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

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.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

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