ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions

My book on ABBA's recording history, ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions, will be published in a completely revised, updated and expanded edition. Originally published in 1994, this new edition will feature more details on exactly how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, including classic hits such as ‘Waterloo’, ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ and ‘The Winner Takes It All’.

I've been authorised by ABBA’s record company, Polar Music International/ Universal Music, and ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to listen to more unreleased music, alternate takes, and alternate mixes. The scope of the book has also been expanded to feature a lot more information about ABBA and their music: how it was packaged, received by the critics, and much more.

You can pre-order the revised, updated and expanded edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions in two different formats:

1. Printed hardcover format shipped to your address anywhere in the world
2. ebook (electronic book) format supported by Sony Reader, Kindle, iBooks, Nook, and most other readers and devices. (Read more about ebooks here.)

Please see the Ordering Options (at the end of this page) for the various bundles available. When you pre-order, your contribution will be immediately withdrawn from your credit card or PayPal account.You can order as many times as you like and choose as many options as you like. If you’d like to order on behalf of a friend, or several friends, this option is also available.

Project background

The first edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions was published in 1994, at a time when ABBA were still a long way from being the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees they are today. The book, which detailed the background stories on how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, was based on interviews with all four ABBA members, their invaluable sound engineer Michael B. Tretow, as well as the most frequently employed session musicians who played on ABBA’s records. At the time, the book made quite a splash in the fan community—it was the first time anyone had published a serious book about the group’s music—and many have referred to it as their favourite ABBA book since then, which of course has been immensely gratifying for me.

The first edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions was published in 1994, at a time when ABBA were still a long way from being the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees they are today. The book, which detailed the background stories on how ABBA wrote and recorded their music, was based on interviews with all four ABBA members, their invaluable sound engineer Michael B. Tretow, as well as the most frequently employed session musicians who played on ABBA’s records. At the time, the book made quite a splash in the fan community—it was the first time anyone had published a serious book about the group’s music—and many have referred to it as their favourite ABBA book since then, which of course has been immensely gratifying for me.

This was my very first ABBA book, written at a time when I knew a lot less about the group than I know now. The publication of the book opened up an entirely new chapter of my life, and for the past 15 or so years it has been my profession to research and write books about ABBA, and to plan, conceive and contribute to official releases on CD and DVD, along with many other ABBA-related activities.

Why this new edition?

I’ve long been itching to publish an updated edition of ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions, and ABBA fans have let me know on a regular basis that this is something they would like to see as well. “But what could there possibly be to add?” I hear you ask. “Didn’t you cover everything in the first edition?” The answer to that is, quite simply: no!

Certainly, at the time I had access to all sorts of written documentation, tape boxes and such, from which I was able to piece together most of the hard facts of what was recorded and when and where. But—and this is crucial—I only had one single day of listening to tapes together with Björn, Benny and Michael B. Tretow in Michael’s studio. We spent six hours together, and what with putting 24-track tapes on the machines, locating the songs I wanted to hear, playing them once or twice, then taking the tapes off again, general chit-chat, a lunch break etc., the total amount of music I got to hear—measured in minutes—was not that much. At the time nothing had really been transferred to a digital format, so the only way to listen to 24-track tapes, as well as tapes containing alternate mixes, would be to hire a studio at my own personal expense. There was no way I could afford that at the time.

Why are you self-publishing?

There are several reasons for self-publishing. One is that I want to have full control over the book. What will the book look like? My decision. When is the deadline for submitting the manuscript? My decision. When will it be published? My decision. Quite simply, I want the book to be the best I could possibly make it — that would be my priority rather than having it out “in time for the Christmas market” or whatever other priorities a regular publisher would have. I want to make a book for readers who are really interested in learning the secrets behind ABBA's music and their history as a recording act.

Self-publishing will also enable me to make the book as nicely produced as I think it deserves to be. A regular publisher would inevitably regard ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions as a special interest title, and that means cutting corners everywhere possible in terms of printing quality, paper quality and everything else connected to the book – including financial compensation to the author. I don’t blame them for that – they are running a business – but it would make it very difficult to make the book happen at all. Researching and writing a book like this is incredibly time-consuming, so while I don't expect to live in luxury while the book is being written, I will nevertheless need to eat and pay the rent.

A third reason is that self-publishing for certain kinds of titles is becoming more and more common in the book world. It’s the perfect solution for a title like this, which has a relatively small but highly motivated readership. In fact, I think there is a certain beauty in self-publishing: we’re all in this together, essentially, and with the aid of crowdfunding we can make it happen because we all want it to happen.

