July 25, 2015

I'm Vysotsky: The Legend of Russian Songwriting


I'm Vysotsky: The Legend of Russian Songwriting

July 25 marks the 35th anniversary of the death of legendary Russian songwriter, singer, and actor Vladimir Vysotsky. Below, fellow songwriter Yury Kukin recalls what it was like being in the presence of a legend.

We met in Moscow, in the wings at a joint concert of singer-songwriters [April 5, 1966] hosted by the Polytechnic Museum. It was all very simple – a short conversation over a handshake.

“I’m Vysotsky.”

“Kukin. I know your songs.”

“And I’ve heard yours.”

In January 1967, Vladimir Vysotsky arrived in Leningrad to give a concert at the Vostok song club. Three of us went to meet him at the Moskovsky train terminal: me, Boris Poloskin, Anatoly Yakhnich, plus Misha Kryzhanovsky came separately.

Volodya [Vysotsky] came out of the train car with Oleg Strizhenov, who was rather drunk. “Just listen to how Oleg reads Gorky’s fable!” Vysotsky said to us right there on the platform.

And so Strizhenov read for us: “…not to his death did he fall, but to his untying!..”

(Interviewer’s note: Gorky’s “Song of a Falcon” goes “… not to his death did he fall, but rather laughed…”)

We drove off with Vysotsky to the Astoria Hotel, where a suite was reserved for him, while Strizhenov headed off toward Oktyabrskaya Hotel on his own two feet.

An elevator took us up to the correct floor. Volodya liked his rooms, and was amazed by the bedroom alcove – he’d never had a hotel room with anything like it.

We had brandy and snacks with us, but Vysotsky refused to drink.

“I won’t have any,” he told us, “but don’t let that stop you. I love it when people drink around me – I get such a kick out of it!”

So we drank, we sat, we talked. “Yura, I’ve also written a song about the races,” Vysotsky told me. “And listening to you, even started writing fairy tales!”

(He must’ve heard my song “The Little Old Gnome.”)

“Sing for us, Volodya!”

He had a guitar with him, an expensive, recently-purchased performance instrument. But instead he accompanied himself on the one we’d brought with us, a simple little thing.

“In a kingdom where all is peace and quiet…”

[…]

I performed with Vysotsky several times, both here in St. Petersburg and in Moscow.

There was a concert at the “Mailbox 936” research institute, organized by Viktor Solomatin, who was an engineer there. When we were young, we used to play together in the Dixieland in Petrodvorets. So he asked me to perform there – “with Vysotsky.”

“I’m game,” I said. “And I’ll talk to Volodya.”

[…]

His response was uncompromising:

“I will play first – I’ve got a rehearsal right after!”

“So you’re telling me you’ll stoke up the audience, and then leave me to finish the job, is that it?”

On stage, he announced to the audience that, since he was in a hurry, he would sing for exactly 80 minutes. There was a glitch with the microphone, and he was asked to hold off for ten minutes.

“Fine,” he said, “but that’ll cut in to the 80 minutes.”

He suggested that the performance be structured as a concert of requests. “Since I’m in such a hurry,” he told the audience, “you tell me what to sing, and I’ll sing.”

Someone from the audience called out: “‘Sail’!”

“There’s no more ammo for the guns…”

I also sang for 80 minutes. It’s always hard to perform after Vysotsky. But after the concert people came up to me and said, “It’s fine, at least you talked to us. But Vysotsky, he did the whole thing mechanically – like a grammophone!”

Translation by Eugenia Sokolskaya. Source: http://otblesk.com/vysotsky/kukin-.htm

Image source: http://x3m-slider.org.ua/stories/online/content/vladimir-vysotskii-vladimir-visotsky-biografiya

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955