I was looking for information on Al Jonson when I saw that California here I come was a song made famous thanks in part to Al’s cover, I did check You Tube to see if I could find an example when this weird cover popped up:
It is the 70’s-80’s group ABBA in an old west bar in western costumes drinking beer (!) with the singers sounding a little drunk.
Recorded, it seems, just before they became world wide famous. Any information on the TV show they did this? The only clue is that the clip reports that it was made in Denmark.
Oh, forgot to add: they were also going by the name Festfolk at the time, a phrase which means “party people” and also means “engaged people”, or something along those lines.
The explanation for this, as so many other things that have been filmed, is simple. They Were Young And They Needed The Money.
Seriously, this looks like a clip from some sort of themed variety show. You know, let’s get a couple singing acts, somebody who can dance, a comedian, a script for a simple skit or two… and put it in a fake Wild West saloon! Doesn’t that sound like a great idea??? Ah, the Seventies. Four musicians who are already known as solo artists but who are now trying to start a band together would be a good fit, both ways, for a show like that. The show gets familiar names to attract viewers, the band gets to show off what they can do together. Whether they gained from it this time is left as an exercise for the viewer.
Agnetha was sampling that beer between takes, wasn’t she?
