In the public life of the artist there must necessarily be some kind of understatement. Episodes hidden from prying eyes. Personal memories not intended for fans. And vice versa - stories invented especially for the public, emphasizing individuality and possessing the properties of perfect credibility. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish fiction from truth. This fully applies to the fate of the artist, whose name became a legend during his lifetime. This artist is Arkady Severny.
The inconsistency of his personality manifests itself even after a long time. Legends and inventions inextricably coexist with true life facts. And it is difficult to separate - where is the truth, and where is the legend accompanying the underground musician. One thing is for sure: Arkady Zvezdin, who later became famous under the pseudonym Arkady Severny, was born in the city of Ivanovo on March 12, 1939.
Parents: at the start of the journey
The usual life for Soviet people in the late 30s was dad, mother, two older brothers, Leva and Valik, Lyuda’s sister. After the war, the younger brother Misha was born. Information about parents - here some contradictions begin. Some argue that Dmitry Ivanovich Zvezdin worked on the Ivanovo Railway. According to other sources, his name was Dmitry Iosifovich. All sources agree on one thing - senior Zvezdin held a leadership position.
Information about the singer’s mother also varies. It is alleged that her name is Elena Makarovna. She was a housewife. Say, the head of the family who held responsible posts earned enough so that his wife could devote herself to raising four children. Others testify that their name was Galina Davidovna. By profession - radiologist. There is a definite purpose in this. After all, subsequently Arkady Severny, whose biography, nationality and habits of which would not be known to his admirers during his lifetime, will publish his songs in thousands of illegal circulations on "ribs". So-called flexible records on x-rays, which the first Soviet underground recording studios were able to adapt to cut the soundtrack.
The lifestyle in the family changed after the outbreak of war. The father, commissioned from the army after the Civil, still managed to send to the front. Apparently, he was a bold and uncompromising person. After all, he could avoid the front due to illness, but he did not use his privileges. And this quality - determination - was adopted by his rising son. Dmitry Ivanovich returned home in 1946. Just in time for the time when Arkady went to first grade 39 at the elementary school for men.
Parents could not assume that Arkady Severny, the world-famous performer of the Russian urban romance, would grow out of a thin first-grader, the discography of which would be studied many decades after his death.
School: first guitar chords
Maybe today not many people know that the elementary school in the Soviet Union was separate. Boys studied separately from girls. It was in such a men's team that the first 4 years of training passed. And then there was already a general school, which Arkady graduated in 1956. During his studies, he did not stand out, and his peers remembered him as a little shy and shy of noisy companies guy.
There is another noteworthy detail told by his cousin, Boris Soloviev, who was a year older. According to him, Arkady's clothes were poor, and his shoes were so worn out that Boris had to carry him through puddles. Apparently the "leading" salary of Dmitry Ivanovich was not enough for the whole family.
However, it was during school years that the boy mastered the guitar. Already at the age of 7 he learned to play pretty well for his age. This is not surprising - there was someone to take an example from. The head of the family loved music and often played music in the home circle. The guitar has become a true friend and companion of a young man. Everyone who knew him in his youthful years recalls that, beginning to sing, Arkady was transformed. The repertoire was unpretentious. Some of the songs heard on the radio - yard, thieves, front-line. At an older age, camp and prison compositions appeared. This was not surprising - a lot of people passed through the barracks and shipments behind barbed wire, and the “zonovsky” folklore confidently registered in the alleys and wastelands, which became the scene of the first courtyard concerts of Arkady Zvezdin. But there was another man who spurred his interest in forbidden songs.
Sister
At that time, hand-written collections of songs flourished. There were military compositions, which were collected by boys who grew up on the stories of fathers and elder brothers about the war, and romantic poems, carefully rewritten in a notebook in even girlish style. A completely different songbook was presented to Arkady by her elder sister Lyudmila. She, having served time in a household article, brought with her a collection of unpretentious camp songs. They became the basis of the yard repertoire of the novice musician. He did not know in those years that this folklore would make him famous throughout the country. And with the rapture of a true artist to the guitar accompaniment, he selflessly performed songs born in prisons and camps.
There is a story that, instead of lessons, Arkady sang songs in nearby pubs, from where teachers, led by the school principal, extracted him. It was hardly so. Because the times were severe, and for such "pranks" they could very well be expelled from school. But Zvezdin received a certificate of secondary education in due time, in 1956. In 1958 (according to other sources in 1957) he became a student at the Forestry Engineering Academy in Leningrad, better known as the Sawmill. Pretty weird choice for a guy who has never been attracted to forestry.
