Who was/is Ulli und Fredrik ? - CDs, Vinyl LPs, DVD and more
Ulli und Fredrik
As Duo Ulli and Fredrik, Fredrik (Fritz) Vahle and Ulrich Freise sang songs and pamphlets from the time of the failed revolution of 1848 and the Prussian interventions as well as settings of texts by Heinrich Heine in the mid-sixties. Freise, who later played an important role in the revival of German folk music with Elster Silberflug, and Vahle, who made a name for himself above all as an interpreter of children's songs, wanted to build a historical bridge to the German revolutionary tradition with their programme in the times of student revolt. The Badischer Wiegenlied, which by the way is not in the Steinitz collection, which is regarded as the 'Volksliedbibel', was written by Ludwig Pfau around 1849. Ulli and Fredrik recorded it in 1968 for their album 'Wir - Bürgermeister und Senat'. Almost everyone sang and arranged this song at some point, including Dieter Süverkrüp, Hein & Oss Kröher and Walter Mossmann. A recently completed master's thesis cites 15 different versions in West and East Germany. In the seventies Barbara James of the German Folk Song Archive Freiburg in Strasbourg found a leaflet from 1849 with the original melody. James and Walter Mossmann ("Unbelievably good, all other versions fade away!") published it in 1983 in the volume 'Glasbruch 1848'. It is sung by Brigitte Foerg on a long-playing record of the same name.
Also from 1968 is a song that Ulli and Fredrik played on demonstrations "to sing along and to encourage". Since it was unfortunately never released on a record, at least the text from the pen of Fredrik Vahle should be documented here.
Mr. Policeman, Mr. Policeman
You have two truncheons, don't you?
who is one, who is one
I can't even see you.
One must be moral
and gets angry, gets limp and small
the other is big and fat
and takes care of politics.
Table, set yourself up.
Donkey, stretch -
Stick out of the bag.
www.fredrikvahle.de
www.elster-silberflug.de
Extract from
Various - songwriter in Germany
Vol.1, For whom we sing (3-CD)
/various-songwriter-in-Germany-vol.1-for-who-who-we-sing-3-cd.html
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