| ABBA
- The Complete Recording Sessions: the creation of a book
Part
6 (of 12): TALKING TO MICHAEL B. TRETOW
With
all the research I had conducted, however, innumerable questions remained. I hoped
that many of those would be answered when I began doing interviews. However, I
also knew that eventually I would need to gain access to the PolyGram tape archives,
where the original ABBA tapes were stored. This was something of a Catch-22 situation:
the record company obviously wouldn't let just anybody in there - but to be even
remotely regarded as "somebody" I had to write this book!
I realised
it was time to gain the trust of some key people, to show them that I was doing
serious work and had no intention to steal any tapes or anything like that. By
this time, I was also becoming quite knowledgeable about ABBA's recording history,
so I felt that it might be the right time to approach people for interviews. I
decided to start with Michael B. Tretow, ABBA's sound engineer. I knew that he
was approachable and easy-going, and most importantly, given the nature of his
work, there was a good chance he might be interested in contributing to a book
that dealt with the history of ABBA's recording sessions.
On April 20
and 23, I made two 90-minute phone interviews with Michael. He was an absolute
delight to talk to; we really hit it off right away. He clearly enjoyed talking
to someone who knew quite a lot about the ABBA recordings, and thanks to his lively
personality and off-beat perspective on things, his replies to my questions were
often eminently quotable. Getting the personal viewpoints and the emotions of
those involved was crucial for making the book come alive.
There were a
couple of pivotal moments during the interviews with Michael, moments that turned
out to be immensely important for the further development of the book project.
If I recall correctly, we were discussing 'Bang-A-Boomerang' and the different
attempts at recording a backing track for this song. I was able to prove him wrong
on a theory he had, because I could say that a certain recording session had taken
place at another studio and at another time than he thought. He was quiet for
just a bit. Then he said: "My, you really have done your homework..."
At that moment, I knew that I had scored a crucial point.
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ABBA's
sound engineer, Michael B. Tretow, played a crucial part in turning ABBA - The
Complete Recording Sessions into something more than just a list of recording
dates.
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