Ragnar "Raggie" Sundquist was a popular Swedish accordionist and composer in the first half of the 1900s. He was born May 7, 1892 in Katarina parish in Stockholm and died November 10, 1951 in Stockholm.[1]
Sundquist performed all over Sweden and toured the United States on three occasions: 1912-13, 1916-20 and 1923-26.[1] He had booked passage on the Titanic's maiden voyage in 1912 , but his mother persuaded him to take a later boat.[2] Starting in the late 1920s, Sundquist appeared on a long-running Swedish radio program with accordionist Sven Hylén.[1]
Ragnar Sundquist was a prolific recording artist with over 400 releases on Swedish and American labels.[2] He made dozens of recordings for Columbia and Victor Records during his lengthy stays in the United States. His American records featured Sundquist in duets with the Swedish-born accordionists: Eric Berg, Arvid Franzen and Eric Olson.[3] He also went on American tours with Berg [2] and Franzen.[4] Two of his best-known songs were Bågskytten (The Archer) and Lekande steg (Playful steps).
Sundquist launched a number of business ventures. They included a music store, publishing house and record label. He even owned an accordion factory, where he produced his own model: the "Raggie Special". He was an innovator in Swedish accordion music, who introduced the "bellows shake" technique to Sweden. He also popularized the Italian-American style of playing that he had personally learned from Pietro Frosini while in America.[1]
Ragnar Sundquist is buried in Stockholm's Skogskyrkogården. In the early 1970s Sveriges Dragspelares Riksförbund (the Swedish Accordionists Association) raised money for a tomb that was erected at his grave site[1]
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