We and Our Cadillac


We and Our Cadillac is the debut album by Swedish beat group Hep Stars, released in September 1965. It was highly anticipated by fans, and succeeded their earlier hit singles, which turned Hep Stars into one of Sweden's top acts. It appeared on shows such as Drop-In and having three songs on Kvällstoppen simultaneously, a feat never achieved before. In Sweden alone, the Hep Stars had accumulated an ever-growing female fanbase, just like the Beatles did with Beatlemania just two years prior.
The album contains Benny Andersson's first original composition, "No Response", which was written by him after the band was criticised by contemporary Swedish acts such as Tages for not being able to write original material. The song, clocking in at 1:37, it is the shortest track on the album. Despite this, It was issued as a single in September, and reached number 2 on Kvällstoppen shortly thereafter. However, in later interviews, Andersson has considered it imperfect and a "rush-job".
In contrast to their later works, guitarist Janne Frisk shares lead vocal duties with Svenne Hedlund on 4 of the album's 12 tracks. This is due to the fact that Frisk was the group's lead singer and guitarist up until Hedlund's invitation to the band in mid-1964. Tracks on the album includes a re-recorded version of their hit song "Cadillac", which would go on to be heavily associated with the group, and become one of their signature songs. It became the first album release on the label, and the majority of tracks were cut on a three-track recorder.

Track information

Most of the songs on the album are covers of already existing songs. For example, "Cadillac", the lead single from the album, is a cover of the song "Brand New Cadillac" by Vince Taylor and his Playboys. The only original song on the album is the lead track of the second side, "No Response", which was written by Benny Andersson, which was also released as the third and final single to the album. In total, there were three singles released for the album: "Cadillac", released in March 1965, "Bald Headed Woman", released in June 1965, and "No Response", released in September 1965, the same month as the album.
In 1996, the album was reissued alongside their next studio album with 8 bonus tracks, all of the songs also being covers. The bonus tracks consist of the band's first four singles, released from 1964 to March 1965. Some of these songs, alongside songs from the main track listing appear on the band's next album, a live album, called Hep Stars on Stage, released in November 1965, just two months after We and Our Cadillac originally released.

Personnel

Hep Stars
  • Svenne Hedlund – lead and backing vocals
  • Janne Frisk – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Be My Baby", "Send Me Some Lovin'", "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Then She Kissed Me"
  • Benny Andersson – piano, organ, backing vocals
  • Lennart Hegland – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Christer Petterson – drums, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Bird Dog"
  • Hans Östlund – organ on "Kana Kapila" and "I Got A Woman"
Other personnel