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Hiski Salomaa

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Hiski Salomaa
"The Finnish Woody Guthrie"
Born
Hiskias Möttö

(1891-05-17)May 17, 1891
DiedJuly 7, 1957(1957-07-07) (aged 66)
Occupation(s)singer, songwriter, tailor, restaurateur
SpouseAini Saari

Hiski Salomaa (born Hiskias Möttö; May 17, 1891 – July 7, 1957) was a Finnish-American singer and songwriter.

Career

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Referred to as the Finnish Woody Guthrie,[1] Salomaa's songs portrayed the immigrant experience of working-class Finns.[2]

Between 1927 and 1931 Salomaa recorded eighteen sides for Columbia Records.[3]

Since the 1970s, Hiski Salomaa's recordings have been reissued in both analog and digital formats.[4][5][6] In 1992 his song "Värssyjä sieltä ja täältä" (Verses from Here and There) was published in Mel Bay’s Immigrant Songbook, an American songbook with lyrics in both Finnish and English.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Siirtolaisten Woody Guthrie. palasokeri.com. Retrieved: March 13, 2013.
  2. ^ A Passion For Polka: Old-Time Ethnic Music In America by Victor R. Greene, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 1992) pp. 109-110.
  3. ^ Spottswood, Richard K. (1990). Ethnic Music on Records: A Discography of Ethnic Recordings Produced in the United States, 1893-1942. Vol. 5: Middle East, Far East, Scandinavian, English Language, American Indian, International. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-01723-0.
  4. ^ Värssyjä sieltä ja täältä (Helsinki: Love Records, 1971).
  5. ^ Hiski Salomaa: Kootut teokset 1927–1931 (Helsinki: Johanna, 1991).
  6. ^ Stranded in the USA (Munich: Trikont, 2004).
  7. ^ Mel Bay’s Immigrant Songbook by Jerry Silverman, (Pacific, MO: Mel Bay Publications, 1992).
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