American Analogs of Vysotsky

[Dorian Juric]

Also, I think the best analogue 
that I can come up with is Dylan's hero, Woody Guthrie. As a folk singer
 who was integral to political movements of his time, who's songs were 
sung even by those whom he chastised within the songs, and whose songs 
became hugely popular and spread quite far, he's a great match. He was a
 highly influential figure even if that influence has been fairly 
forgotten in recent decades.

Dorian Jurić, MA
McMaster Univeristy


Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2014 00:50:28 +0000
From: thysentinel at HOTMAIL.COM
Subject: [SEELANGS] American Analogs of Vysotsky
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU




Dear All, I have a question for discussion

In the process of explaining my "Vysotsky in English" project to Americans, I frequently have to explain who Vysotsky is and what is his place in the Russian culture.  Many times I have heard the term "Russian Dylan" thrown around.  In my opinion, there are more differences than similarities.  

Both Vladimir Vysotsky and Bob Dylan were 
exceptional singer-songwriters, who rose to fame in the 60s, played guitar, and brought on social change with their tremendous body of work.   Both wrote highly
 intelligent and politically charged 
poetry.  But in my opinion this is where the similarities end.  

Vysotsky
 destroys Dylan in terms of sheer impact and popularity:   even though 
both can be reasonably called "Voice of Their Generation," Vysotsky 
was also one of five most important cultural figures in 20th Century 
Russia, while Dylan never really reached that level.  As far as I can 
tell, Dylan mostly awed American intellectuals, while Vysotsky was 
adored by everybody, from President Brezhnev to the last bum in the 
street.   And, of course, Dylan was no match for Vysotsky's performing 
skills:   Vysotsky would blow him off the stage without breaking a sweat. 
  Vysotsky also gets a benefit of not having the "tail end of a career" 
that many rock musicians fall victim to.

Naturally, I think it's wise to limit this discussion to their respective countries to even the playing field (otherwise, Dylan's English language makes him far more international than Vysotsky).
 
So is there anybody in American culture who would match Vysotsky's

a.  Songwriting skills
b.  Performing skills
c.  Success
d.  Cultural status

?

Would
 it be correct to rank the podium of *relevant* American music as 
(1) 
Elvis 
(2) Dylan 
(3) Cash?  
 Or would Springsteen and Morrison crawl in 
there somewhere?

 What do you think?

Vadim Astrakhan
www.vvinenglish.com

 		 	   		  
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