Arthur Kylander, Finnish American Folksinger

by Richard Koski

When I was a boy, my family would often go to visit my grandparents, Esa and Alma Saikkonen, in North Van Etten. In the attic of their barn was an old crank-up Victrola and my brother Carl and I would go up there to listen to 78 r.p.m. records. Since we didn't have a record player at home, it was a real treat to listen to a variety of music by Spike Jones, Glenn Miller, and Finnish American musicians like Hiski Salomaa and Arthur Kylander. Years later, as an adult, I got a big stack of old Finnish 78s that used to belong to my great grandparents in Crumtown, Antti and Liisa Kannus. Even though I couldn't understand most of the Finnish words, the songs of Arthur Kylander fascinated me because there were a few words in English and some in Finnglish. In his "Hobo's Waltz" I could hear the words Alaska, Montana, Utah and Texas. I figured that here is the history of our immigrant ancestors in song, but it is locked up in the language and generally unavailable to the third and succeeding generations of Finnish Americans. Now, thanks to the work of Richard Impola, many of the song lyrics of Hiski Salomaa and Arthur Kylander have been translated to English. Helvi Impola and her cousin, Miriam Eldridge Leino, have presented programs on these folk singers at Finn Fests and have written about them in the New World Finn. Arthur Kylander was born in Lieto (near Turku) in 1892. In 1914 he moved to the U.S., and as was the case with many immigrants, moved around to wherever he could find work. He was a logger and carpenter on the west coast. In 1925 in Portland, Oregon he met Julia Varila who was a pianist and accordionist. The two teamed up musically, headed east on a tour and got married in Hibbing, Minnesota. While living in the east, he began recording for Victor Records in 1927-29 and also published two books of his songs called Comic Songs. In 1929 he performed at the Finn Hall in Van Etten. After the recording sessions and during the depression, the Kylanders went to Hollywood, California where Julia worked as a cook and Arthur as a butler/chauffeur. In 1943 they bought a 240 acre forested area near Placerville, California whereArthur sawed logs and grew Christmas trees. In 1952 he and Julia made another concert tour to the east coast giving many concerts on the way and back. In the 1960s they were still performing. Arthur Kylander died in 1968. The following song is a good example of one of Kylander's humorous songs, perhaps inspired by the many chicken farmers he got to know in the Northeast. Thanks to HeIvi and Richard Impola for the research on Arthur Kylander and the translations of his songs. When Heikki Got His Hens To Lay Everybody has a cross to bear Heikki did also. He wasn't able to make a living Just playing around. Heikki had a chicken farm Which gave him some worries. The chickens ate, sat on their roosts But didn't lay eggs. Heikki was also a musician; He loved his violin, He told it his worries, his problems, And his violin brought him comfort. One morning the sun was already up, But the chickens just stayed on their roosts. Suddenly a thought popped into his head And he decided to try it. He took his fiddle off the wall, carefully tuned the strings, hitched up his trousers, and walked to the chicken coop. There Heikki fiddled, fiddled a fiery polka. The chickens eyes popped, Opened an inch or two wide. Gosh dam it, in a while The music started to take effect. The rooster crowed, crowed, And grabbed chickens by the neck. The chickens all cackled away, Keeping up with the polka beat. Dust rose up from the floor Just as it does in a dance hall. How the fiddle sang in the comer! Sometimes even the rooster Jumped up onto the roost and stretched out his neck And then jumped down into the crowd. Heikki's playing worked wonders. The hens started laying. Even the rooster-so Heikki concluded Started laying eggs while standing up. The neighbors were all surprised, They were curious and inquired, In what strange way was Heikki Able to get the chickens to lay. Heikki decided -It's the music of the fiddle, That's where the magic power is, And it's no wonder- in earlier days Music toppled the walls of Jericho. From the Finger Lakes Finns newsletter, February 2001.

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