And it is not known what he did after graduation. It was not customary to mess around at that time. Most likely, parents were tired of yard concerts, and they sent Arkady away from his native Ivanovo. And the choice of an educational institution is easily explained. Dmitry Ivanovich Zvezdin for some time served as director of the Forestry College in the Gorky Region. It is possible that he took advantage of old acquaintances. In the same 1958, Arkady's father passed away. And the son began a new phase of life. Leningrad for a long time became his hometown.
Sawmill: study and more
The student period in the life of Arkady Zvezdin can be described very briefly - he was not interested in studying at all. He attended classes, passed tests and exams, but the sphere of interest of the young man was far from the professional activity of the future forestry engineer.
The free, and even anti-Soviet sentiments of the student body at the turn of the 60s could not pass by the visiting provincial. He gets acquainted with students from other universities. The guitar opens the way for him to any company. Arkady reads books with interest, for which they could give a prison term under a very unpleasant article. But fate kept him for other purposes. And politics was not too interested in the young man. Although many of his student acquaintances nevertheless went down the stage for their free thought.
Another thing is music. Leningrad streets were saturated with a wide variety of rhythms. Everywhere reigned the sounds of jazz and fiery rock and roll. Of course, in Ivanovo they knew about such music. But knowing and listening is not the same thing. In a city full of sailors and foreigners, there was an opportunity to get acquainted with real music that came "from there", directly from abroad. Arkady makes acquaintances with people involved in collecting and reselling records. It was at this time that the meeting took place, which influenced his entire future biography.
Rudolph Fuchs
Despite his youth, he was a kind of celebrity. Student of the Shipbuilding Institute, Fuchs became famous as a successful collector, speculator and dude. His area of ​​interest was diverse: from new foreign records to old, pre-revolutionary Russian books. It was precisely the interest in the works of I. S. Barkov, a poet of pre-Pushkin time, that led Arkady Zvezdin to Fuchs's apartment.
The guests who were with Rudolph at this time did not allow him to devote much time to his new acquaintance. After handing the book to Arkady and leaving him alone in the room, Fuchs returned to the company of other guests. A casual visitor was not interested in him. Of course, on this their passing acquaintance was supposed to end, but chance intervened in the matter. More precisely, the guitar that was in the room, and Arkady could not refrain from picking it up.
Sorting strings did not immediately penetrate the thick walls of the old Leningrad apartment. The first impression is that someone is playing a tape recorder. But the lyrics were unfamiliar, and the sounds of the guitar came very close. Through a loose door, Rudolf Fuchs saw his random guest - he fingered the strings with detachment and sang. Sang not for the public and not for Fuchs. He sang for himself. The enterprising and experienced Rudolph immediately realized that money can be made from this singing. The impromptu concert lasted several hours. The slightly cracked, silvery voice of Arkady did not leave indifferent among the first listeners - guests of Rudolf Fuchs and his neighbors. From this day, the paths of Arkady and Rudolph were closely intertwined for a long time.
The first record (1963)
No sooner said than done. Without delay, Rudolf Fuchs prepared everything necessary for recording the first tape album. A small team of like-minded people, an accordion, a guitar, ten bottles of vodka and a head of cabbage. There was also a pianist and saxophonist - the only professional musician among the audience.
We drank, had a bite, and the underground recording session began. In fact, it was a simple home music playing. And the repertoire of Arkady was small - only a few dozen songs that fit on a couple of tape reels. But the process of recording and gathering “under the cabbage” lasted all day. The output turned out to be a little more than two hours of phonogram. The name of the concert was given in the first words of the recording, which Arkady said through the noise of a makeshift reverb: “Oh, I love thieves' life, but I'm afraid to steal!”
About that, to release the recorded songs "to the people" under the real name of the artist, not even a thought arose. I needed a pseudonym. Someone suggested - Arkady Severny. The biography of the legend has begun. Even Arkady himself did not take what was happening seriously - all this was more like a game. But the record was made, and the process, as they say, began.
A professional editor on Leningrad radio made a completely “commodity” phonogram. Through acquaintances, Rudolf Fuchs begins to distribute it - first in Leningrad, and then in other cities. At the same time, the recording is replicated in the old proven way - on an x-ray film. And everywhere a new name is indicated - Arkady Severny. And it was remembered by fans of the underground "Russian chanson."
Arkady and Rudolph (1963–1971)
The year 1965 has come. Arkady Zvezdin (North) finally graduated from Sawmill and began to work. Then there was military service. A graduate of the university Zvezdin got to serve in a helicopter regiment near Leningrad. This was followed by the marriage and birth of a daughter (1971). Life went on the track. But there was a problem - there was always not enough money. In search of additional income, I had to revive old acquaintances.
