Fotos: expressen.se, Patrik C Österberg, Ola Axman
Agnetha, Björn, Benny entre los asistentes al funeral de Michael B. Tretow en Mikaelskapellet en Estocolmo hoy. Michael, su ingeniero de sonido, murió en mayo a los 80 años. También estaban Gorel Hanser, Janne Schaffer y Claes Olof af Geijerstam. Texto inferior traducción del artículo de Expressen.se.
Agnetha, Björn & Benny among the attendants to Michael B. Tretow's funeral in Mikaelskapellet in Stockholm today. Michael, their sound engineer died in May at the age of 80. Also there Gorel Hanser, Janne Schaffer & Claes Olof af Geijerstam. Texto below English translation from Expressen.se article.
The man behind ABBA’s sound, sound engineer Michael B. Tretow, passed away in May at the age of 80.
Today he is being buried in Stockholm where friends, relatives and colleagues have gathered.
- There are so many memories, says Agnetha Fältskog.
Michael B. Tretow passed away earlier in May at the age of 80. On Thursday he will be buried in Mikaelskapellet in Stockholm, just a stone's throw opposite Metronome Studio, now Atlantis Studios, where ABBA’s sound was created.
Guitarist Janne Schaffer worked closely with Abba for many years. He is on site at the funeral to say goodbye to his colleague and friend.
- Micke was a fantastic person and an incredibly skilled sound engineer, he says and continues:
- He was a big part of both Ted Gärdestad's and ABBA’s success.
Schaffer remembers his first meeting with Tretow.
- It was on Ted's Gärdestad's first album, we recorded here, he says.
The guitarist recalls fun memories with the exploratory sound engineer. Among them was when he and Tretow tested a Marshall amplifier in producer Bruno Glenmark's indoor swimming pool.
– It was an amazing sound. It was just that Anne-Louise Hanson's mother was at home and thought it was an earthquake.
– We tried so many different things. Micke was always so interested in doing new things and trying everything.
The ABBA members on site
Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog are also on site.
– There are so many memories, says Fältskog.
Claes Olof af Geijerstam also worked with ABBA as a sound engineer in the mid-1970s. He remembers the first time he met Tretow when Ola & the Janglers recorded at the Metronome Studio.
– A natural talent, a fantastic person, always ready to laugh. We had so much technical fun for us. We loved odd gadgets in the studio, he says and laughs.
– A really lovely guy and a good songwriter. The man behind ABBA’s sound
Michael B. Tretow worked at the then famous Metronome Studio in the 1960s where he recorded material with, among others, Ted Gärdestad, Pugh Rogefeldt, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.
Since the 1970s, he was ABBA’s sound engineer on all albums except for "Voyage", which was released as late as 2021.
Tretow has been described by many as the man behind the classic ABBA sound. Among other things, he drew inspiration from Phil Spector's recording technique.
After ABBA split, he continued to work with the members on their solo projects and also musicals, including the "Chess" album.
In 2001, Tretow suffered a brain hemorrhage and three years later, after completing Agnetha Fältskog's album "My coloring book", he ended his career, writes DN.
During his career, Tretow also released cult songs such as "Den makalösa manicken" and "Hubba hubba zoot zoot" under the name Caramba. A studio project he had together with Ted Gärdestad.