American analogs of Vysotsky

[Bernard Besserglik]

	Over and above his competence as a singer-songwriter, the quality  
that singles out Vladimir Vysotsky as a figure of cultural  
significance is that he stood against the political orthodoxy of his  
time at the risk of his personal well-being, arguably at the risk of  
his life, and with a total disregard for commercial considerations.
	The only American figure who can remotely compare in this context is  
Woody Guthrie, although a case could be made for the recently deceased  
Pete Seeger.
	Non-American equivalents to Vysotsky would include Victor Jara in  
Chile and Wolf Biermann in East Germany. France has produced its fair  
share of singer-songwriters who have "written against", notably Léo  
Ferré and to a lesser extent Boris Vian, but none as self-contained or  
culturally resonant as the Russian.
	The case of Bob Dylan is particularly interesting since he wrote some  
powerful "protest" songs before veering off into Beat poetry and  
commercial music-making, but if there was one thing he was clear about  
above all it was that he rejected the label "voice of his generation."
	Bernard Besserglik
	




On Feb 8, 2014, at 01:50, Sentinel76 Astrakhan wrote:

> 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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