B. Fomin, K

Russian song in English style

On September 25, 1968, 40 years ago, the English hit parade was topped by a Russian song - the romance “The Long Road”. True, the song performed by Mary Hopkin was called Those Were the Days. The debutante displaced the Beatles' masterpiece Hey Jude from first place and retained the championship for six weeks. The album “Dear Long” with the English title “Those Were The Days” turned out to be one of the best-selling, became “gold” and brought millions to its performers.

Boris Ivanovich Fomin

THE LONG ROAD

We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
Oh, I wish I could follow you now,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

The Long Road
And on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.

I remember our meetings and separations,
Years gone forever
And your silver hands
In the trio that flew away forever.

The Long Road…

Let your dashing youth pass,
Like melt water through your fingers.
Only our three are daring
He will rush with us through the years.

The Long Road…

The authors are a famous composer who worked in the romance genre - Boris Ivanovich Fomin (at one time the leader of the popular ensemble "Jazz Tabachnikov", author of the music of famous romances - "Only once in a life do you meet", "Your eyes are green", "Hey, friend - guitar!" and many others, completed in 1948) and the poet - Konstantin Nikolaevich Podrevsky ("You are nineteen years old", "You and I are forever separated...", "Give up the alarm", etc.). Initially, the song “Dear Long” was specially written for the singer and poetess Elizaveta Borisovna Belogorskaya (author of the text of another famous romance “Autumn, Transparent Morning”), who performed on stage performing lyrical songs. Composer Boris Fomin worked as an accompanist at her concerts for a long time (later, the fate of Elizaveta Belogorskaya was tragic. Making her way to the south with the singer Tamara Tsereteli at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she stayed in Pyatigorsk, and when the Germans occupied the city, Elizaveta Borisovna committed suicide. ..).

Alexander Vertinsky

The most famous Russian performer of this song was the phenomenal Alexander Vertinsky - he made a pop adaptation of it and turned it into a “hit”, making it famous throughout the world. The “official” date of creation of the romance is considered to be 1924. But researchers are still arguing about the exact dating, since the song had two versions, the first with the text and music of Boris Fomin himself (this version, according to researchers, was performed by A. Vertinsky earlier in 1924), and the second, well-known, with a modified text by K. Podrevsky. Which of the execution options is considered earlier remains unclear. The song was part of the early (before emigration) repertoire of Alexander Vertinsky and, according to one version, with a high probability it could have been first performed in the program of the singer’s first benefit performance, which took place in Moscow on October 25 (old style) 1917.

After Vertinsky’s departure, this song was performed from the official stage in the 1920s by singers Elizaveta Belogorskaya and Tamara Tsereteli. The first edition of the romance “The Long Road” with text by Konstantin Podrevsky was published in the USSR in a circulation of 10,000 copies in 1925, with a portrait of the singer Tamara Tsereteli. But already in the spring of 1929, the All-Russian Music Conference was held in Leningrad, at which the performance and publication of romances was prohibited. There is a lull on the stage. The prohibitive system of the Main Repertoire Committee is in full swing. The entire repertoire was divided into 4 groups. Almost all of Boris Fomin's romances, beloved by the public, fell into the "G" (counter-revolutionary) category.

Nani Bregvadze

Paul McCartney with Mary Hopkin and young performers

Mary Hopkin

Since 1968, McCartney began producing young performers - Mary Hopkin and the group "Badfinger". Once, having heard the excellent song “Those Were The Days” in one of the London clubs, McCartney offered it to the aspiring singer Mary Hopkin to perform. In August, in the national hit parade of 1968, the song "Those Were The Days" performed by Mary Hopkin took the prestigious 2nd place, and the single became the first - and perhaps the most successful (if do not count the songs of the Beatles themselves) as a record in the entire history of Apple.

Based on materials from sites:

THE LONG ROAD

Music by Boris Fomin
Words by Konstantin Podrevsky

And lights flashed in the distance...
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

The Long Road
And on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.

Years gone forever
And your silver hands

The Long Road…

Like melt water through your fingers.
Only our three are daring

The Long Road…

The words and music were written no later than 1929. One of the text options.

Shadows of the past: Ancient romances. For voice and guitar / Comp. A. P. Pavlinov, T. P. Orlova. - St. Petersburg: Composer St. Petersburg, 2007.

The romance was written by Boris Fomin in 1924 for the singer Elizaveta Belogorskaya (author of the lyrics of the famous romances "Autumn, Transparent Morning...", "You are 19 years old" and others). Part of the repertoire of Alexander Vertinsky.

Probably his first recording is a Muztrust record (electric recording), matrix No. 379, order No. 19021, 1929, signed: “Dear Long,” romance, music. Fomina, Spanish Tamara Tsereteli. You can listen to:

We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance.
Oh, I wish I could follow you now,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

The Long Road
Moonlight weather,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance, ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.

To the distant homeland in new ways
From now on we are destined to go.
We rode in a troika with bells,
Yes, now we've passed a long time ago.

The Long Road…

Perhaps no one needs me,
I can’t turn back your top three...
God will understand, but my life is sick...
You are taking me to be buried!

The Long Road…

Boris Ivanovich Fomin(1900, St. Petersburg - 1948, Moscow)
Podrevsky Konstantin Nikolaevich(1889 - 1930, Moscow)

NOTES FOR PIANO (4 sheets):

We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
I would like to follow you now, falcons, -
I wish I could dispel my soul from melancholy...

The Long Road,
Yes, on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
Yes, with that old one,
With that seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much!
Lai-lai-la-lai-la-la...

And so those nights passed away...

The Long Road…

To the distant homeland in new ways
From now on we are destined to go.
We rode in a troika with bells,
Yes, it's been a long time now...

The Long Road…

Kulev V.V., Takun F.I. Golden collection of Russian romance. Arranged for voice accompanied by piano (guitar). M.: Modern music, 2003.

OPTIONS (4)

1. We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
Oh, I wish I could follow you now,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

The Long Road,
Moonlight weather,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much!

2. Yes, it turns out we sang for nothing,
They burned in vain night after night.
If we're done with the old,
And so those nights passed away!

The Long Road…

3. To the distant homeland in new ways
From now on we are destined to go!
We rode in a troika with bells,
Yes, now we've passed a long time ago!

The Long Road…

Ancient Russian romance. 111 masterpieces. For voice and piano. In four issues. Vol. IV. Publishing house "Composer St. Petersburg", 2002.

The same version: Russian songs and romances / Intro. article and comp. V. Guseva. M.: Artist. lit., 1989. - (Classics and contemporaries. Poetic book). - without indicating the author of the music, 1st line of the 2nd verse “Oh, it turns out we sang for nothing.”

2. Dear long...

We rode in troikas with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
Oh, if only the falcons were behind you,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

I remember our meetings and separations,
Years gone forever
And your silver hands
In the trio that flew away forever.

The Long Road
Yes, on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
Yes, with that old one,
That seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.

Yes, it turns out we sang for nothing,
They burned in vain night after night.
If we're done with the old,
And so those nights passed away!
Let your dashing youth pass,

Only our three are daring
He will rush with us through the years!..

The Long Road
Yes, on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
Yes, with that old one,
That seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-lai-lai,
Lay-la-la-la-la...
Yes, with that old one,
That seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-lai-lai,
Lay-la-la-la-la...
Yes, with that old one,
That seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-la-la,
Lai-lai-lai-lai-lai,
Lay-la-la-la-la...
Yes, with that old one,
That seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much...

Transcript of the soundtrack of the duet “Gypsy Romance”, audio cassette “Dear Long...”, Master Sound, 1993. - (series “Gypsy Baron”).

3. Dear long...

We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
I now, falcons, follow you,
I wish I could dispel my soul from melancholy!

The Long Road
And on a moonlit night,
And with that song,
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
With that seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much.
Give-give-give-give...

So living without joy, without pain,
I remember the years gone by
And your silver hands
In the trio that flew away forever.

The Long Road…

The days go by, multiplying sorrows,
It's so hard for me to forget the past.
Someday, darling,
You are taking me to be buried.

The Long Road…

Transcription of the phonogram of an unknown gypsy performer of the late 20th century (the cassette was picked up from a landfill in Warsaw in 2003).

We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
Oh, I wish I could follow you now,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

Chorus:

The Long Road,
Moonlight weather,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance, ringing,
Yes, with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What tormented me so much at night!

I remember our meetings and separations,
Years gone forever
And your silver hands
In the trio that flew away forever.

Chorus.

Yes, it turns out we sang for nothing,
They burned in vain night after night.
If we're done with the old,
And so those nights passed away!

Chorus.

To another distance along new paths
From now on we are destined to go!
We rode in a troika with bells,
Yes, now we've passed a long time ago!

Chorus.

Let your dashing youth pass,
Like melt water through your fingers,
Only our three are daring
He will rush with us through the years.

Chorus.

Burn, burn, my star! Comp. and music editor S. V. Pyankova. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2004, p. 227-228.

Song "DEAR LONG"

“Darling Long” is one of two or three popular Russian songs that in the twentieth century not only overcame the Iron Curtain, but also turned out to be among the main hits of Anglo-American pop music, which was calmly recorded in foreign charts. In 1968, the album “Dear Long” with the English title “Those Were The Days” turned out to be one of the best-selling, became “gold” and brought millions to its performers (but not to the heirs of the creators, because it was mistakenly considered a Russian “folk record”).

In fact, the song has “parents” - a famous composer who worked in the romance genre - Boris Ivanovich Fomin (at one time the head of the popular ensemble "Jazz Tabachnikov", author of the music of famous romances - "Only once in life are there meetings", "Your eyes green", "Hey, guitar friend!" and many others, finished in 1948) and the now half-forgotten poet - Konstantin Nikolaevich Podrevsky ("You are nineteen years old", "You and I are forever separated...", "Give up anxiety", etc.). Initially, the song “Dear Long” was specially written for the singer and poetess Elizaveta Borisovna Belogorskaya (author of the text of another famous romance “Autumn, Transparent Morning”), who performed on stage performing lyrical songs. Composer Boris Fomin worked as an accompanist at her concerts for a long time (later, the fate of Elizaveta Belogorskaya was tragic. Making her way to the south with the singer Tamara Tsereteli at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, she stayed in Pyatigorsk, and when the Germans occupied the city, Elizaveta Borisovna committed suicide. ..). In the following years, in a joint creative union, Fomin and Podrevsky wrote a large number of romances, some of which are still performed on the stage. But the most famous song was and remains the romance “Long Dear”, and the most famous Russian performer of this song was the phenomenal Alexander Vertinsky - he made a pop adaptation of it and turned it into a “hit”, making it famous throughout the world. The “official” date of creation of the romance is considered to be 1924. But researchers are still arguing about the exact dating, since the song had two versions, the first with the text and music of Boris Fomin himself (this version, according to researchers, was performed by A. Vertinsky earlier in 1924), and the second, well-known, with a modified text by K. Podrevsky. Which of the execution options is considered earlier remains unclear. The song was part of the early (before emigration) repertoire of Alexander Vertinsky and, according to one version, with a high probability it could have been first performed in the program of the singer’s first benefit performance, which took place in Moscow on October 25 (old style) 1917. In the newspapers of those days, announcements and notes about the “Benefit Performance of Alexander Vertinsky” side by side with reports about the seizure of the telephone exchange, telegraph and Winter Palace by revolutionary bandits. However, it is not surprising that on the day of the October revolution, it was not this song that caused applause at the concert, but a more powerful, soulful and patriotic composition - “What I have to say” (“I don’t know why and who needs this, who sent them to death with an unshaking hand. .."). Some researchers believe that around that “troubled” time, the song “Dear Long” became one of the main “hits” in Russia, engulfed in revolution and civil war (unfortunately, Russian hit parades did not exist then, check this definitely impossible).

In the 1950s, the attitude towards the romance genre gradually changed and the song “Dear Long...” was performed not only in Soviet philharmonic societies and “emigrant” salons (sung by Yuri Morfessi), but also in some places in the world. Finally, in the 60s, an EP was released in the USSR with a version of the song performed by the Georgian singer Nani Bregvadze. In the States, this song was first performed by the duo “Gene and Francesca” back in the 50s, and then the poet and composer Gene Raskin adapted its text to English for the popular American folk group “The Limeliters”, at the same time attributing (!? ) yourself and authorship. In the English version, the song was called “Those Were The Days”, which translated means “Old Days”. The English poems are perhaps no less talented than the original and vaguely resemble the Russian plot - “sadness for the days gone by, which were so cheerful...”. Then in 1968, events began to develop rapidly.

As the legend “says,” on March 5, 1968, the bored fashion model Twiggy, one of the “sex symbols” of the “hippie” and rock revolution times, turned on the TV. The BBC TV channel was showing one of the endless English music competitions - "Opportunity Knocks" and suddenly a voice that came from the screen made the fashionista flinch. The magnificent voice of Mary Hopkin, a modest and young provincial girl from Scotland, who had just turned eighteen, sounded from the television screen. The aspiring singer was born on May 3, 1950 in Wales, early noticing the girl’s excellent vocal abilities, her parents sent her to vocal lessons from the age of 4, later she sang and continued serious training in the church choir. Soon after this performance, the young performer was given a great chance. It so happened that the girl met a man who, with his unexpected “intervention,” decided her entire future fate...

One of the fashion model’s “socialite” friends, whom Twiggy immediately called, was called... Paul McCartney. By that time, Paul had already been recognized as the best composer of the twentieth century, but that’s not even the point. By 1968, complex internal contradictions had already arisen in The Beatles, a series of conflicts began, work was difficult and the musicians decided to engage in solo projects and producing young performers. Just then, musicians from the popular group “The Beatles” created their own sound recording company, “Apple Corps Ltd.” and placed advertisements in newspapers looking for young talents. And who else, if not an obvious talent, was Mary Hopkin?! Soon the young singer, on Twiggy’s advice, signed a contract with the Apple record company, and a month later Paul McCartney introduced the gifted young Scot in one of the most popular American television shows, “David Frost Presents.”

Since 1968, McCartney began producing young performers - Mary Hopkin and the group "Badfinger". Once, having heard the excellent song “Those Were The Days” in one of the London clubs, McCartney offered it to the aspiring singer Mary Hopkin to perform. Active work began on the first record (single) of the aspiring singer. One of the young Apple employees, Tony Visconti (later the famous producer of several albums by the famous singer David Bowie, etc.) helps McCarthy record instrumental parts for the new version of the song and arrangement.

In August, in the national hit parade of 1968, the song "Those Were The Days" performed by Mary Hopkin took the prestigious 2nd place, and the single became the first - and perhaps the most successful (if do not count the songs of the Beatles themselves) as a record in the entire history of Apple. According to the then British tradition, she performed an American (although in reality Russian) song - “Those Were The Days”, which is nothing more than a version of the famous Russian song “Darling Long...”.

To establish Mary Hopkin as an international star, the company released Mary's debut recording in four languages. Apart from the English version, the recording of the song “Those Were The Days” was released in French - “Les Temps Des Fleurs”, in German - “An Jenem Tag”, in Italian - “Qelli Erano Giorni” ” and in Spanish - “Que Tiempo Tan Feliz”. English versions of the song were also released in Argentina, the United States and Poland. Subsequently, the single with the popular song was re-released several times in different countries. Apple, during its active period from 1968 to 1974, released recordings by many artists: both representatives of popular music and alternative and non-commercial music trends, but the publication of a recording of the song “Those were the Days” (“Days of the Past”) performed by Mary Hopkin - the first and still the most successful single under the Apple label. With the light hand of the legendary Paul McCartney, the whole world began to sing “The Long Road...” by composer Boris Fomin.

Today, many Britons and Americans fondly remember the song “Those Were The Days” as a bright nostalgic symbol of the 60s and devote entire memoirs and studies to this touching song. When the leader and vocalist of the cult American blues group "Grateful Dead" Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper published an article saying that this song as if it was “specially written” about Jerry and his generation of the 60s (oh, Alexander Vertinsky, who did not live three years before its triumph, would have known about this, for whom the song “Dear Long...” was not even one of his favorites!).

It is curious that in the summer of 1995, John Lennon’s first wife Cynthia (who last sang thirty years ago, in the choir on the record “The Beatles” - “Yellow Submarine”) chose this song for her only single in her entire life, about which everyone wrote widely Western newspapers and magazines.

"THE LONG ROAD"
(words by K. Podrevsky, music by B. Fomin)

1. We rode in a troika with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
Oh, I wish I could follow you now,
To dispel my soul from melancholy!

Chorus:
The Long Road,
Yes, on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much...

Chorus:

2. Yes, it turns out we sang for nothing,
They burned in vain night after night.
If we're done with the old,
And so those nights passed away!

3. To the distant homeland in new ways
From now on we are destined to go!
We rode in a troika with bells,
Yes, now we've passed a long time ago!

Chorus:
The Long Road,
Yes, on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance ringing,
And with that old one,
Yes with a seven-string
What's at night
It tormented me so much...

"WE RIDED IN A TROYKA WITH BELLS..." ("Dear Long")
Poems by K. Podrevsky, arranged by A. Vertinsky (the exact date of execution is unknown)

1. We rode troikas with bells,
And lights flashed in the distance...
I would like to follow you now, falcons,
I wish I could dispel my soul from melancholy.

Chorus:
The Long Road
And on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance, ringing,
And with that old one,
With that seven-string
What tormented me so much at night!

2. So, living without joy, without pain,
I remember the years gone by
And your silver hands
In the trio that flew away forever.

The days go by, multiplying sorrows,
It's so hard for me to forget the past.
Someday, darling,
You are taking me to be buried.

Chorus:
The Long Road
And on a moonlit night,
Yes with that song
What flies into the distance, ringing,
And with that old one,
With that seven-string
What tormented me so much at night!

A sad story, but with a good ending. At least in our time the names of honored people have come out of oblivion. And all the past silences and distortions around them... One could say that no envious people or pygmies are worth attention at all. This is probably true. But when the distortions, lies and habitual zombies finally sink into oblivion, it will be possible to say this calmly. In the meantime, not about them, poor mediocre creatures, but about similar practices - it’s worth knowing.

I read a good comment on the original post in My Lovely Songs: “this story is consonant with the story of the song “Unhitch the Horses.” The terror of the Bolshevik regime was global. He did not spare Russian culture either. It's time to remember and restore all this. But without bias.”
Neither add nor subtract.
http://viens.ru/ex-ussr/25-ekhali-na-trojke-bubentsami.html

We rode on a troika with bells

We were driving a troika with bells... although no, we were driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, along the seashore. And “Those Were the Days” performed by Mary Hopkin poured out of the speakers.

Yes, this is our song, “Dear Long”! - exclaimed my companion, the son of my Moscow friends, who came to Cyprus to rest. - Wow, the Americans stole it from us too!

And then I even stopped the car.

Listen, my young friend,” I told him, “did you say “our song”? So, this song was never “yours.” This song has never been a “Russian folk” song. It was not the British who stole this song from the Russians. It's the Russians who stole this song from its authors. And although its authors bore Russian surnames, Russia most brutally destroyed both the authors and the song itself. Russia tried very hard to ensure that this song was never heard and was forgotten forever. And if it weren’t for Sir Paul McCartney and Eugene Ruskin, you would never have known that such a song existed - “The Long Road”.

This song was born in the year of Lenin's death, in 1924. Russian composer Boris Fomin wrote the music for the romance, and Russian poet Konstantin Podrevsky wrote the lyrics for the romance. What are you saying? Never heard of such a composer and such a poet? Not surprisingly, they did not survive their song for long.

The song was killed in 1929, it became very popular among Russian emigrants, and therefore in Soviet Russia it was declared “White Guard”, and for its performance one could go straight to the camps.

Konstantin Podrevsky was killed a year later, in 1930. He had the imprudence to be late in submitting his income statement to the financial inspector, and Soviet Russia confiscated all his property as punishment without trial. The poet ended up in the hospital, from where he never left.

The fate of composer Boris Fomin was more “happy”, if this, of course, can be called “happiness”. He was no longer allowed to write romances. In 1937, he naturally went to prison, but was one of the lucky few who were released after Yezhov’s arrest. Forgotten by everyone, with poor health, he died in 1948 and now almost everything that he wrote - hundreds of musical works - is considered lost.

This is how Soviet Russia “thanked” the authors of the song. And the song itself was erased from life. Having been banned for decades, it was completely forgotten.

But abroad, among the Russian emigration, she continued to live. And if it weren’t for the son of Russian emigrants, the Englishman Eugene Ruskin, you would never have known about its existence, my young friend. The Ruskin family loved and sang this song. Eugene wrote the English lyrics for “Those Were the Days” and slightly rewrote the music, adapting it to the rhythm of the English language.

Ruskin performed “Those Were the Days” at the Blue Angel club in London, where Paul McCartney, who was not yet Sir, heard him. McCartney took this song for his first production project, and, performed by Welsh singer Mary Hopkin, it soared to the top of the charts around the world.

And only then did one of the Soviet music and party functionaries come to their senses. Yes, this is “our”, “Russian” song. The British stole it from us!

Does it seem to you, my young friend, that this song has always existed and that Soviet people have been singing it from time immemorial? So find out that the Soviet people first heard it only in 1968, when it simultaneously, as if by magic, appeared in the repertoire of Soviet stars: Eduard Khil, Edita Piekha, Klavdia Shulzhenko, Lyudmila Zykina.

And now you know what it’s all about. To indicate the authors of the song would mean arousing interest in them, and then this whole ugly story with reprisals against the authors and the song would come to light. Therefore, Soviet Russia simply stole this song from the authors, declaring it Russian folk and “gypsy”. No, the experts and fans of Vertinsky probably knew, but most of the Russian people learned that the song had authors only with the beginning of “perestroika”.

And here’s another thing, my young friend. Since “our Russian song” came to Russia from England, the performers do not even suspect that they are now singing “The Long Road” in Russia not to the original version of the melody, which Fomin himself wrote, but to the “English version”, which was revised by Raskin.

The differences, as they say, are not striking, but nevertheless even a person without perfect musical ear will hear them.

Alexander Vertinsky - Dorogoi dlinnoyu - By the long road