Arthur Kylander [1] | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Born | Arthur Arkadius Kylander February 16, 1892 |
| Died | 1968 |
| Occupation | singer, songwriter, musician |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Varila |
Arthur Kylander (1892–1968) was a Finnish-American singer, songwriter and mandolin player.[1]
Biography
Born in Lieto, Finland, Kylander immigrated to the United States in 1914 at the age of twenty-two. There he became an itinerant laborer and worked as a carpenter and logger.
In 1925 he met his future wife Julia Varila, a pianist and accordionist with whom he began performing and touring. During the Depression the Kylanders moved to Hollywood, California, where Julia worked as a cook and Arthur was a butler and chauffeur. In 1943 they bought 240 acres of wooded land near Placerville, California and started a tree farm.[2] In 1964 Kylander was named the Outstanding Conservation Rancher of the Year.[3]
Music
Between 1927 and 1929 Kylander released twenty songs on the Victor label.[4] He also published several songbooks with the title of Humoristisia Lauluja (Comic Songs).[5]
His repertoire included Kulkuri (The Hobo), Muistojen Valssi (The Waltz of Memories) and Suomalainen ja Sauna (The Finn and the Sauna). A member of the Industrial Workers of the World, many of Kylander's songs dealt with the hardships facing immigrant workers while retaining a strong sense of wit and humor.[5] He sang in a mixture of Finnish and Finglish in a manner similar to his contemporary, Hiski Salomaa.[6]
Since the 1970s, Arthur Kylander's recordings have been reissued in both analog and digital formats.[6][7][8]
References
- ^ a b Arthur Kylander. fi.wikipedia.org. Retrieved: March 12, 2013.
- ^ Arthur Kylander, Finnish-American Folksinger. Archived 2012-02-16 at the Wayback Machine fingerlakesfinns.org. Retrieved: March 12, 2013.
- ^ Mountain Democrat December 17, 1964.
- ^ Ethnic Music on Records by Richard K. Spottswood, (University of Illinois Press, 1990) Volume 5, pp. 2581-2582.
- ^ a b Songs about Work by Richard A Reuss and Archie Green, (Bloomington: Folklore Institute, Indiana University, 1993) pp. 268-271.
- ^ a b Siirtolaisen Muistoja (The Immigrant's Memories) (Helsinki: Finnish RCA, 1978).
- ^ Oi kuinka engeliksi mielin (We'll be angels by and by) (Kaustinen: The Folk Music Institute), 1994).
- ^ Stranded in the USA (Munich: Trikont, 2004).
External links
Book excerpt
Discography
- Arthur Kylander on Victor Records.
- 1978 LP with four songs by Arthur Kylander
- 2004 CD with two songs by Arthur Kylander
Videos
Streaming audio
- Finnish Wobblies at the Internet Archive.
- Finnish songs at the Library of Congress.