Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Gevatron

Artist: The Gevatron
LP: Gvanim
Song: "Shir El R'ei"
[ listen ]

The Israeli kibbutz folk singers known as The Gevatron got their start back in 1948 when they performed at the dedication of a new kibbutz basketball court. To be honest, I had no idea what a "kibbutz" was until I looked here, where I also learned that any particular member of a kibbutz is called a "kibbutznik"—or a "קִבּוּצְנִיק" in Hebrew. You can learn all about the history of The Gevatron on their English-language website here. I'd initially figured it was the bright and cheerful colors on the group's 1978 Gvanim LP that drew me to it. But when I got home and examined the record more closely, I found that the cover also features half of a statue of a reclining naked man with a "come hither" look upon his face.


If I'd been the kibbutznik in charge of photographing The Gevatron for their LP covers, you can bet I'd have found a way to coax the group into posing on top of him.

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