This early '70s Russian psychedelic folk-rock album by Pensyary, a famous vocal-instrumental ensemble led by musical virtuoso Vladimir Mulyavin, is something I picked up at Daybreak Records earlier today. Born in Sverdlovsk (now called Yekaterinburg) in 1941, Vladimir learned to play the guitar when he was 12 years old. He formed Pensyary in 1968, and they became one of the first successful and officially recognized rocks bands in Russia. They were also one of the first groups of Russian rockers to tour the USA, hitting the road in the American South with The New Christy Minstrels in 1976.
I realize "I Mowed Down a Stable" and "Ow, Early For Ivan" are likely only approximations of the titles of the two tracks posted above, but it's the best I could do with the Google Translate app on my phone. In fact, I translated the entire set of LP liner notes and have included those below.
(Does anybody know how to fix the glitch in Blogger where the font size keeps decreasing each time you paste the same text over and over? It was creating a cascading disco effect beneath the photo of the commemorative statue of Vladimir Mulyavin that was erected in his home town of Yekaterinburg. The Russians also put Mulyavin on a postage stamp back in 2009.)
Pesnyary is young. Officially its birthday
can be considered September 1, 1969.
Pesnyary have their own clearly expressed creative direction.
The basis of the concert program "Pesnyaro" is the Belarusian folk
songs. Without losing the original charm, these songs are interpreted
differently by the "Pesnyarov" interpretation of "Songs."
"Songs" sound differently. With a very careful attitude to the
original in the arrangements of the ensemble, the rhythm of today
is felt pulsating, dynamic. Along with electric instruments, artists boldly
introduce genuine folk instruments—the lyre and daughter. This gives the
ensemble sound interesting, unexpected colors. "Pesnyary" is the constant
creative search. This relentless two-year search led the ensemble to well-
deserved, serious success: In October 1970 Pesnyary became laureates of
the 4th All-Union Competition of Variety Artists. The head of Pesnyarov,
Vladimir Mulyavin, is a brilliant virtuoso musician, with a very peculiar
musical handwriting, whose original, original arrangements
largely determine the direction of the ensemble.
Seven musicians united around him: Valery Mulyavin (rhythm guitar, trumpet),
Leonid Tyshko (bass guitar), Vladislav Misevich (saxophone, flute), Valery
Yashkin (organ, lyre), Valentin Badyarov (violin), Alexander Demeshko
(drums), Leonid Bortkevich (soloist of the ensemble).
All members of the ensemble are instrumentalists and vocalists, each of
them contributes to the creation of concert programs. And most importantly,
they are all undividedly devoted to their favorite work—the
popularization of beautiful Belarusian songs.
[ Statue of Vladimir Mulyavin in Yekaterinburg, Russia ]
[ Vladimir Mulyavin: January 12, 1941 — January 26, 2003 ]
