Gling-Gló

Gling-Gló
Gling-Gló
Studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar
Released	October 1990
Recorded	23 August, 1 and 3 September 1990
Studio	Stúdio Sýrland
Genre	Vocal jazz
Length	50:39
Label	Smekkleysa; One Little Independent Records (re-release);
Producer	Tómas Tómasson
Björk chronology

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	^[2]
AllMusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[3]

Gling-Gló is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason on bass. The album's title "Gling-gló" is the Icelandic equivalent of the English onomatopoeia "ding dong", referring to the sound that a bell makes.

Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland, except for two tracks, which were recorded on 23 August 1990. It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn. The album was released in October 1990 by Smekkleysa. It received mixed reviews by critics.

Background and recording

Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland. "Ruby Baby" and "I Can't Help Loving that Man" were recorded on 23 August 1990 on Ríkisútvarpið (National Icelandic Broadcasting Service) for Djasskaffi, a radio programme hosted by Ólafur Þórðarsson.^[4] It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn.

Composition

Most of the songs are sung in Icelandic.^[5] Several of these songs are covers of jazz standards translated and sung in Icelandic. Three are sung with a noticeably different musical arrangement: "Bílavísur" (originally "The Blacksmith Blues"), "Ég veit ei hvað skal segja" (Theresa Brewer's "Ricochet Romance") and "Pabbi minn" ("O Mein Papa").

"Þad sést ekki sætari mey" is misattributed in the liner notes as a "Rodgers & Hammerstein" composition,^[6] but is instead an interpolation of Irving Berlin's "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" from the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	English translation^[a]	Length
1.	"Gling gló"	Alfreð Clausen Kristín Engilbertsdóttir	"Ding Dong"	2:43
2.	"Luktar-Gvendur"	Nat Simon Eiríkur Eiríksson	"Lantern-Gvendur"	4:03
3.	"Kata rokkar"	Theodór Einarsson	"Kata rocks"	2:58
4.	"Pabbi minn"	Paul Burkhard Þorsteinn Sveinsson	"My papa"	2:42
5.	"Brestir og brak"	Jón Múli Árnason Jónas Árnason	"Crackle and bang"	3:20
6.	"Ástartöfrar"	Valdimar Auðunsson	"Love magic"	2:46
7.	"Bella símamær"	Mark Fontenoy Loftur Guðmundsson	"Bella the phone girl"	2:39
8.	"Litli tónlistarmaðurinn"	Freymóður Jóhannsson	"The little musician"	3:25
9.	"Það sést ekki sætari mey"	Irving Berlin^[b] Guðmundsson	"There is no sweeter maiden to be seen"	4:03
10.	"Bílavísur"	Jack Holmes Jon Sigurðsson	"Traffic signs"	2:40
11.	"Tondeleyo"	Sigfús Halldórsson Tómas Guðmundsson		3:33
12.	"Ég veit ei hvað skal segja"	Larry Coleman Joe Darion Norman Gimbel Loftur Guðmundsson	"I do not know what to say"	3:05
13.	"Í dansi með þér"	Pablo Beltrán Ruiz Sveinsson	"In a dance with you"	2:28
14.	"Börnin við tjörnina"	Jenni Jónsson	"The children at the pond"	2:50
Total length:				50:39

Bonus tracks (live radio recordings for Ríkisútvarpið)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
15.	"Ruby Baby"	Jerry Leiber Mike Stoller	4:06
16.	"I Can’t Help Loving That Man"	Oscar Hammerstein II Jerome Kern	3:41
Total length:			58:26

Note: The last track on the bonus edition, “I Can’t Help Loving That Man” is also known as “I Can’t Help Loving You” on certain versions of the album.

Personnel

Björk Guðmundsdóttir – vocals, harmonica
Guðmundur Ingólfsson – piano, tambourine
Þórður Högnason – bass
Guðmundur Steingrímsson – drums, maracas, Christmas bells
Tómas Magnús Tómasson – production, mixing
Georg Magnússon – technician (tracks 15, 16)
Óskar Jónasson – photography, cover

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Gling-Gló.^[6]

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)	Position
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíóindi)^[7]	32

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for *Gling-Gló*
Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Iceland^[8]	Gold	40,000^[9]

Notes

^ English translations not official.
^ Sleeve mentions "Lag: Rodgers And Hammerstein" as the songwriters, but the actual composer is Irving Berlin.^[6]