The singer in the family
Birgit Grönstedt
1925–2015
Born Birgit Margareta Bruno in Ragunda, Jämtland. Singer and guitarist in Erling Grönstedt’s quartet, Erling’s companion for more than fifty years – and the one who always knew which of his tunes was the best.
Birgit Bruno, studio portrait from the 1950s.
Born
April 28, 1925, in Lien, Ragunda
Stage name
Birgit Bruno – her mother’s family name
On stage
Singer and guitarist
Married
To Erling Grönstedt, 1964
1925 – 1940s
Childhood in Ragunda
Birgit was born on April 28, 1925, in Lien in Ragunda, on the Indals River in Jämtland. Her father, Bengt Ludvig Zackarias Danielsson, was born in Ragunda and worked as an electrician, later as a machinist at Krångede. Her mother, Olga Kristina Ottolina Bruno, came from Gothenburg and was a schoolteacher. They had married in 1922.
The family lived at Torsgård in Ragunda, and Birgit was the second of five children: big sister Ingrid (1923), little brother Bo (1926), little sister Ulla (1930) and the youngest, Lars – “Lasse” – who arrived in 1941. The children carried their mother’s surname, Bruno – and it was under that name that Birgit later took the stage.
Young Birgit with a magazine in the armchair.
Sources: 1930 census and the 1941 birth register, Ragunda parish (Swedish National Archives).
Grandmother Olga and grandfather Bengt
Olga grew up in a children’s home and as a foster daughter on a farm in Sörmland – and wrote down her own childhood in an exercise book. Bengt was the crofter’s son from Lien who became a machinist at Krångede. Read their story and the whole of Olga’s account.
Read about her parentsThe 1950s
The singer Birgit Bruno
The posters read “Erling Grönstedt’s Quartet with singer-guitarist Birgit Bruno.” Birgit sang and played guitar, and together with Erling and the musicians she toured folk parks and community halls around the country.
The Swedish Musicians’ Union touring card shows what one of the seasons looked like: a tour for the Folkets Hus associations from September 1, 1956, to April 30, 1957, with
- Erling Grönstedt – accordion
- Birgit Bruno – guitar and vocals
- Bror Ullmark – bass
- Lennart Bergman – drums
The Swedish Musicians’ Union touring card for the 1956–57 tour.
In the 1950s she also performed with Erling and the Bursell twins – sometimes in all seriousness at the microphone, sometimes in bowler hats and fake mustaches.
The flyer: “Erling Grönstedt’s Quartet with singer-guitarist Birgit Bruno.”
Birgit with her guitar.
Birgit with Erling Grönstedt’s Quartet.
Birgit at the microphone with Erling and the Bursell twins, 1950s.
The same crew in a playful mood.
Birgit Bruno on stage in a top hat.
The star of Karl’s anniversary tour “Alla ska va glada” – “sweet and tuneful”, says the poster.
Birgit the lyricist – her contract with Karl Grönstedt’s music publishing company for “Varje timma, var sekund”.
Studio portraits
Birgit in the studio
Portraits of Birgit Bruno and photos of her with Erling and the quartet, taken in the studio during the 1950s.
The poster: “Erling Grönstedt med The Partners – Vocalist Birgit Bruno – Topp-Twist.”
The 1960s
From accordion quartet to the twist
When the twist swept over Sweden in the early 1960s, Erling and Birgit kept up. The posters now read “Erling Grönstedt with The Partners” – with Birgit Bruno as vocalist.
“Look here, all of you between fifteen and ninety – here is the Band with Waltz, Tango and Twist on an Echo System – Space Sound.” (from the poster, translated)
The Partners were a Swedish instrumental group with Uno Ersson on drums, Johnny Lundin on lead guitar, Lars Roos on rhythm guitar and Jack Wahlberg on bass. In 1962 they released the singles “Det var på Capri vi mötte varandra” and “Desafinado” on the Triola label.
Together with Erling’s accordion it made for pop dancing for all ages – old and new on the same night. Birgit had swapped her acoustic guitar for an electric one.
Birgit with the electric guitar.
Erling (center, with accordion) with The Partners.
Birgit in a red sequin dress, from a family colour slide.
Sources: the family’s poster; Discogs (The Partners).
Erling and Birgit ready to go on tour.
Birgit and Erling outside the house in Lugnviksstrand.
Coffee by the log cabin with her parents-in-law: Jenny pours, with Birgit, an unknown woman and Carl Gustaf.
Birgit, barefoot, with an unknown man by an earth bank.
Birgit with her son Erling Jr.
Birgit and her mother-in-law Jenny out in the snow with Erling Jr in his sled.
Birgit and her son Erling junior.
1957 – 2015
Life with Erling
In 1957 Erling and Birgit bought a summer house on Värmdö, and on April 4, 1964, they were married. In Stockholm they lived in a cooperative apartment on Södermalm for 35 years, while summers were often spent at home in Lugnviksstrand on the Ångerman River.
Around the turn of the millennium they left Stockholm and moved home to Härnösand. When a journalist asked Erling which of his tunes was his favorite, he could not choose – but Birgit could.
“På Silvervåg” (On a Silver Wave), she answered without hesitation.
Birgit Grönstedt died on June 3, 2015. She and Erling had a son, Erling, who today carries the family’s musical heritage forward – including through the Erling Grönstedt Memorial Fund.