lea riders group  -   sept 1961 - june 1968

NEW CD WITH HAWKEY, HIS MUSIC
AND STIG DAGERMAN´S LYRICS
RELEASED OCTOBER 2005 ON GAZELL RECORDS (WebShop)
Nominated for GRAMMY 2006!
 

You can enlarge pics above some by clicking...

 CD released on  GarageLandRecords  in may 1998!!!      -       New release with 4 new  bonustracks came 1999!
LP out - CD out .

    BELIEVE IT OR NOT -   some time 2007 (I know, same message every year - but  true 2007. He who waits for...)
A CD WITH LEA RIDERS GROUP CONTAINING RECORDINGS  B E F O R E  THE  SINGLES!   KEEP EYES AND EARS OPEN!
When coming it´s a bomb! (This time it´s true...)
                  CHECK GarageLandRecords and RockRoseRec! - SENSATION on its way...

The embryo of the group was formed as early as Autumn -61 under the name of Red River Band, a trio with accordion, trumpet and drums...(sic). Then it became Lee Riders and in August -63 the name finally became Lea Riders Group.
Hawkey founded the group and besides of him 12 other members have come and gone - Lars Prim(trp), Olof Svensson(drm), Lars "Yancey" Nilsson(in beginning pi,then elec.bass,vocal), Åke "Buddy" Johansson(guitar, vocal), Alf Sandher(drm), Åke "Ake" Engström(drm, vocal), Tommy "Slim" Borgudd(drm,vocal), Sigge Ehlin(guitar,harmonica,
vocal), Leif Alverstam(e-bass) and Bosse Häggström (elec.bass). Last week on the Golden Circle in Stockholm Georg Jojje Wadenius replaced Sigge Ehlin on guitar.(for a couple of short periodes Bonnie Zetterberg on elec.bass)

The group was founded in the small town of Borgholm on the little island Öland and conquered the whole country and was even mentioned abroad as a "raw, tough and genuin blues- and r&b-group...". Influences came from, among others, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Alexis Corner and of course also Rolling Stones and Beatles.

  Lost Love Got No Woman
 The Situation´s Rare Ain´t It Strange?
The Forgotten Generation  
Blues In Ess  Cash Box Lady

Lea Riders Group started to play during danceparties in school, the "Middle school" in Borgholm, and then it became small "dance-halls" in all parts of the island, further on mainland and Kalmar town, counties Småland, Blekinge, Västergötland where the group became "big and famous" in the towns Skövde, Skara and Karlsborg.
Went on to county Östergötland and in March -66 the group reached the capital Stockholm for the first time and played in clubs like Bobbadilla in the Old Town. In a very short time the group became "the in and hot band" in places like the University of Commerce, University Corps and the ´worldknown´ jazz&blues-club the Golden Circle. At the Golden Circle LRG became sort of houseband together with, among othters, Hansson & Carlsson. Other clubs were of course HitHouse, Pråmen(the Scow by the City Hall) and the famous Nalen.
At Golden Circle the filmmakers Jan Lindkvist and Stefan Jarl shooted the first live-appearance on TV with LRG  for the youghtprogram "Stänk"(Sprinkle) produced by Mona Sjöström in Autumn -66.

First single was recorded in the new studio in Philip´s House. The "studio" was situated on the stage with a small compartment as controlroom with 4-channel recorder and Gert Palmcrantz and Bampe Carlsson as technicians. In that studio also the four coming singles were recorded, the last one in connection with the movie "Dom Kallar Oss Mods"/They Call Us Misfits in Spring -68. Hawkey and the group made the music for the film.(filmmusic was recorded at EuropaFilm)

In May 1968 Lea Riders Group performed the last week as group at the Golden Circle but then one of the mem- bers - Sigge Ehlin - already had left and got back to Öland. So, Georg "Jojje" Wadenius replaced Sigge on guitar. The group just had to get the very modest salary but it was, according to Hawkey, rather futile´jamsession -nights´ and as a natural consequence the band splitted and Tommy Slim Borgudd, Bosse Häggström and Jojje Wadenius became the new group Made In Sweden.

Lea Riders Group appeared live in the radioshow "Tonårskväll"/TeenageEvening some times and thanks to Hawkey, who saved tapecopies from these occasions, the small recordcompany GarageLand Records in Umeå, was able to release a LP with some live material and 8 titles from the singles in 1989. In May 1998 the same company released a CD - Lea Riders Group/The Forgotten Generation - with same material as the LP plus 4 bonus liverecordings. (certain is that one more release will appear with material never heard on record - recordings from before the singles - during 2007. ...process in progress...)