Rembetika 4 Vassilis Tsisanis The Postwar Years 1946-1954

Vassilis Tsitsanis was the Johnny Mercer of Greek music from the late 40s through 50s. My Dad used to play old LPs of this music when I was a kid and it was also broadcast on Greek radio program in Philadelphia in the 60s-70s. If you're interested in hearing some well performed, beautifully written songs that are representative of classic Greek music, this is the set for you.

one of the most important figures in greek music.

I think that this box of 4 CDs has all the recorded songs of Vassilis Tsitsanis in the period 1946-1954.Some of the songs are major landmarks of Greek music and it is hard to argue about the quality of compositions which have passed the test of time and influenced decisively the development of Greek music.There is nothing equivalent in English music to compare for the period; the US only could offer a comparison with the development of Blues, although from obviously different social origins.Other than that what you need to know is that the first CD has at the beginning songs about the culture of drags in the interwar period; they were composed before the timeline suggested by the CDs, and they are all brilliant.The first CD contains often two versions of the same song, most of the time this is worthwhile; I don't know of any other CD that does that, this is truly academically complete!By following the CDs progressively, the listener can easily identify that in the last period, after 1950, the standard of songs, although high, is not of the musical or lyrical quality established in the period up to 1949.The songs are remastered very well and offer a very open sound which is unusual. Sound-wise this is the best collection of Vassilis Tsitsanis known to me.