For Rudolph, this period was also eventful. True, a slightly different kind. His underground music business still attracted the attention of the police. While Arkady Severny, created by him, whose biography flowed in line with Soviet life, was finishing his studies, in 1965 he received a prison term for falsifying documents. After his release, he began to work at Lenproekt, but he did not give up his old passions and was in an endless search for any opportunity to earn money.
In such circumstances, a revival of acquaintance promised benefits for both of them. The business pressure of Fuchs and the name of Severny, which is still well-known among amateurs, gave good prospects for a new joint musical project.
Program for the State Concert (1972)
The idea was not new. Fuchs decided to use the already tested theme - Odessa humor and songs. Arkady Severny was supposed to play the role of the old Odessa. The director and screenwriter of the new program, Rudolph, launched an ebullient activity - his plan was wider than a simple vocal performance of songs with a guitar. Fuchs needed the imaginative, catchy humor of old Odessa. He wanted to do something that had not yet been released in the underground Magizdat. He processed old and famous Odessa jokes, invented new stories. In a word, Fuchs plunged into the creative process with his head, and to achieve his goal he awakened literary abilities.
The performer liked the finished script. Arkady Severny, whose biography was never associated with the Black Sea, possessed innate artistry. He quickly was able to imagine himself in the proposed Odessa flavor. It’s even difficult to describe in what scenario way this musical project was implemented. Small sketches from Jewish-Odessa life interspersed with songs or, conversely, songs, between which sounded small stylized miniatures.
The success was truly overwhelming. In a short time, the album was distributed throughout the Soviet Union. Not stopping there, the enterprising Rudolph quickly prepares a second program. This time a flurry of Odessa humor is clothed in the form of a concert upon request. The second record secured success. It is not known for certain how many copies of these two albums were made, but since that time Arkady Severny has become a real star in the underground music industry.
"Star" of forbidden music
It is clear that the all-Union glory that fell on Arcadia did not make his face recognizable. But the voice of the North was known from Sakhalin to Brest. The enterprising shadow dealers, whom ironically called Soviet collectors, continued to earn on the popular artist. Arkady Severny also gained musical experience. The biography of the heroes of his songs grew into something personal and dear.
The period from 1973 to 1978 was filled with recordings in some hastily organized studios and illegal concerts. By 1975, they recorded “Luka Mudischev”, “First Odessa concert”, “Oh, mommy!”.
The forbidden music industry has already outgrown the level of performance of Odessa songs with a guitar. For recording began to attract professional musicians. Most often, such groups were found in restaurants. Under uncomplicated names, they participated in recording songs. The artist performed to the accompaniment of the “Pearl Brothers” and “The Black Sea Gull”. “Four Brothers and a Shovel”, “The Godfathers” and “Traffic Light” - all this motley kaleidoscope of fantasies at different stages musically accompanied the main star with a memorable surname - Severny. Arkady Dmitrievich quickly got used to fame.
Final chord
It is not surprising that a fun artistic life broke the simple human fate of Arkady. In 1975, he left his wife and daughter. Since that time, singer Arkady Severny has practically become a homeless man. Life with friends and casual acquaintances, recordings, moving - all this hectic and stressful life left a heavy imprint on Arkady's habits. He began to drink. Several attempts to get rid of addiction did not give a lasting positive result. Although after treatment in 1977, a sober life lasted a whole year.
From 1977 to 1979, Arkady Severny travels a lot. It is recorded in Kiev and Odessa. Next were Narva, Feodosia, Moscow, Tikhoretsk and Rostov-on-Don. One can only be surprised at how a person moved around the country who, by then, had already lost all his documents. In fact, any police outfit could interrupt Arkady's career at the first check. But fate kept a talented musician.
In early April 1980, the singer arrived in Leningrad - all the Zvezdin brothers gathered here to commemorate the date of the death of his father. Arkady Severny the death of his father experienced his whole life and simply could not come. Stopped, as always, with friends. Here the misfortune happened - a severe stroke. The ambulance brigade that arrived at the call was powerless. April 12, 1980 in the hospital. Mechnikov really died a national artist - Arkady Severny. The cause of death is a stroke with extensive cerebral hemorrhage. Exactly a month before this day he was 41 years old.
It is impossible to say with certainty what creative legacy remains after this bright performer. More than 100 tape albums are known. Unfortunately, the current generation is unlikely to remember who Arkady Severny is. Biography, photos, memories of friends and eyewitnesses - that's all that remains of this talented person. Everything seems to be already known and found. But new collectors do not stop searching. From time to time, lost records are found, and Arkady’s voice from electronic media again pronounces the legendary words: “Do you want songs? I have them! ”
And to the cemetery of the Leningrad crematorium, where Arkady Severny is buried, people still bring flowers.