Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus Then and Now | home
Benny
On December 16, 1945 Göran Bror Benny Andersson
was born in a suburb of Stockholm, called Vasastan.
2 years later his sister Eva was born.
The family moved to Eskistuna soon after and lived there until 1955, when they moved to Vällingby.
His father, Gösta Bror Vilhelm Andersson was born in 1912 and his
his father, Gösta Bror Vilhelm Andersson was born in 1912 and his
mother, Edit Laura, was born in 1920.
His was a musical family. His father and grandfather both loved to play the accordian.
1950's
His grandfather Efriam bought a summer house in the archepeligo on Mjölkö
and Benny spent many happy
summers there. When he was 6, in Dec.1952,
he recieved a yellow accordian. Soon he too
was playing along with his father and grandfather, entertaining friends and relatives.
Anonther thing Benny loved was bird warching.
He still to this day is interested in birds.
In 1957 Benny recieved his 1st piano. He played it every day. As a kid he began hanging out at a local youth center. He loved to entertain the other kids with Boogie Woogie songs.
There was also a theater group formed there and a pretty 17 year old girl named Christina Grönvall caught his 14 year old eye. Soon they were a couple.
1960's
At 15 he finished school and decided to not continue on to upper secondary school.
He worked for a little over a year in construction, but didn't like it much.
"I was a trainee at a construction site in Vällingby, my dad was a building contractor, production engineer at Svenska bostäder. I worked there for a year and a half. I also
sold washing machines, only one machine the first day. Then I went back to school,
I was going to get a upper secondary school-leaving certificate, but after one term
Svenne Hedlund (from Hep Stars) called. "
In 1962 Christina became pregnant. They became engaged and Benny continued
living at home with his parents. August 20, 1963 she gave birth to Hans Gösta Peter Grönvall. Tired of consruction work, a year later Benny met up with a new band, Elverkets Spelmanslag. Christina became a singer in the band. They played here and there locally. There weresome talent contests that the band played in and once they
went up against a band called The Hep Stars. Keyboardist Benny made an impression
on the Hep Stars, who were gaining notice around Stockholm. Not much time later, Benny's band disoved and Benny took up selling appliances door to door.
In Oct. 1964 The Hep Stars werein need of a new keyboardist and remembered Benny. They contacted him and soon he was playing with them. He was wild and would jump and kick while standing at the keyboard playing. It was a high energy band!
As they kept gaining in popularity Benny tried his hand at writting a few songs. The Hep Stars had been doing alot of covers of other famous rock bands. Sven Hedlund was becoming Sweden's biggest teen idol and included
a song Benny wrote called No Response into thier stage act. It became a popular tune to play. Then he wrote Sunny Girl and it was a hit! Next he wrote Wedding in 1966, a song he also played at Björn and Agnetha's wedding.
At 19 years old, Benny knew he wanted the "Pop Star" life and didn't want to be tied to a family. Teenage girls were everywhere following the band. But girlfriends
were supposed to be a big secret. Christina became pregnant again 18 months after Peter's birth. June 25,
1965 Christina gave birth to Heléne Odedal. But Benny didn't want fans to know he was engaged and the father
of 2 children.
A distance grew between him and Christina. In the summer of 1966 he broke up with her.
"I felt very immature at the age of 16, but clearly I was
mature enough to get a girl pregnant. Whatever I might
want to think, the fact is that I chose to keep on working instead of being with my family. Which, as you can
imagine, was a disaster for them. But I've been talking
to the kids through the years and for some reason, they feel that I made the right choice."
Benny with Svenne and Lotta and Hep Stars
1969
That summer Benny met Björn Ulvaeus of the Hootenanny Singers June 5, 1966.
The 2 bands wound up partying together all night, but Björn and Benny got guitars
and played folksongs and Beatles songs all night in between talking. That night
they forged a life long friendship. Benny has described Björn as being as close
as a brother.
They met again 3 weeks later on June 23, and The Hep Stars and Hootenenny's got together for another party in their home town of Västervik. During the evening Benny
and Björb began to speak of their musical ambitions. They soon decided to write a
song together. They went to Björn's parents home and down into the basement where they set up instruments. They didn't read or write musical notes so they needed to collaborate with playing the music. Björn's father gave him the keys to the paper mill
and sent them there because they were far too noisy.
After a few hours they had a melody which became the song Isn't it Easy to Say.
They didn't have the lyrics yet nor was the song near complete, but they had begun
their time of collaboration that continues to this day.
In March 1969 Anni-Frid Lyngstad met Benny Andersson.
The Hep Stars played in Malmö and Frida and her band were playing there too. One night the 2 bands got together and went to Benny and Björn's hotel room for a party. Björn had stepped in to play with the Hep Stars at this time. They all drank coffee and talked all night. A month later Frida and Benny began what they thought was a brief affair, but they fell in love anyway. On Aug. 18, they became engaged.
During the next few years, the Hep Stars would occasionaly call upon Björn to fill in for Janne Frisck. Björns mother said it made him very happy to be able to play that type of music with the Hep Stars. And Benny played on their records a few times with The Hootenanny's later on.
This was around the same time as Björn and Agnetha's meeting up and becoming a couple also. In fact, both couples became engaged around the same time.
Björn playing with Hep Stars, Svenne and Lotta and Benny
1971 with Björn Ulvaeus and the Hootenanny Singers Björn eventually found themselves teaming up together and leaving their groups. They wrote and sang their own music.
In 1972 they wrote "She's My Kind of Girl." The 2 couples spent large amounts of time together back then and soon their girlfriends occasionaly sang back up.
The rest became history with ABBA.
|