Russian Red Army Choir & Leningrad Cowboys - "Song of the Volga Boatmen" / "Happy Together" - 2/11

TOTAL BALALAIKA SHOW (1993) - part 2 of 11

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-- Song of the Volga Boatmen

-- Happy Together

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Russia's renowned Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble jams with Finland's outlandish rockers the Leningrad Cowboys. The odd pairing of these two groups results in an inspiring collaboration.

The concert took place on 12 June 1993 on Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. The event drew a crowd of approximately 70,000 people from two nations - Finland and Russia - that had been engaged in a state of "peaceful coexistence" during the Cold War.

The concert featured an eclectic mix of Western rock and Russian folk music, including a balalaika rendition of "Stairway to Heaven", and folk dancers performing to rock songs.

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The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for it's humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir.

Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, and performed in English, have themes such as 'vodka', 'tractors', 'rockets', and 'Genghis Khan', as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all with lots of humour.

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The Red Army Choir (Choir Aleksandrov) is a performing ensemble that served as the official army choir of the former Soviet Union's Red Army. The choir consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble. The songs they perform range from Russian folk tunes to Church hymns, operatic arias and popular music.
In 1991, The Red Army Choir participated in Roger Waters' The Wall concert celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. They performed an anti-war song "Bring the Boys Back Home".

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Red Army Choir has continued performing, entertaining audiences both inside and outside Russia.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Leningrad
• Cowboys
• Red
• Army
• Choir
• 1993
• Total
• Balalaika
• Show

[lmj22]

The Song of the Volga Boatmen is a well-known traditional Russian song and it is a genuine barge-haulers' shanty.

The song, also called The Volga Burlak's Song, was inspired by Repin's famous painting, Burlaks on the Volga, depicting the suffering of the people in the depth of misery in Czarist Russia.

The song was popularised by Feodor Chaliapin, and has been a favourite concert piece of bass singers ever since. Glenn Miller took the song to #1 in the US charts in 1941.

[itsspideyman]

Many thanks Imj22 for your information. A great clip and thanks for the info.

[markbickerton2]

A fantastic concert! I was lucky enough to be there at the time in Senaatintori

[mertremester]

@mti58312 spreading democracy bitchesss.

[mti58312]

was that an American flag in the crowd?

[Communismcomrade]

A Soviet singing "Happy Together". Fucking tuuuune!

[126allycat]

beats building tractors

[mjhastbacka]

This is one of the few songs that gives me chills.

[lyonesse1]

Can there be anything more inspiring? The former enemies singing together and when the very very traditional Soviet song comes the people in the audience (almost all Finns) are clapping hands to the rhythm? :) :)

[Kotot69]

Tractors and Cosmos. That's all I can think of at the moment =)

[chemistryguy100]

At 2:57, is that a horn?

[MRBOOGEYMAN100]

3.42 it's lenin :D