#Rebetiko

[moiroloi]

Sotiria Bellou and Christopher Lee, circa 1980

A journalist had been horrified when, upon coming into Bellou’s house for an interview, he caught sight of a framed picture of Dracula. “Don’t be scared now,” Bellou had soothed, “Dracula’s my fan!”, then went on to explain that Lee had been an avid collector of her records ever since the 1950s.

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: Φεύγω

We are very melancholic, Baby the Dog and I, in this postapocalyptic decor of boxes, bags of unwanted miscellanea and life shards. So I hope you will indulge me this uncharacteristic Greek interlude, with one of the finest rebetiko voices of the Nineties - Orfeas Peridis.

If you traveled with me in my beloved Peloponnese, on a very early, scorching sunny morning, you would probably hear some Haendel (of course and no matter the weather), but you would also probably hear this. My playlists are viciously eclectic, by the way, and I think Piaf comes next, on that one. Or The Proclaimers, never mind.

Φεύγω means 'I am leaving' and like all those rebetiko plaintive and devil may care songs, this one has its hefty amount of existential angst, unrequited feelings and dramatic narrative solutions. But this song will always remind me of Monemvasia, the Greek Gibraltar, Byzantine fiction precariously perched on a rock promontory:

I would move in there tomorrow, no second thoughts and damn all the consequences:

They do, after all, have one of the most beautiful parking lots on this planet:

Of course we won't do anything. Adventure awaits. But still, it's going to be ugly crying at the border and for Baby, his first contact with his real, international dog life.

[mpaglamas]

Ρεμπέτικο, το κακό βοτάνι

David Prudhomme (2010)

[sivavakkiyar]

[yt: Mu Me Stelnies Mana Stin Ameriki]

[yt: M’ekapses Ameriki]

[epestrefe]

“Ta Politakia” is a group of musicians from Asia Minor very characteristic of the musical idiom of Smyrna

Source: Kalyviotis Aristomenis, Σμύρνη, η μουσική ζωή 1900-1922 [Smyrna, the Music Life 1900-1922], Athens, Music Corner & Tinella, 2002, p. 127.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Σωτηρία Μπέλλου στον Διονύση Σαββόπουλο: "Αχ Διονύση με έκανες και τραγουδάω ποπ!"

Εγώ στη Σωτηρία Μπέλλου: "ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΑ ΕΚΑΝΕ"

[vlasman123]

(Vlasis Metaxas)

[peterwebscott]

Singing rebetiko with the angels

As my post about Dimitris Mitropanos’s song Roza (https://wordpress.com/posts/wordscene.wordpress.?s=great+song+bu) has for some reason been generating a lot of interest recently, I thought I would translate another song in the zeïmbekiko style of the Greek rebetiko tradition – brilliantly performed here by Themis Adamantidis, Dimitris Mitropanos and Dimitris Basos. The lyrics, by the writer…

[thomas-querqy]

Johan Papaconstantino J’aimerai (Contre-jour 2019)

Johan Papaconstantino  Mon chat danse - Feat. Prosper (Premier degré)

[thespiritofstars]

Δείτε το βίντεο "Kegome Kegome" στο YouTube

[sciogli-lingua]

Mikis Theodorakis (sung by Melina Mercouri) || Ο Δικαστής (The Judge) || Greek lyrics + English translation

[Standard lyrics to the song + what I think she's actually singing in this recording whenever I realized the words were slightly different]

Έχει η αγάπη τον καημό Love has its own sorrow Η ξενιτειά το δρόμο Exile has its way Ο στρατιώτης τ'όπλο του, ω ω A soldier has his rifle, oh oh Κι ο δικαστής κι ο δικαστής το νόμο As for the judge, the judge, he has the law

Μα εγώ είμαι ξένος που περνά / Μα εγώ είμαι ξένη όπου περνά(ω?) But I'm a stranger just passing by / But I'm a stranger wherever I go Γι' αυτούς που με ξεχάσανε For those who have forgotten me Κι αυτοί που με δικάσανε ω ω And those who judged me, oh oh Πίνουν το αίμα μου ξανά They're drinking my blood once more Κι αυτοί που με δικάσανε ω ω And those who judged me, oh oh Πίνουν το αίμα μου ξανά They're drinking my blood once more

Όπου έχει μαύρη την ψυχή / Οποίος έχει μαύρη τη ψυχή Wherever there's a dark soul / Whoever's got a dark soul Έχει και το μαχαίρι / Κρατά και το μαχαίρι There's also a knife / Also wields the knife Κι όπου το φίδι καρτερεί ω ω And wherever the snake patiently waits, oh oh Εκεί είναι πε-, εκεί είναι περιστέρι There's also, there's also a dove

Μα εγώ είμαι ξένος που περνά / Μα εγώ είμαι ξένη όπου περνά(ω?) But I'm a stranger just passing by / But I'm a stranger wherever I go Γι' αυτούς που με ξεχάσανε For those who have forgotten me Κι αυτοί που με δικάσανε ω ω And those who judged me, oh oh Πίνουν το αίμα μου ξανά They're drinking my blood once more Κι αυτοί που με δικάσανε ω ω And those who judged me, oh oh Πίνουν το αίμα μου ξανά They're drinking my blood once more

[professionalnooneatall]

"'Misirlou' (Greek: Μισιρλού < Turkish: Mısırlı 'Egyptian' < Arabic: مصر Miṣr 'Egypt'[1]) is a folk song[2] from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The song's original author is unknown, but Arabic, Greek, and Jewish musicians were playing it by the 1920s. The earliest known recording of the song is a 1927 Greek rebetiko/tsifteteli composition. There are also Arabic belly dancing, Albanian, Armenian, Serbian, Persian, Indian and Turkish versions of the song. This song was popular from the 1920s onwards in the Arab American, Armenian American and Greek American communities who settled in the United States." —Orginal Wikipedia Article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misirlou

[epestrefe]

Το μυστήριο ζεϊμπέκικο (1932)Ιωάννης Χαλικιάς (ή Τζακ Γκρέγκορυ)

Μικρασιάτικη μελωδία. Φωνογραφήθηκε στη Νέα Υόρκη, τον Ιανουάριο του 1932. Μπουζούκι παίζει ο Ιωάννης Χαλικιάς (ή Τζακ Γκρέγκορυ) και κιθάρα ο Σοφοκλής Μικελίδης. Δίσκοι Columbia Co 56294-F και DGX 36 (12΄΄). Την ίδια χρονιά φωνογραφήθηκε και στην Αθήνα από το Σπύρο Περιστέρη.Στη μελωδία αυτή βασίστηκε το τραγούδι "Μανταλιώ και Μανταλένα"με την Μαρίκα Παπαγκίκα

[gemsofgreece]

Christopher Lee and Sotiria Bellou, the emblematic Greek rebetiko singer in the 80s. 

Fun fact: Lee had met Bellou during his vacation in Greece in the late 80s. Lee described himself as a fan; he was a collector of her 50s recordings and he told her her voice reminded him of Billy Holiday. Naturally, Bellou took a liking to him. When a journalist visited her at her house for an interview, he was startled by a frame of Lee as Count Dracula hanging on the wall. This is how Bellou told him and we know about their encounter and mutual appreciation.  

We all know Christopher Lee but here’s a song with the unique voice of Sotiria Bellou from 1951, so he definitely knew this song and probably loved it :) 

This is rare footage from a live in 1972. The man with the mustache playing the bouzouki, Vassilis Tsitsanis, is also the composer of the song and extremely prominent in Greece’s music history.