The World (Public Radio Intl), Global Hit >>
Boris Grebenshikov is often compared to Bob Dylan. The Russian singer-songwriter did spend his early days translating Dylan tunes in his native Leningrad, now St Petersburg. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," for example, became, "Knockin on The Doors of Grass." But Grebenshikov never forgot his roots. He went on to become the leader of the Russian folk-rock group "Aquarium," and has also branched out as a solo artist.
Grebenshikov's latest Western release, "Russian Songwriter," opens with a re-worked Russian folk tune called My Little Loom.
During Soviet times, Boris Grebenshikov and his band Aquarium were always running into trouble. Grebenshikov refused to submit his songs to the government's censorship committees. In return, the committee refused to sanction gigs for the group.
They played anyway, and built a huge following. When the Soviet government crumbled, Grebenshikov became the so-called "Darling of Glasnost." He was the first Russian rock artist to record in the West. But he didn't take too well to the lifestyle, and returned home to St. Petersburg.
"Russian Songwriter" takes in the whole scope of Grebenshikov's songwriting skills and influences. One track was composed by Bulat Okudjava, a Russian songwriter who Grebenshikov cites as a major influence.
The tune, Vanka Morozov, tells the tale of a man who falls in love with a circus performer and ends up walking a tightrope himself after spending all his money on her.
Grebenshikov's popularity has waned in the brave new world of post-Soviet Russia. He can still fill clubs, but he has to compete against dozens of younger and "cooler" acts. Russia today is filled with its own punk, rock, rap and hip hop groups.
No wonder Grebenshikov feels like getting away from it all. Once a year, he travels to a Tibetan monastery for a month's worth of contemplation. That experience is folded into this tune, called Russian Nirvana...
I'll take the lotus position in the middle of the Kremlin," sings Grebenshikov, "and our damp mother earth will shudder with enlightenment."
And so it goes for an aging Russian folk-rocker trying to figure out his place in a musical world where he's become "venerable." In this tune, called The Fastest Plane on Earth, Boris Grebenshikov sings "I just sat down to have a drink...and my life is halfway gone..." 03/06/03 >> go there
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