Herbert Guðmundsson revives debut album with rediscovered track

Icelandic musician Herbert Guðmundsson has reissued his first solo album, Á ströndinni, nearly 50 years after its original release, including a previously unfinished song. The project also honours guitarist Þorsteinn Magnússon, mbl.is reports.

Þorsteinn played on the album, which is now available on Spotify. He died suddenly in 2022.

“Þorsteinn excels on guitar in these songs. He was incredibly good and one of the best guitarists we have had,” Herbert told Morgunblaðið. He said the reissue was intended to honour Þorsteinn’s memory.

The album was recorded at the Hljóðrita studio in 1976 and released by Fálkinn the following year. Herbert recalled that the songs were recorded at night because studio time was cheaper, as the young musicians had limited funds.

Herbert worked on the reissue with sound engineer Magnús Öder for about a year. The cost of restoring and reworking the album came close to three million, and Herbert said he was very pleased with the result.

Herbert wrote the songs and worked with Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson on many of the lyrics. Herbert wrote them in English, while Hilmar translated them into Icelandic. Mike Pollock co-wrote two songs with Herbert.

The original album contained 12 tracks. The reissue has 13 after Herbert and Magnús discovered an unfinished reggae song called Miðsumarlag in the recordings.

The song included Herbert’s vocals from 1976. They decided to complete it, meaning Herbert effectively sang against a recording of himself as a man in his early twenties.

Herbert praised the musicians who played on the album, many of whom were also members of his 1970s band Eik. They included Þorsteinn on guitar, Haraldur Þorsteinsson on bass, Lárus Grímsson on keyboards, Ásgeir Óskarsson on drums and Pétur Hjaltested on Hammond organ. Arnar Sigurbjörnsson and Tryggvi Hübner also played guitar, Sigurður Long played saxophone and Ólafur Kolbeins played drums.

Herbert said the performances showed how tight and well rehearsed Eik was. The band’s manager was drummer Gunnar Jökull Hákonarson.