Gling-Gló

Gling-Gló is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason on bass. The album's title "Gling-gló" is the Icelandic equivalent of the English onomatopoeia "ding dong", referring to the sound that a bell makes.

Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland, except for two tracks, which were recorded on 23 August 1990. It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn. The album was released in October 1990 by Smekkleysa. It received mixed reviews by critics.

Background and recording
Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland. "Ruby Baby" and "I Can't Help Loving that Man" were recorded on 23 August 1990 on Ríkisútvarpið (National Icelandic Broadcasting Service) for Djasskaffi, a radio programme hosted by Ólafur Þórðarsson. It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn.

Composition
Most of the songs are sung in Icelandic. Several of these songs are covers of jazz standards translated and sung in Icelandic. Three are sung with a noticeably different musical arrangement: "Bílavísur" (originally "The Blacksmith Blues"), "Ég veit ei hvað skal segja" (Theresa Brewer's "Ricochet Romance") and "Pabbi minn" ("O Mein Papa").

"Þad sést ekki sætari mey" is misattributed in the liner notes as a "Rodgers & Hammerstein" composition, but is instead an interpolation of Irving Berlin's "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" from the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

Track listing
Note: The last track on the bonus edition, “I Can’t Help Loving That Man” is also known as “I Can’t Help Loving You” on certain versions of the album.

Personnel

 * Björk Guðmundsdóttir – vocals, harmonica
 * Guðmundur Ingólfsson – piano, tambourine
 * Þórður Högnason – bass
 * Guðmundur Steingrímsson – drums, maracas, Christmas bells
 * Tómas Magnús Tómasson – production, mixing
 * Georg Magnússon – technician (tracks 15, 16)
 * Óskar Jónasson – photography, cover

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Gling-Gló.