Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (Russian: Влади́мир Семёнович Высо́цкий, 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980) was a Soviet Russian singer, poet, and actor, or "bard". He is often considered the greatest of the Soviet bards.
He started out acting in Hamlet and Life of Galileo, but soon fell out of official favor due to the material in his songs. While the Soviet government encouraged positivism in music, Vysotsky preferred to sing about the harsh realities of life, always strumming his seven-string guitar. Several of his songs appeared in movies, and throughout the late 1960s and the 1970s he was popular underground. He died in 1980 of heart failure brought on by drug abuse, and over a million people lined the streets of Moscow at his funeral.
He has been compared to Alexander Pushkin, Bob Dylan, Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens.
Discography:
- Алиса в стране чудес / Alice in Wonderland (1977) [2 vinyls] — Musical play, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, with Klara Rumyanova, Vladimir Vysotsky, Vsevolod Abdulov. Lyrics and music: Vladimir Vysotsky
- Le Monument (1995) [CD]
- Le Vol Arrêté (2000) [CD]
- Wir drehen die Erde (1993) [CD]
- Lieder vom Krieg (1995) [CD]
- Песни/Songs (1980) [LP] Melodiya. Collection of songs published shortly after his death.
- Sons Are Leaving For Battle (1987) [double LP] Melodiya. War songs. Archive recordings from between 1960-1980.
- На концертах Владимира Высоцкого / At Vladimir Vysotsky's concerts.
- Marina Vlady / Vladimir Vysotsky (1996) [CD] [Melodiya]
- MP3 Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky [So Lyd Records]
- Platinovaya Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky (2003) [2 CDs]
Roles:
- The Living And The Dead (1963)
- Vertical (1967)
- Two Comrades Were Serving (1968)
- The Intervention (1968) (1969)
- A Bad Good Man (a.k.a. The Duel) (1973)
- How Tzar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (1978)
- The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979)
- Little Tragedies (1979)
His works features examples of:
- Ace Pilot
- Animate Inanimate Object: Vysotsky has songs from the point of view of a wrecked ship
, a fighter plane, a statue, a singer's microphone... - Badass Crew: "Black Jackets" and "Horizont Shines as Daggers Blade..."
- Badass Creed: "Black Gold" and "Penal Battalions."
- BSoD Song: "Only Neither, Only Nor"
- Butt-Monkey: Main characters in "The con Vasiliev and Petrov the con".
- Card-Carrying Villain: "Space Scum March"
- Death Mountain: Invoked in several of his songs. The mountaineering was a recurring topic for him.
- How Much More Can He Take?: Sentimental Boxer's Song
- Morality Ballad: too many to list
- Murder Ballad: "Private Borisov", "Spades not Hearts".
- The Power of Hate: "Ballad of Hate"
- Ripped from the Headlines: "Mao Zedong" and other songs denouncing Communist China
- Suicide by Cop: "Ballad of Triangle Envelope."
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: "Agent 007" song is very loosely based on Sean Connery's visit to Soviet Union in 1969.
- Villain Song: "Army Group Centre", written from the POV of soldiers from Nazi Germany.
