Soloists of the group aquarium. Boris Grebenshchikov is the founder and permanent leader of the rock group "Aquarium" (8 photos). At different times, together with the group they played

When in 1972 Anatoly Gunitsky and Boris Grebenshchikov founded “ Aquarium”, They could not even imagine that the group would become a cult for many generations of rock music lovers. In the early years, the collective practically did not give concerts, but recorded several magnetic albums ("The Temptation of the Holy Aquarium", "Minuet to the Farmer", "The Parables of the Count Diffuser" and others). Regular concert activity of the group began in 1976, two years later the first album was created, which became popular ("All Brothers - Sisters", together with Mike Naumenko).

In 1980, "Aquarium" performs at a rock festival in Tbilisi and is remembered for its shocking. Grebenshchikov was expelled from the Komsomol for eccentric behavior and fired from his job.

The Blue Album, released in January 1981, is considered the group's first "historical" album. In the autumn of the same year, the Leningrad Rock Club, which later became famous throughout the country, was opened, which accepted the group into its ranks, and in 1983 the group participates in the first rock festival held in Leningrad. The famous and to this day composition "Rock and Roll is Dead" appeared in the album "Radio Africa", released in the same year.

In 1983, "Aquarium" entered the top three Soviet rock groups. In the summer of the following year, the "Day of the Silver" was recorded, which is still considered one of the best projects groups. The songs of the album are sustained in the corporate style of "Aquarium": meditative, slightly incomprehensible texts with a distinct philosophical overtones.

The group did not give large-scale concerts, which is also explained by the specifics of the time. However, in 1987 the first official disc published by Melodiya appeared. After the release of the disc, "Aquarium" began to appear in television programs and finally "came out of the underground." The songs of the group sounded in the film "Assa", in 1987 the second album was released on "Melodiya", but Grebenshchikov remained dissatisfied with the disc.

The next year "Aquarium" gave its first concert abroad, but Grebenshchikov devoted more and more time to solo projects, so the group's activities soon stopped.

In the early nineties, Grebenshchikov created BG-Band, which included some of the musicians who took part in the activities of the Aquarium. The group recorded the legendary “Russian Album”, in which, as the name implies, “Russian” style and “Russian” song tradition became dominant.

The second, equally famous, album, sustained in the "Russian style", was "Kostroma mon amour", recorded by the renewed "Aquarium", which began operations in the fall of 1992.

The songs of the early nineties combine waltz rhythms, allusions to Russian folklore and Buddhism, and rare instruments such as the harpsichord and double bass are gradually being used.

The "third convocation" of the group began its activity in 1999 and worked until 2013, when it was announced that the group was terminated in the previous format (over the years, the albums "Careless Russian Tramp", "Songs of a Fisherman", "Pushkinskaya, 10" were recorded and etc.). But the members of the group changed several times, so the composition can hardly be called fixed. All this time, Grebenshchikov combined participation in a group and a solo career. In 2012 passed anniversary concerts groups, rare and archival recordings were published.

Several books and full-scale studies, many scientific articles have been written about Aquarium, and Grebenshchikov published his works in two volumes.

“God is light, and there is no darkness in him,” - this is how Boris Grebenshchikov sings in the song “Day of Joy”. An intellectual singer, founder and permanent leader of the Aquarium rock group, a spiritual practitioner and philosopher who chose the Christian abbreviation Gd for himself as a pseudonym, celebrated his birthday yesterday, and we recall his work, loved by more than one generation of those who gave birth to the sound of marches.

Boris Grebenshchikov is a singer, musician and philosopher.

BG is a cult musician. Fans know that, despite the apparent simplicity, his work is multi-layered and multifaceted. Writing like BG is not difficult, at first glance, but feeling and living like him is not an easy task.

