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| Reet Hendrikson 24" x 18", oil on canvas, 2012 |
Blogs I follow include toys and techniques and सølγ שаябlɛş. These two sites account for a lot of the music I find during the year, and therefore have a big impact on my Top 100 list. The Toys and Techniques site I stumbled upon when Holy Warbles posted music from Reet Hendrikson's LP Reet on their site linking it to the Toy's page. Toys and Techniques was who posted on Reet Hendrikson first. Reet Hendrikson's presence on the web is pretty much limited to these two sites and I'm happy that ,with the posting of the first Reet Hendrikson painting that can be found on line, I can add to that presence. The painting is based on the photo used for the album cover for Reet, it may well be the only photo of hers that can be found on line (other images come up when typing her name into Google Image but I'm not sure if these are of the same Reet Hendrikson). Reet is an Estonian record from 1969 issued on a label called Reindeer, and Reet Hendrikson then was an Estonian teenager who played guitar, sang, and wrote all those lullabies, folk songs, and work songs that can be heard on that album.
I'm intersted to learn about that record label Reindeer as Estonia obviously was part of the Soviet Union in 1969. I wonder if Reindeer operated from the former Soviet Union or if it's a Western label. I even wonder if Reet Hendrikson lived in Soviet Estonia.
Another Reindeer label exists, established in Maine in 1987 as Reindeer Records Inc. It is not at all related to the label Reet appeared on.
she was born in soviet estonia and died in sweden, meanwhile she lived in canada where she also released this album on reindeer records which was founded by estonian emigrant. here's some information about the label: http://rateyourmusic.com/label/reindeer_records_f1/
ReplyDeletei don't know much myself though i'm estonian, it's quite impossible to find information about her. she's absolutely unknown here and nobody's never heard of her. it was a big surprise for me when i found out about her from holywarbles. after that i've tried to put the pieces together, but i haven't succeeded yet.
Reet was born in Estonia in 1944, she grew up in Sweden and lived with her family in Uppsala (north of Stockholm) as a girl and teen-ager. She graduated from high school/college at the ordinary age in 1963, studying Natural sciences (Reallinjen). The family had a modest apartment and lived a middle-class life (I think her father was an academic of some sort). Reet was very likable but somewhat shy and did not have any close friends (as far as I know). During the four years, when we were in the same class, she was excellent on the violin and played in the school orchestra, but did not perform as a solo singer in public. At our last and only class reunion in 1993, she did not tell much about herself but was more interested to hear about others, and I did not get the impression that she was a full time musician then. On the other hand she did not mention Canada either.
DeleteIt is sad to hear that she has passed away, something I discovered when planning for our 50 year graduation anniversary...
If someone is really interested in knowing more about her I have some possible contacts.
Sverker L, Uppsala
Hej! Skulle gärna få lite mer information om Reet!
DeleteAnders Folke
Åsgränd 2a 752 35 Uppsala
0723/151314
laggashoebox@gmail.com
hi! I am curious to know about Reet and her contacts either. Reet's friend from Germany - Karin - has introduced to me her wonderful CD. And I heard from her that Reet has visited homeland several times from 1992 up.
DeleteEve Lukk
evelu@tlu.ee
I am curious if this is still active. I am making a documentary on Baltic music in the 1960s and 1970s. Please contact me at m.krogerdiamond@gmail.com
DeleteReet Hendrikson was most certainly not born in Soviet-occupied Estonia. Had Hitler and Stalin not divided up Eastern Europe between themselves, she would have been born in an independent Estonia. At the time that she was born in the small coastal city of Parnu, Hitler's soldiers were in control of the country, having driven out the Red Army, only to be driven out themselves by the Red Army some months later. Reet's family fled the Red Army and the communist Russian regime to Sweden. She grew up speaking (and singing) Estonian in exile. Reet Hendrikson studied in the US on a scholarship and lived for some time in both America and Canada. Reindeer Records is a small Canadian label owned by Andres Raudsepp, an Estonian (or Canadian-Estonian) singer in his own right. Reet's status as a refugee is an important part of her story, and may have something to do with the plaintive nature of more than one of her songs. The "Reet" LP was the only album of her music that was produced - a powerful entry and a powerful departure from public life. She was an introspective person. Reet Hendrikson never formed a family of her own, returned to Sweden, and died there in the year 2000.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Tallinn, Estonia in 1937 and our family ended up in various places in Europe, trying to escape the destruction, finally finding safe haven in the U.S. in 1949. The three songs I have listened to from 'Reet' are songs I well remember from Estonian people singing them (my mother among others). They are still with me and I am delighted that Reet put them on record so they don't get lost in the shuffle of time. I sang them to my grandchild when he was tiny, over and over again and they are a part of my life and a connection to Estonia, a land I have never revisited, except in memory and dreams.
DeleteAs you can see from my reply, above, I went to school in Uppsala with Reet, during the last four years before graduation in 1963. She was a class-mate that everyone was fond of but quite introspective and did not have any close friends at school.
DeleteI have listened to one of her songs o the Swedish radio, recently, but cannot get hold of the record.
RIP Reet
Sverker L
If anyone has some information on Reet or contact which can be reached, I would be very interested. I am making a documentary on Baltic music in the 1960s and 1970s. Please contact me at m.krogerdiamond@gmail.com
DeleteListen to the song "Oi ma lellos" with better audio here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoOLnDBnhRg
ReplyDeleteShe also appears (including a photo) on a 1979 album of children's songs. It's called "Going Bananas" - A Children's Record by M.I.T.S (Mariposa in the Schools) Produced by Bill Usher.
ReplyDelete