How will the new edition be different?

The new edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will be re-written from the ground up. It will offer a lot more than the original book:

More facts and stories about ABBA’s recorded work: released as well as unreleased songs, alternate takes and alternate mixes
More observations and insights into the writing of the songs
More detailed info from Björn and Benny
More comments from other people who were involved in ABBA’s recordings
More reflections on the completed albums and singles

This revised edition of the book will also have several new features, not included in the previous edition:
New: Vintage review quotes from the press, showing how ABBA’s albums and singles were received at the time of their original release
New: The stories behind the original Polar Music album and single sleeves, with new, previously unpublished details
New: Sidebars (separate articles) focusing on various aspects related to ABBA’s music; for instance: “Agnetha and Frida as vocalists”, “Björn the lyricist”, and so on

This revised, updated and expanded version of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will be completely redesigned and will be a lot thicker than the first edition. Whereas the original book encompassed 128 pages, I’m now looking at between 400 and 500 pages.

There will be plenty of illustrations in the book, in the shape of recording documents, single and album sleeves, vintage ads, newspaper and magazine clippings etc. Photographs will be kept to a minimum, so as not to affect the budget adversely, making the book too expensive for pledgers. However, in my budget I have set money aside for a fair number of photographs, with priority given to images that are relevant for the subject of the book: ABBA’s work in the studio.

In order to ensure this will be a quality product, the book will be printed at a highly reputable and experienced book printer in the UK. The first edition will be hardcover, 200 x 240mm, clothbound with dust jacket; both cover and insides will be printed in full colour, and the inside pages will be on high-quality matte paper stock. The book will be designed by a professional art director with over two decades of experience. All in all, I can promise you that this will be a very good-looking volume.

Can I get a taste of what the updated version will be like?

Yes! A couple of excerpts from the book are available as PDF files. The text and the layout are both subject to change as work on the book continues, but the excerpts will give you a flavour of the general direction we’re heading in. Download and read the excerpts here:

ABBA CRS Excerpt 01 – 1973
ABBA CRS Excerpt 02 – 1974



Why isn’t the ABBA logo on the proposed cover of the book?

Only authorised books are allowed to feature the ABBA logo with backwards B, and despite Björn and Benny’s approval, the updated version of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions is not currently authorised. But even if it were, it would still cost a lot of money to license the logo for use on the book, and I’d rather have funds go into the research and production of the book itself.



When will the book be published?

My goal is to have the book published within two years from the end of this crowdfunding campaign. If all goes to plan, the book will be published before the end of 2016.

That said, the publication may be postponed beyond either of those dates. But rest assured that it will only be postponed because I need more time to get the book absolutely right. I take my work very seriously and part of the reason why I want to publish the book myself is so as not to have to take a publisher’s demands and deadlines into account. Whatever happens regarding the publication date, everyone who pledges will be kept updated on how I’m doing with the project. My goal is to make you, the pledger, feel a part of the creation of this book.

In my life as an author, which spans more than two decades now, I have never accepted money for a project and then failed to complete it. In other words: you can trust me when I say that I always see my assignments through. In the case of the updated edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions, I can’t think of anything that I’d rather do in life than to research and write this book. It’s a dream come true to be able to go back to the book, correct the errors, add new information, improve on the prose and, generally, get it right. Nothing will stop me from achieving that goal.

Can you give me 3 reasons why I should pre-order the book?

1. The Beatles have had a comprehensive Complete Recording Sessions book since 1988 – that’s 27 years at the time of writing. While the original edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions accomplished a lot, don't you think it’s time ABBA – a band whose popularity is just as great as The Beatles’ in many parts of the world – had a volume that could truly stand proudly side by side with the Beatles book?

2. Compared to their global popularity, ABBA have, generally speaking, not been served well in terms of quality literature. There are several reasons for that, but one is the paradox that while many people enjoy ABBA's music, only a comparatively small proportion of them are interested in reading a book about the group. As I see it, the only chance of having quality books published about them, focusing on a certain aspect – their music, their live concerts, whatever – is if dedicated ABBA fans join forces to make those quality books happen. So in the case of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions the crowdfunding campaign is essential – it’s now or never.

3. If you’ve read this far, I am going to assume that you have an above-average interest in ABBA. If so, I ask you, how many books and magazines have you bought over the past decade or so that tell you very little new about ABBA? Wouldn’t you rather invest your hard-earned cash in a nicely produced book that actually tells you something you didn't already know about the group? Because that is what the updated, revised and expanded edition of ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions will accomplish.