A common song by Muslim Magomayev and The Beatles
Содержание
Muslim Magomayev is a musical icon of the Soviet Union! Just like The Beatles - an icon of the whole era of British rock... But what can they have in common? In fact, they have only one song in common. Although it would be more accurate to say "one and a half"! Why? Let's get to the bottom of it!
How did Yesterday first sounded in the House of Unions?
The concert that took place in March 1974 was recorded as a kind of milestone in the history of Soviet television... To begin with, it is worth noting that you can find information on the Internet about Magomayev performing the "Beatles hit" back in the late 1960s. It took place in the Kremlin. But! If we are talking about a public solo performance, it happened exactly in the Column Hall of the House of Unions....
At that time Muslim Magomayev was already incredibly popular in the Soviet Union! This explains all the excitement that surrounded this concert... It is worth noting that there was a live broadcast! Yes, yes! And for that time it was a great, great rarity... The Soviet viewer will not lie: almost all programmes back then could be watched only in recordings. However, returning to the subject of the concert, it should be added that for some unknown reasons the film of the concert has not been preserved... But it's not all that bad! After all, the atmospheric photos of that day and the audio recording in decent quality have been preserved!
And it started like this.
March. 1974. Column Hall of the House of the Unions. Svetlana Morgunova announces the eighteenth composition. It turned out to be the same "Yesterday"....
Muslim Magometovich performed the iconic "Beatles hit" very beautifully! But in his own strange way... Magomayev's performance turned this chamber, intimate composition into a pompous hymn!
And who remembers, somewhere at the beginning of the third minute the artist, apparently, forgot himself and sang the glory of one very well known political party. But he came to his senses in time and in great embarrassment switched to almost a whisper... In the finale of the concert there was the crowning "Along Piterskaya Street", which literally knocked the audience for a loop!
But many people are still wondering, "How on earth did he get permission to perform a hit song from the decaying West?" Well, there are several explanatory factors.
Firstly, The Beatles were not completely banned in the Soviet Union. Everyone knew their music, many of our artists sang their creations (Pesnyary, Veselye Rebyata). And discs with their songs were released in the USSR.
Secondly, Muslim Magometovich was considered a "proven" artist. For several years he trained in Italy, at the La Scala theatre. And yes: he did NOT emigrate. On this basis, for this reason, he was allowed to do a lot of things ...
Few people know, but such a legendary performance for the history of the Soviet Union might not have taken place! Some say that on the day of the concert Magomayev felt unimportant. Even on the stage he went up, overpowering himself. But he came out and sang in such a way that no one could think of any ailments! True, not everyone agrees with this....
If you read the comments of people on the Internet, it becomes clear that not everyone liked Magomaev's performance, namely his version of "Yesterday"... But there are those who are simply delighted with the artist's performance! In general, it is not for nothing that they say: how many people - so many opinions! We will not join one side or the other, but will give each listener the opportunity to enjoy and evaluate Magomayev's version of "Yesterday" for himself!
By the way: the vinyl "Yesterday" was never released... It wasn't until the CD era that it saw the light of day on a compilation album!
And now a little about the song itself.....
As Paul McCartney said, the music for "Yesterday" was born by himself, very easily and spontaneously! The first drafts were rubbish ("scrambled eggs" rhymed with "legs").
It took Paul a long time to write the song... At times, the other members would banter with their colleague, especially if inspiration struck while they were working on a new track together!
Interestingly enough, The Beatles' biggest hit didn't even have a proper title at first (apart from the humorous Scrambled Eggs). The "Yesterday" known to everyone today came to Paul only when the work on the song was almost completed. It happened in May 1965, in Lisbon. It was then that McCartney was a guest of Bruce Welch. Thus, the famous hit was played for the first time on the acoustic guitar of a member of the rock band The Shadows.
As we know, the rest of the Beatles were not involved in the writing of "Yesterday". Perhaps, it was for this reason that the song was not even wanted to be included in the album Help! What's more! The song was forbidden to be released in Britain, because it allegedly did not correspond to the image of the group.
As a result, "Yesterday" was not released in The Beatles' homeland until 11 years later... And for nothing, because at first it was not seen as a hit! In total, the record sold 3 million copies worldwide....
Conclusion...
And now let's return to the question: "Why exactly one and a half songs?" Well. The point is that for some time Magomayev's repertoire included the composition "When The Saints Go Marching In".
And we think it's no secret that the Beatles were accompanied by Tony Sheridan. So there you have it, half of another song! That's one and a half.
