Ragnar Einarsson Kvaran, Icelandic/American musician and songwriter, best known for his work with the band Ragnar Kvaran, often referred to as the Ragnar Kvaran Group.
The early years
editRagnar was born in Siglufjordur, Iceland on August 21, 1945, the son of Einar Ragnarsson Kvaran and Clara Caldwell Kvaran and the great grandson of Einar Hjorleifsson Kvaran and Hannes Hafstein. When Ragnar was seven years old his father was hired by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the family moved from Iceland to Ceylon. His education was started at the Royal Naval School in Colombo but he was pulled out after his parents discovered that the school still used public canings as a form of discipline. He was then sent to Kodaikanal International School in Kodaikanal, India where he remained for seven years before being expelled/withdrawn in the early 1960s.
While active, the Ragnar Kvaran Group performed with REM, Bonnie Hayes, Human Switchboard, Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival, The Gun Club, Scott Morgan, Map Of The World, Art In America, Peter Holsapple, Lobster's Gorilla, NonFiction, It Play, The Flexibles, Carolyn Striho, Jem Targal, Stuart Dybek, Tom Carson, Mink DeVille, Dick Siegel and many others. The band was included on The Declaration Of Independents[1] and Cruisin' Ann Arbor anthologies.[2]
Ron Asheton played the double tracked solo (referred to as a "guitar duet" in the liner notes) on Ragnar Kvaran's 1981 recording Wrecked On Love[3]
In 1982 personnel changes in the core band started to occur[4], leading to its taking a decade long hiatus before resurfacing in the late 1980s.
Gigs
editA partial listing of some of the bands shows are listed here, although the band's name is spelled partially wrong. [1]
Discography
edit- As "The Boxer Rebellion" (1967) (EP)
- Sun Blues[5]
- It's All Different Now/French Vanilla (single)[6]
- Desperate Characters/Perfect World (single)[7]
- Wrecked on Love (1981) 12 inch, 33 1/3 r.p.m. 6 song EP [8]
- Buried Alive (n/d) (cassette)
- Pit Beasts (n/d) (cassette)
- Approximately O.K. (n/d) (cassette)
- "The Lake" (1988) (cassette)
- review Ann Arbor News February 20, 1988[9]
- Standing Like Shadows (1990) [10]
Anthologies
edit- Declaration of Independents
- It's All Different Now
- Crusin' Ann Arbor (1982) [11]
- Cookies For Breakfast
- The First One... Special Limited Edition EP
- (You) Gotta Find YOur Own Way In As the Ragnar Kvaran Group, EP also including songs by Wild Man Fischer, The Tulsa City Truckers and The Mohawk Brothers [12]
References
edit- ^ "Declaration Of Independents [Ambition] - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic.
- ^ "Ragnar Kvaran Group - Ann Arbor - LocalWiki". arborwiki.org.
- ^ Ragnar Kvaran Wrecked On Love, A.T.C. Records, 1981
- ^ Brown, Bill (28 June 2017). "You Should've Heard Just What I Seen: Collected Newspaper Articles, 1981-1984". Lulu.com – via Google Books.
- ^ RonRoy Records, Hollywood, CA.
- ^ Stigmata Records, Kanal Music, Produced by Larry Newman, backed by "The Infidels", Recorded at Pearl Sound, Ann Arbor, Engineered by Ben Gross, photographs and design by Eric Munch, Motivated by Alan Goldsmith, 1979
- ^ Stigmata Records, Kanal Music, Produced by Whipple/Browne/Vogel/Kvaran, Recorded at Pearl Sound, Ann Arbor, Engineered by Ben Gross, photographs and design by Eric Munch, liner notes by Stuart Dybek, 1980
- ^ A.T.C. Records, Royal Oak, Michigan ATC 2
- ^ "Ragnar Kvaran Artifacts". www.kurtbrowne.com.
- ^ Agamenon records, 1990, Ann Arbor, MI
- ^ Ann Arbor Music Project # 982, 210047XB, Side 1, Track 4
- ^ The First One ... (FIRST-1) A.T.C. Records, Royal Oak, Mich. 1981
Category:1945 births
Category:Living people
Category:20th-century musicians
Category:Alternative rock singers
Category:English-language singers from Iceland
Category:Rock singers
Category:Icelandic pop musicians
Category:Icelandic rock musicians
Category:Icelandic songwriters
Category:Icelandic emigrants to the United States
Category:Rock songwriters
Category:American rock songwriters
Category:Musicians from Michigan