The Integral Group was formed in 1962. Its founders were students of the eighth grade of a comprehensive school in the city of Charska, which is located in the Semipalatinsk region of Kazakhstan.
Start
Among the founders was Boris Alibasov and Mikhail Arapov. It was these two musicians who created the jazz ensemble, which included several more guys. Alibasov in this group was on drums, performed vocals, and was also the immediate supervisor. The first of the songs of “Integral” was the song “When I went to Bembasha”. The guys took this composition from the repertoire of the Yugoslav collective.
In addition, the group "Integral", the composition of which was then from some teenagers, at that time played jazz music. In the same year, Bari Alibasov was expelled from high school for touring activities. This did not upset him. The group also continues to tour the nearby surroundings, give paid music concerts, visit major cities, including the regional center of Semipalatinsk. Alibasov was later reinstated in school, and in 1965 he graduated from it. The guys moved from Charsk to Ust-Kamenogorsk - the regional center of the East Kazakhstan region, where they entered a technical university.
Ust-Kamenogorsk
In Ust-Kamenogorsk, Arapov and Alibasov get a job at the Palace of Culture of Metallurgists, where they work as simple laborers. There, comrades revive their musical group, invite other students from their university to join it. Among these new entrants were Vladimir Senchenkov, who played the electric guitar, saxophonist and vocalist Vladimir Solovyov, and Anatoly Lepeshkin, who played the double bass. Then the group got its name "Integral".
Alibasov was still on drums, while still performing vocals. Arapov played the electric organ, which was rare in the USSR at that time.
Alibasov - head of the jazz ensemble
A year later, at the request of Leonid Kotovsky, the former director of the Palace of Culture, Bari Alibasov was appointed head of the jazz ensemble with the payment of a monetary allowance in the amount of 110 rubles. Members of the group begin to actively earn money by organizing concerts at the House of Culture. On the New Year holidays, the guys give several paid concerts in a row.
The repertoire of the group of those years consisted of singles of such famous rock'n'roll performers as Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard. However, Alibasov and his team focused on the twist, which by then had received official status in the Soviet Union.
Then the "Integral" begins to compose simple texts, put music on them. One of the first compositions written by Alibasov and Arapov was “Spring Rain”, which gained quite popularity among the masses.
Popularity
The Integral group, whose songs have already been heard by Kazakhs, is becoming very popular. To buy a ticket for a concert of a collective, one often had to stand in line for hours. Raising his professional level, Integral enters the regional theater, accompanies the production of two well-known performances.
Since 1966, the touring activity of the Integral Group began in the Altai Territory, East Kazakhstan and Semipalatinsk Regions. Alibasov, being the leader of the group, makes very stringent requirements for its other members. And this is connected not only with the musical component, but also with the visual. His demands on musicians regarding their facial expressions, emotions and plastics make many people leave the band.
In only two years, three soloists were replaced in the team who could not stand the hard work and power requirements of Alibasov.
Krakhin and Stefanenko. Experimental music
After some time, Alexander Krakhin and Alexander Stefanenko fall into the Alibasov team. With their arrival, the style and general direction of the music that the band performs are changing. Both Krakhin and Stefanenko were excellent musicians, but besides this they were also magnificent composers who were far from Soviet popular music. Both were fans of The Beatles, who, however, were not very praised by Alibasov. It was this difference in views, in musical interests, that helped expand the collective repertoire.
Alexander Krakhin composed songs, ballads, experimented and combined rock with classical and national music from countries such as China and India. Stefanenko also wrote songs, but they were more lyrical, similar to the style of groups such as The Doors, The Hollies, etc. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd had a very significant influence on the style of the group.
Alibasov tried to make his team not just a team, but a show group like Pink Floyd. To this end, he used all sorts of tricks and tricks to increase attractiveness and entertainment. He used, for example, several movie screens, on which certain specific subjects were shown during the performance of the group. At the concerts, magnificent scenery appeared, and special attention was paid to lighting effects.
1969 became a significant year for the group - the team goes on a tour of Kazakhstan, gives a concert in the capital Alma-Ata. The whole of Kazakhstan is becoming aware of the group; leading Kazakh newspapers write about it. At the same time, Mikhail Arapov marries Valentina Svistkova, and Alibasov begins a conflict with the rest of the participants over the then-famous singer Aza Romanchuk. The result is that Alibasov in 1969 leaves to serve in the army. The rock group "Integral" suspends its work for two years.