Ragnar "Raggie" Sundquist (May 7, 1892 – November 10, 1951) was a popular Swedish accordionist and composer in the first half of the 1900s.[1] He was born and died in Stockholm.
Sundquist not only performed for audiences in Sweden but toured the United States on three occasions: 1912–13, 1916–20 and 1923–26.[1] He had booked passage on the Titanics 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] [5] 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]
In 2011 the Library of Congress opened its National Jukebox website with streaming audio for eighteen recordings by Ragnar Sundquist.[6]
Historic American Newspapers
Image files
Discographies
Swedish music and film
Streaming audio at the National Jukebox
Streaming audio at the Internet Archive
Videos
