Janne Schaffer

As one of the most prominent guitarists and session musicians in Sweden, Janne Schaffer has played with almost everyone at home, and quite a few important bands abroad. If he ever needs to send in his CV, it will contain names like ABBA, Bob Marley, and Jeff Porcaro. He also successfully pursued a career as a solo artist in the '70s, when he topped the charts and won some recognition abroad, but has had less success since the '80s. For a younger generation in Sweden, Schaffer is probably most well-known for being the guitar-playing zebra in Electric Banana Band, a platinum-selling band from a children's television show. Schaffer was born in Stockholm just after the war. During the '60s, he was a member of a number of pop bands, including Noisemen, Chicks, and Ted and the Caracas, none of them becoming very well-known. But Schaffer was already a skilled guitarist and after being employed by a dance orchestra, he quit school. A dance orchestra meant endless touring and the young Schaffer had soon had enough and returned to school and Stockholm, where he formed the Sleepstones. A few of their songs charted, and as the real break didn't come, Schaffer left for Grapes of Wrath. It was now around 1970, his career as a session musician began, and very soon his reputation earned him the top jobs in Sweden. During the '70s, Schaffer played with famous artists like Ted Gärdestad, Cornelis Wresvijk, and Barbro Hörberg, as well as with international stars like Bob Marley, ABBA, and Johnny Nash. In 1973, Schaffer released his self-titled solo debut. The album topped the charts, and playing keyboards on it was Björn J:son Lindh, whom Schaffer would work with a lot during most of the '70s and '80s. The second album, Janne Schaffer's Andra, also did well, in fact good enough for his...