The following pages present . . .

the work of Swedish photographer Torsten Stahlberg, who captured these blues greats during performances in Gothenburg (Goteborg) in the late 1970's. "There was one artist I missed. The great Muddy Waters played in Gothenburg in this period, and for some reason I don't remember, I was not able to go. Whatever it was, it couldn't have been that good!" This one captures Buddy Guy and Junior Wells in October 1979. Click to see the larger jpeg. It's 41k.

Torsten got this shot of Albert King during a concert at the Gothenburg University Students' House in 1980. "I started to listen to Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Wilson Pickett in the latter half of the 60's, so I bought a lot of Stax records. One day in '67 when I looked for new records in my record store, there was a Stax record by a guy named Albert King. I thought he was a new soul artist. I listened to the record, and I liked it even if it wasn't soul music. This was my first blues record and one of the best I got. Next time I saw Albert King was in August 1992, just four months before he died." Click to see the larger jpeg. It's 21k.

Torsten tells us, "This gig took place at the Gothenburg University Students' House on a Tuesday night in February 1979. Fenton Robinson brought his own band with Larry Burton on second guitar, Larry Exum on bass, and Ashward Gates behind the drums. The place was filled with people, and Fenton played, of course, Somebody Loan Me A Dime." Click to see the larger jpeg. It's 38k.

About Professor Longhair, "This picture was taken at the Students' House the 1st of April 1979. He had an American seven-piece band with him, including two sax players. This was the second time I saw him in Gothenburg. The first time must have been a few years earlier, but the advertisement was so bad that there were about 20 people coming to see him. That time there was another band with him with four musicians and no brass section." Click to see the larger jpeg. It's 21k.

"The picture with Koko Taylor and The Blues Machine was taken the 23rd of October 1978 at a club called Sprangkullen in Gothenburg. The Blues Machine personal were Johnny B. Moore (gtr), Lurrie Bell (gtr, just 19 years old at the time), Vince Chappel (drums), and Bob Anderson (seen playing bass behind Koko in the picture). The band was very tight, and Lurrie Bell (son of Carey Bell) and Johnny B. Moore seemed to be very promising. As with many other drummers, Vince Chappel was the 'showman' in the band." Click to see the larger jpeg. It's 30k.