"Aquarium" was founded by Boris Grebenshchikov and poet Anatoly Gunitsky in 1972 (according to Gunitsky, the name of the group was given by analogy with the name of the beer bar "Aquarium", Grebenshchikov rejects this version, saying that the symbolic word flashed among a dozen other options by accident) , and in the first years the group existed semi-basement, one could only dream of concerts and performances. The debut acoustic album was recorded in 1978, and two years later, Aquarium was included in the list of banned groups (in fact, BG became the first Soviet punk), Grebenshchikov was expelled from the Komsomol and fired from his job. In a word, the musicians live a history typical of the Soviet era.

Boris Grebenshchikov in his youth

Then there were years of underground work, forbidden concerts, apartment owners. In 1988, the group managed to travel to Montreal, where the musicians performed at a conference against nuclear war. Their songs are to the liking of the audience, but the band members do not receive a fee, the organizers compensate for the travel expenses, although this was enough by the standards of that time. The following year in America, Grebenshchikov manages to publish the first English-language album.

Boris Grebenshchikov in his youth

The composition of the "Aquarium" group changed several times, various musicians were involved in the studio work. BG is an experimenter in matters of form and content. In addition to collective and solo musical projects, he is busy with literature, filming in films and playing in the theater, organizing personal photo exhibitions. Spiritual practices and translations of Buddhist books occupy a special place in his life. By the way, about translations. In Soviet times, Grebenshchikov became famous for making the first translation of Tolkien's immortal saga "The Lord of the Rings".

Boris Grebenshchikov in the recording studio of Aquarium, 2001

Today, the “Aquarium” has dozens of wonderful songs, some of which were written under the impression of real events that took place in the life of the musician. So, the song "This city is on fire" appeared in 1987. The musician composed it on the train when, while touring the USSR, he saw oil rigs blazing like torches outside the window.

Boris Grebenshchikov and Viktor Tsoi. BG became the first producer of the Kino group

The versions of the song “212-85-06” are also interesting. So, according to one of them, this number really belonged to BG. True, the musician himself says that he invented it arbitrarily, since the numbers fit well with the rhythm. The song quickly gained popularity, but the apartment in which this number was carried was besieged by the fans with calls. Someone constantly tried to call the number, and after six months the phone was simply forced to turn off.

Boris Grebenshchikov with his son Gleb at the Saigon cafe. (Leningrad, 1980s).

Boris Grebenshchikov. 1980s. ">

Group "Aquarium". Boris Grebenshchikov. 1980s.

AQUARIUM, Russian rock group (Leningrad, Petersburg). This group, led by its charismatic leader - songwriter, poet and singer Boris Grebenshchikov - occupies a special place in the history of Russian rock. Her work in the early 80s served as a catalyst for future changes, having a tremendous impact on the consciousness of at least two generations of listeners; it helped enrich the rather meager language of the then rock movement with the achievements of world culture and gave rise to a new artistic phenomenon.

"Aquarium" was created in July 1972 by Boris Grebenshchikov (p. November 27, 1952, Leningrad), at that time a student at the Faculty of Mathematics of Leningrad University, and his school friend, aspiring playwright Anatoly "George" Gunitsky. At first, AQUARIUM existed not so much as a real group, but as an idea, reflecting the mixed interest of its co-founders in music, Eastern philosophy and the theater of the absurd. At first, being more a company of friends and like-minded people than a regular group, AQUARIUM could not acquire a stable form and composition for a long time, torn between rock and roll and the amateur theater of Leningrad University (later Eric Goroshevsky's studio theater), whose repertoire was based on plays by Gunitsky.

