Fred Åkerström was a Swedish folk guitarist and singer particularly noted for his interpretations of Carl Michael Bellman's music, and his own work of the typically Swedish song segment named visa. These songs, visor, are traditionally very narrative and the performance is "acted" to some degree. The singer is in context a vissångare, a troubadourcharacter. Åkerström was also known for his actor's interpretations of Bellman's 18th centurymaterial, and his unusual ability to reach deep bass notes.
Life
Åkerström was born in Stockholm to a family of meager circumstances, which would later influence the social, economic, and political criticisms found in many of his works and public appearances. He may have aspired at an early age to become a vissångare, being a devoted listener to Ruben Nilson. After performances at the famous vispråmen "Storken," he released his first record in 1963, Fred Åkerström sjunger Ruben Nilson. He was a contemporary of Cornelis Vreeswijk, and the two were at times very close, touring together and releasing a joint record, early in their careers. He became an alcoholic in later life. His daughterCajsaStina Åkerström is also a singer.
Bellman interpreter
Åkerström believed that Bellman had been misinterpreted by an earlier generation of artists: far from being a jolly and romantic person, Bellman was, Åkerström thought, an accurate social reporter of poverty, sickness, death and suffering. Like Vreeswijk, Åkerström was a major interpreter of Carl Michael Bellman's songs, giving them "a new and more powerful expression" than they had had before, starting with his live performance of one of Fredman's Epistles, "Nå skruva fiolen" in 1964. He publishedten albums containing Bellman songs, of which three were dedicated to that subject: Fred sjunger Bellman in 1969; Glimmande nymf in 1974; and Vila vid denna källa in 1977. His performances increased in intensity until it seemed to audience and critics that Åkerström was identifying himself with Bellman. In his book Ingenstans fri som en fågel, Peter Mosskin wrote of Åkerström that no-one in two hundred years had succeeded better at bringing Bellman to life, making the story of his music an important element in Swedish cultural history. His later Bellman recordings combined his guitar with cello and flute.
