that I want to have full control over the book. 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. Quite simply, 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. I want to make a book for readers who are really interested in learning the secrets behind ABBA's music and their history as a recording act.
Self-publishing will also enable me to make the book as nicely produced as I think it deserves to be. A regular publisher would inevitably regard ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions as a special interest title, and that means cutting corners everywhere possible in terms of printing quality, paper quality and everything else connected to the book – including financial compensation to the author. I don’t blame them for that – they are running a business – but it would make it very difficult to make the book happen at all. Researching and writing a book like this is incredibly time-consuming, so while I don't expect to live in luxury while the book is being written, I will nevertheless need to eat and pay the rent.
A third reason is that self-publishing for certain kinds of titles is becoming more and more common in the book world. It’s the perfect solution for a title like this, which has a relatively small but highly motivated readership. In fact, I think there is a certain beauty in self-publishing: we’re all in this together, essentially, and with the aid of crowdfunding we can make it happen because we all want it to happen.
How will the new edition be different?
The new edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will be re-written from the ground up. It will offer a lot more than the original book:
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More facts and stories about ABBA’s recorded work: released as well as unreleased songs and alternate mixes
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More observations and insights into the writing of the songs
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More insights from Björn and Benny
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More comments from other people who were involved in ABBA’s recordings
- More reflections on the completed albums and singles
This revised edition of the book will also have several new features, not included in the previous edition:
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New: Vintage review quotes from the press, showing how ABBA’s albums and singles were received at the time of their original release
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New: Sidebars (separate articles) focusing on various aspects related to ABBA’s music; for instance: “Agnetha and Frida as vocalists”, “Björn the lyricist”, and so on
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This revised, updated and expanded version of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will be completely redesigned and will be a lot thicker than the first edition. Whereas the original book encompassed 128 pages, I’m now looking at between 400 and 500 pages.
There will be plenty of illustrations in the book, in the shape of recording documents, single and album sleeves, vintage ads, newspaper and magazine clippings etc. Photographs will be kept to a minimum, so as not to affect the budget adversely, making the book too expensive for pledgers. However, in my budget I have set money aside for a fair number of photographs, with priority given to images that are relevant for the subject of the book: ABBA’s work in the studio.
In order to ensure this will be a quality product, the book will be printed at a highly reputable and experienced book printer in the UK. The first edition will be hardcover, 200 x 240mm, clothbound with dust jacket; both cover and insides will be printed in full colour, and the inside pages will be on high-quality matte paper stock. The book will be designed by a professional art director with over two decades of experience. All in all, I can promise you that this will be a very good-looking volume.
Can I get a taste of what the updated version will be like?
Yes! A couple of excerpts from the book are available as PDF files. The text and the layout are both subject to change as work on the book continues, but the excerpts will give you a flavour of the general direction we’re heading in. Download and read the excerpts here:
Why isn’t the ABBA logo on the proposed cover of the book?
Only authorised books are allowed to feature the ABBA logo with backwards B, and despite Björn and Benny’s approval, the updated version of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions is not currently authorised. But even if it were, it would still cost a lot of money to license the logo for use on the book, and I’d rather have funds go into the research and production of the book itself.
When will the book be published?
My goal is to have the book published within two years from the end of this crowdfunding campaign. If all goes to plan, the book will be published at the end of March 2017 [updated September 2016].
That said, the publication may be postponed beyond either of those dates. But rest assured that it will only be postponed because I need more time to get the book absolutely right. I take my work very seriously and part of the reason why I want to publish the book myself is so as not to have to take a publisher’s demands and deadlines into account. Whatever happens regarding the publication date, everyone who pledges will be kept updated on how I’m doing with the project. My goal is to make you, the pledger, feel a part of the creation of this book.
In my life as an author, which spans more than two decades now, I have never accepted money for a project and then failed to complete it. In other words: you can trust me when I say that I always see my assignments through. In the case of the updated edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions, I can’t think of anything that I’d rather do in life than to research and write this book. It’s a dream come true to be able to go back to the book, correct the errors, add new information, improve on the prose and, generally, get it right. Nothing will stop me from achieving that goal.
Can you give me 3 reasons why I should pre-order the book and back this campaign?
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The Beatles have had a comprehensive Complete Recording Sessions book since 1988 – that’s 27 years at the time of writing. While the original edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions accomplished a lot, don't you think it’s time ABBA – a band whose popularity is just as great as The Beatles’ in many parts of the world – had a volume that is at least a little closer to the standards set by the Beatles book?
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Compared to their global popularity, ABBA have, generally speaking, not been served well in terms of quality literature. There are several reasons for that, but one is the paradox that while many people enjoy ABBA's music, only a comparatively small proportion of them are interested in reading a book about the group. As I see it, the only chance of having quality books published about them, focusing on a certain aspect – their music, their live concerts, whatever – is if dedicated ABBA fans join forces to make those quality books happen. So in the case of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions the crowdfunding campaign is essential – it’s now or never.
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If you’ve read this far, I am going to assume that you have an above-average interest in ABBA. If so, I ask you, how many books and magazines have you bought over the past decade or so that tell you very little new about ABBA? Wouldn’t you rather invest your hard-earned cash in a nicely produced book that actually tells you something you didn't already know about the group? Because that is what the updated, revised and expanded edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will accomplish.
Thank you so much in advance for backing this crowdfunding campaign! Your support matters!
