Vladimir_Vysotsky

Vladimir Vysotsky (25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980) was an iconic Soviet-Russian singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. The best known as a singer-songwriter, he was also a prominent stage and screen actor. Though his work was largely ignored by the official Soviet cultural establishment, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime, and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's popular musicians and actors who wish to emulate his iconic status. In 1964, director Yuri Lyubimov, who was to become Vysotsky's close friend and mentor, invited him to join the popular Moscow Theatre of Drama and Comedy on the Taganka. Vysotsky made headlines with his roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Brecht's Life of Galileo. Around the same time, he also appeared in several films, which featured a few of his songs, e.g., Vertikal ("The Vertical"), a film about mountain climbing. Most of Vysotsky's work did not get official recognition and thus no contracts from. Soviet recording industry. Nevertheless, his music became available to the masses in the form of home-made reel-to-reel audio tape recordings. He became known for his style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. His lyrics resonated with millions of Soviet people in every corner of the country. He died in Moscow at the age of 42 of heart failure. Vysotsky's body was laid out at the Taganka Theatre, where the funeral service was held. He was later buried at the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow. He died in the middle of the Olympic games and thousands of Moscow citizens left the Olympics stadiums to attend the funeral. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of his coffin.[19] Vysotsky was posthumously awarded the title Meritorious Artist of the Soviet Union. http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=xN0YzyUEhbo http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=LPsvq9yfhJk http://www.youtube.com/watch'v=iLBGffWz8BE A song about a friend If your friend just became a man, Not a friend, not a foe,-- just so, If you really can't tell from the start, If he's strong in his heart, -- To the peaks take this man -- don't fret! Do not leave him alone, on his own, Let him share the same view with you-- Then you'll know if he's true. If the guy on the peak got weak, If he lost all his care -- got scared, Took a step on the frost -- got lost, Tripped and screamed in exhaust, -- Then the one you held close is false, Do not bother to yell-- expel, -- We can't take such aboard, and in short We don't sing of his sort. If the guy didn't whine nor pine, He was dull and upset, but went, When you slipped from the cliff, He heaved, holding you in his grip; If he walked right along, seemed strong, On the top stood like he belonged, -- Then, whenever the chances are slim You can count on him!