You should definitely buy this compilation and treat yourself to beautiful original renditions of some of the songs written by the Rembetika giant Tsitsanis, a composer that Mikis Theodorakis nicknamed "The Greek Beethoven"(due to extensive output rather than musical similarities, of course). These 4 CDs shouldn't be missing from any serious Rembetika songs collection.The sound quality is incredible and there is quite a bit of information included on the CD sleeves (although, regrettably, no translations of the song titles into English). All titles are given in Greek, but are written with latin characters. There are some (not so good) translations of selected lyrics and some great photographs of Tsitsanis and his collaborators. There are small (but very comprehensive) biographies of the principal artists/performers that feature in the CDs, quite a good biography note on Tsitsanis himself and a relatively good glossary with Rembetika terms, which will prove very useful to the foreign rembetika novices. Also, on the inside sleeve of CD A, you can find a very informative note from the compiler himself, which puts the songs written during the period of the Greek 40s into historical context.The CDs are chock full of awesome zeimbekika dances and a few good hasapika and hasaposervika as well, all of which will be invaluable to any student of traditional Greek dances in the UK, who has difficulty getting his/her hands on any decent songs to dance to these days (and who is sick of the usual run-of-the-mill "dog music" songs, which are the only kind of "Greek" music readily available in the UK these days).For Tsitsanis fans, there are two facts one needs to know about this collection of Tsitsanis songs:Firstly, it of course does not contain his infamous "To vapori ap'tin Persia" hit. That is only natural, as this is a compilation of his post WWII recordings up to 1954. He continued being active long after that date and died in 1984 (aged exactly 69, on the same day he was born, 18.01). I know of at least one person who was disappointed not to find the song here, but it was written in 1977 referring to a customs' incident of that year, where a ship was seized for drug smuggling. There were attempts to censor the song - it even went to trial- but Tsitsanis won his case, as it was deemed by the judge to be "a simple song, describing a factual event which had been widely reported in the press". Let's hope Mr Howard soon makes a 3rd compilation, with the Tsitsanis recordings between 1954-1984, where that song will be present!Secondly, this collection is not exhaustive or complete (it does not claim to be). It contains only recordings on 78s (no 45s or LPs) and not all of the 78s Tsitsanis recorded between 1946-1954 are present here. In fact, quite a few of his most famous 78s from those years are missing, which I personally regretted enormously when I first listened to this. It is not clear if this is because Charles Howard couldn't find those 78s to transfer, or couldn't get the rights to include them in this compilation, or whether this is because he just went with the songs he personally liked the most. Possibly he is not aware which songs are literally the most famous ones for Greeks.Don't get me wrong, quite a few of the composer's best known songs are included here: "Magkas vgike gia seriani", "Varka gialo", "Baxe Tsifliki"(where Tsitsanis names all his favourite bouzouki & watering holes), "Arapines", "Katse n'akouseis mia penia", "Trexe magka na rotiseis", "Ta oraia", "Xorisam'ena deilino", "Derbederissa", "Omorfi Thessaloniki", "Ta dialexta paidia", "I Serah", "De me stephanoneis, me gelas", "Geia sou kaiki mou Ai Nikola", "Giati me 3ypnises proi", "3imeronei kai vradiazei panta ston idio to skopo" and more.However, whatever the reason, some of Tsitsanis's most legendary songs on 78s from that period are missing from this collection, songs that are still extremely famous and widely performed and sung in Greece today. To mention but a few, from the Columbia 78s, these songs are regrettably not included here: "Paliose to sakaki mou" (1951; although its first side, which is much less known, "Mporei na to'xoune planepsei" is included), "Gerakina"(1948; all Greek kids learn this one growning up), "Thessaloniki Xakousmeni, esy pou vgazeis ta kalytera paidia" (1946), "Ki an patheis kai kamia zimia Tsitsani mou" (1948). From the HMV 78s, what must be Tsitsanis's most famous song after "Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki" is (unbelievably!) not present in this compilation: "Ta kavourakia" (=the crab babies, 1938; again, a song taught to and known by every single child born to Greek parents in Greece or abroad). Also not included: Another colossal song, known to all Greeks from the famous film "Stella" with Melina Merkouri: "Agapi pou'gines dikopo maxairi" (1947) where Tsitsanis collaborated closely with Manos Hatzidakis, who borrowed his tune to put in the song and Tsitsanis recorded it on 78. And from the Odeon 78s, missing are the super famous "Cherchez la Femme" (1947), the reprisal of "Gerakina" (1938), "Apopse kaneis bam", "Ta kavourakia" (1953) and the well-known (and much danced in the 60s and 70s) karsilamas "Ta takounakia". I wish so much they were included! It really is quite difficult to get some of these songs in their original renditions. Could one hope Mr Howard might try and obtain those 78s, for an updated re-issue of this compilation? (Fingers crossed).What you can find here is many of the lesser known Tsitsanis songs from the 1946-1954 period, which makes this a release mostly aimed at the Tsitsanis connoisseur, someone who already has all the famous songs released by Greek record companies such as Minos EMI (those CDs are widely available in Greece), and who is looking to complete his/her collection with a special treat. And a quality treat this is, indeed.Some of the songs here are quite rare to find elsewhere, period. Other songs here are better known, but they are not widely available (and sometimes impossible to get) in their original first renditions. Just as an example, Tsitsanis's most famous song of all, "Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki" (=Cloudy Sunday; a song written during the WWII German occupation of Greece, describing the feelings and state of oppression Tsitsanis and all Greeks were living through in those years of misery and hunger) has been sung and recorded by so many famous Greek performers that one can lose count. Therefore, I was personally delighted to get the very first rendition/recording of that song here, as it is not easy to find (and I wasn't even sure what artists it'd been recorded with, originally). Same goes for the other better known songs included here, "Magkas vgike gia seriani", "Varka gialo", "Xorisam'ena deilino", "Derbederissa", etc.You probably need to be Greek to know which of these songs are best loved by the natives. Regarding content, the 2nd CD is the one with the least known songs, featuring only 2 very known ones: "Xorisam'ena deilino" (later made super famous by its unparalleled rendition by Sotiria Bellou) and "Derbenderissa" (the best version of that would be the one by Manolis Hiotis and Mary Linda, the famous couple of bouzouki player-singer, in later years). In fact, if you are new to this composer and wish to have some of this collection's songs in their best/most known renditions, you need to get yourself the Tsitsanis recordings by Sotiria Bellou, Grigoris Bithikotsis (his "Giati me 3ypnises proi" is magnificent), Stellios Kazanzidis (the top "Synnefiasmeni Kyriaki") - and the Tsitsanis LP by Hiotis and Linda (where they perform exclusively Tsitsanis numbers in quite a party way).In the meantime, you should definitely buy this compilation, see where it all started and treat yourself to some original rembetika, performed without the (omnipresent today) drums and bass- instruments which were never present in the original rembetika music.

La suite du premier coffret consacré à Vassilis Tsitsanis et dédié à l'immédiat après guerre, entouré des meilleurs chanteurs du genre et avec des titres souvent peu connus. Un coffret évidemment indispensable pour tous les amateurs de Rébétika, avec une documentation sommaire mais plutot bien faite, transferts numériques très moyens mais l'intéret musical est évident et il faut remercier cet éditeur pour de telles parutions. A conseiller les trois premiers volumes, tout aussi passionnants et pour les personnes qui ne s'interressaient qu'à Vassilis Tsitsanis, le volume précédent consacré aux années d'avant guerre est encore plus indispensable,Tsitsanis avant Tsitsanis, avec des chansons extrèmemment rares, dont bon nombres inédites.