Prudence - Tomorrow May Be Vanished/Drunk And Happy (1972-73) [Remastered] (2003)

PRUDENCE was one the most important bands on the Norwegian prog scene in the '70's, which included the likes of AUNT MARY, JUNIPHER GREENE, TITANIC, POPOL VUH (ACE), RUPHUS, FOLQUE and H?ST. They fused rock with old party/dance music from Tr?ndelag and (on their last album) sang in their local dialect, and thereby created a rock style dubbed Tr?nderrock.

Hailing from Namsos, a small town in Nord-Tr?ndelag county in Middle Norway, their roots can be traced back to 1967 and the band THE TUNES, later named WHOOPEE CHOOP. At the time the band consisted of Kaare SKEVIK jr. (drums), Per Erik "Prikken" WALLUM (vocals and, later, also flute), Sturla HUSTAD (keyboards), Per FORMO, Hans Jacob BUSCH (both guitar) and Terje TYSLAND (bass), who left to work as a sailor and was replaced by Kjell Ove "Nille" RISETH (bass) shortly before ?ge ALEKSANDERSEN (vocals and guitar) joined in October of 1968.

BUSCH left the band in the summer of 1969. The following fall the band changed it's name again, this time to PRUDENCE, after the THE BEATLES track "Dear Prudence", and shortly after they agreed to be the tour band of Stein Ingebrigtsen, a local hero from Namsos and up and coming popstar, a role they would hold up for some time thereafter. More member changes followed in the spring of 1970. HUSTAD left first, followed by FORMO, who was replaced by Jan Erik MOE (guitar).

In 1970 they released their first of three singles on the newly started label, Experience Records. Side A was a cover of DEEP PUPLE's "Into the Fire", while side B was their own composition, "Kom, bli med til K?benhavn" (Come with to Copenhagen), a song about having fun with drugs in the Danish capital, which was banned from radio airplay.

William HAKKV?G (guitar and vocals) replaced MOE in October 1970, but left the band in March the following year. A month later the band was joined by Johan TANGEN (mandolin and congas). This came on the heels of Terje TYSLAND (now on guitar, accordion and vocals, later also piano) rejoining after returning from time at sea. Both would prove to be important to the band's development of their own sound, a crossbreed of progressive rock and the sound of the Norwegian countryside.

PRUDENCE's sound was created from three equal approaches. ALEKSANDERSEN mostly listened to Bob DYLAN and American rock, TYSLAND had a strong relationship with jazz, gammaldans and the music of Jimi HENDRIX, while WALLUM was obsessed with JETHRO TULL and British folkrock. Other significant influnces were THE BEATLES, BLACK SABBATH, BLODWYN PIG, KING CRIMSON and DEEP PURPLE. This mix made their sound unique and something not heard before in and from Norway.

Two new singles were released on Experience, "Small Things in Life / Happy Fairies" and "My New Day / The Sky Gets Blue", before the band signed with Polydor and released their first LP, "Tomorrow May Be Vanished", cryptically subtitled "Victoria, s? b?rre pass d?!" (Victoria, so just watch out!), in 1972. The album received great reviews, in which the band was compared to greats as JETHRO TULL and THE BAND.

The album hit the market the week after PRUDENCE's majorly successful performance at The Kalv?ya Festival, where they, according to Paul Karlsen, the man behind the festival, "went on stage as total unknowns and left it half an hour later as Norways most popular band", upstaging the headlining act, FAMILY, in the process.

In 1973 they released their second LP, "Drunk and Happy", which opened doors for the band in Denmark, where they were a great succes at The Roskilde Festival of that year. There were talks of launching the band in Europe, but instead of getting rich and famous PRUDENCE ended up disappointed, and also broke, because they were always investing in the newest equipment available even though success outside of Scandinavia eluded them.

The following year they released their third LP simply called "No. 3", which was a great success in Denmark, but with increasing debt the band had to tour nonstop all around the country and some of the members also had to get sidejobs to make a living. This would end in tragedy for the bassist, RISETH, who lost three fingers, and injured a fourth, on his left hand in an accident at one of the many sawmills in Namsos, where he and TANGEN worked. When RISETH left, PRUDENCE lost a part of their identity and much of the spark.

The rough life on the road, RISETH's tragedy and the fact that the label wasn't going to launch the band in Europe after all, were the most important reasons for the band deciding to break up, but not before releasing a fourth album, with Norwegian lyrics this time, and going on a farewell tour. Frode VIKEN (later a member of the popular tr?nderrock band D.D.E.) had a short period in the band as bassist, before RISETH was permanently replaced by Jan DEVIK.

Their fourth and last studio album, released in 1975, "Takk te dokk" (Thank You) included the hit "? e tr?nder ?" (I Am Tr?nder - meaning someone who's from Tr?ndelag), which was a reaction to the ridicule of their dialect, and Tr?nders in general, that had come after actor Rolf Wesenlund's parodic performance as a Tr?nder in the film B?r B?rson jr.

The last tour was a triumph where ever they went. Their last concert, at Studentersamfundet in Trondheim, 11. December 1975, was recorded, with Jahn TEIGEN (of POPOL ACE and, later, one of Norways most popular pop artists) as producer, and released as a double LP.

In February 1976, after the band had split up, they won Spellemannsprisen (the Norwegian equivalent to the Grammys) for best pop/rock album with "Takk te dokk", and had to reunite for a TV-recorded performance. The award was presented by a reluctent actor Wesenlund, which made for an awkward moment and infuriated the band to the extent that they afterwards did a blazing, though not their best, performance of "? e tr?nder ?". The, now legendary, performance made the whole country suddenly aware of this fenomenale band, but by then it was too late.

They all went their seperate ways after that, but came back together for some brief reunions: in 1980 (the "Takk te dokk"-line up), in 1996 (ALEKSANDERSEN, TYSLAND, SKEVIK, TANGEN and RISETH playing together for the first time after Per Erik WALLUM's passing (died of cancer) in 1990), in 2010 (TANGEN, ALEKSANDERSEN and RISETH, with WALLUM's two kids, Stian and Kine WALLUM)) and in 2011 (RISETH, ALEKSANDERSEN, SKEVIK, TANGEN and TYSLAND, again with Stian and Kine WALLUM).

Since the band's breakup in 1975 ?ge ALEKSANDERSEN has had a long and successful career as a solo artist, and he's been dubbed both Norway's King of Rock and The Grandfather of Norwegian Rock.