September 13 - Carmen

Today's song is a treat. The Norwegian guitar player Marius Müller is indeed a Norwegian legend. His talents as a guitar player should have been known well outside Norway - he plays like Jimi Hendrix and Mark Knopfler had a son, with the finger picking of Knopfler and the sensibility of Hendrix when his guitar roars, and it will.

I remember 1981, when he first entered the Norwegian music scene with the single Den Du Veit (The One You Know). I was a big kid (at least I felt that way), and here he was, a big and burly bona fide rock star (in Norwegian context, that is). he made me think that it was possible to become a rock star even if you weren't the most popular or best looking boy around, and I needed that. Granted, I never became a rock star - but that had more to do with a lack of dedication to any of the aspects needed than looks.

But Marius Müller was dedicated. He was a true great, and he made me believe in the possibility of becoming a rock star (actually I was more interested in the musician aspect than the star part). I never saw him live, and that is one of my great regrets. I came close once, but the friends I was with that evening weren't too interested, so we never went to the show in Orkanger (where my mom was born). In 1999 it was all over. I heard the news sitting in a car at Valentinlyst, close to where I heard him on the radio for the first time. He had passed away in a car accident. He was 41 years old. Here is his best song - and one of the best Norwegian songs ever: Carmen.

This alternate version has an interview with him as well, but it's well worth listening to, as his guitar is scorching: