Alexander Gradsky
| Alexander Gradsky | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alexander Borisovich Gradsky Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Гра́дский |
| Born |
3 November 1949 Kopeysk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Genres |
Rock Bard music Classical Folk Blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer Songwriter Musician Vocal teacher |
| Instruments | Vocals Piano Guitar Bass guitar Violin Drums |
| Years active | c.1963–present |
| Associated acts | Tarakany Slaviane Los Panchos Skify Skomorokhi John Denver |
Alexander Borisovich Gradsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Бори́сович Гра́дский; born November 3, 1949, in Kopeysk) is a Russian rock singer, bard, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was one of the earliest performers of rock music in Russia. His diverse repertoire includes rock 'n' roll, traditional folk songs performed with a rock twist, and operatic arias. He has composed two rock operas and numerous songs including soundtrack music for several films.
Alexander Gradsky was born on November 3, 1949 in the Russian city of Kopeysk. His father was an engineer working in a factory, and his mother was an actress. His mother encouraged him to learn to play the violin as a child, and her brother, Alexander Gradsky's uncle, was a dancer who toured abroad and brought home records of Western music artists including Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong and Little Richard. Such music was not ordinarily available in Soviet Russia at that time.
By the age of 12, Gradsky was singing Elvis Presley songs and accompanying himself on guitar. In 1963, at the age of 13, he sang with a Polish student band called Tarakany (Тараканы - The Cockroaches) in a concert at the International Club of Moscow State University. This is believed to have been the first public performance of rock 'n' roll by any Russian musician.
In the mid-1960s, Gradsky joined the band Slaviane (Славяне - The Slavs) as lead singer. The band's repertoire consisted almost entirely of Beatles and Rolling Stones covers. In 1966-'67, he was working with three bands: Slaviane, Los Panchos and Skify (Скифы - The Scythians). However, he found himself disagreeing with his Slaviane bandmates over the direction the band should take. Gradsky wanted to perform original rock songs in his native Russian language, whereas the other band members did not think that such endeavours could be successful and wanted to continue performing imported songs.
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