Grebenshchikov's first public appearance took place in the spring of 1973 during a nighttime rock festival in one of the suburbs of Leningrad, where he sang two songs by Kat Stevens. The very same "AQUARIUM" (after lengthy rehearsals and rare appearances at the university) consisting of: Grebenshchikov (guitar and vocals), Andrey "Dyusha" Romanov (flute, guitar, vocals), Mikhail "Fan" Vasiliev and Gunitsky (drums), debuted in November 1974, while warming up the hall for the "BIG IRON BELL" ("BZHK"), and attracted the attention of the public with a very extravagant appearance and the strange content of the songs, and not the ability to play, but since then has established itself among the most active participants in the St. Petersburg rock scene. The place of the final choice of the theater Gunitsky after a series of random replacements was taken by Mikhail "Michael" Kordyukov (ex- "NOMADS", "IDEA FIX", "BZHK", "GULF STREAM", etc.); violinist Nikolai Markov and cellist Vsevolod Gakkel came from the acoustic-folklore "AQUARELS". The first, however, soon went into the army, and the second remained for a long time an integral element of the musical formula of "AQUARIUM". The band performed regularly in the mid-70s; at home she recorded several interesting, albeit imperfect in quality, magnetic albums, and in 1976, together with the famous collector and researcher of BEATLES creativity Nikolai Vasin, she laid the foundation for one of the most important traditions of St. Petersburg rock - holidays and concerts timed to coincide with the birthdays of the legendary four.

In the same year "AQUARIUM" on its own initiative went to the Tallinn rock festival, where it even received a prize "for the most diverse program", and a little later visited Moscow for the first time. Kordyukov was successively replaced by Vladimir Boluchevsky and Sergei Plotnikov (from the "CAPITAL REPAIR" group), for a while Olga Pershina, known later, sang with "AQUARIUM". "Fan" went into the army, and Gakkel took the bass guitar in his hands. In February 1977, a student of the conservatory, Alexander "Fagot" Aleksandrov (bassoon), appeared in the group, but six months later, together with Romanov, he also went into the army, from which Vasiliev had returned shortly before.

Reduced composition: Grebenshchikov, Vasiliev, Gakkel, who periodically joined Kordyukov and Mikhail "Mike" Naumenko (guitar, vocals), "AQUARIUM" performed at concerts with an acoustic repertoire, in the summer of 1978 held a mini-festival of acoustic rock (which resulted in a joint album BG and Mike), and in March 1979 he became a guest of the Tartu Rock Festival.

During this period, the creativity of "AQUARIUM" experienced a powerful impact new wave- primarily reggae and punk rock. The group demonstrated its new style at rock festivals in Chernogolovka near Moscow (November 1979) and in Tbilisi (March 1980), where it produced the effect of an exploding bomb with a raw, harsh, discordant sound, openly shocking lyrics and overt stage aggression. The concert of "AQUARIUM" was filmed by Finnish television, they were received with a bang by radical musicians and journalists, although most of the audience and the jury remained, rather, bewildered - the time for such music had not yet come.

In the spring of 1980, drummer Yevgeny Guberman left the group (ZAROK, later ZOOPARK, ALLEGRO, etc.), but a bluesman Dmitry "Red Devil" Gusev (harmonica) appeared. "AQUARIUM" returned to semi-acoustic sounding again. At the end of 1980, an intense and defining event began. further destiny of the group, the collaboration of "AQUARIUM" with musician and sound engineer Andrei Tropillo, who at that time tried to instill in amateur rock a taste for album thinking. "AQUARIUM" turned out to be a fertile material for him.

The opening of the Leningrad Rock Club (March 7, 1981), of which AQUARIUM became a member from the first days, almost coincided with the release of their first studio work with Tropillo, “ Blue Album". In spite of limited opportunities that the rock club could provide to its members, for "AQUARIUM" it was a chance to embody on the stage much of what was conceived, but unrealistic before.

The composition of the group continued to change: Gusev (later with "DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS" and all kinds of blues projects) and Aleksandrov (later in "SOUNDS OF MU") left; in the spring of 1981 drummer Alexander Kondrashkin came from PIKNIK; in the process of working on the next studio project, Sergei Kuryokhin, known both on the rock scene and in the world of jazz, was involved as a pianist and arranger. He, as well as guitarists Vladimir Kozlov, Vladimir Levi ("TAMBURIN"), singer Olga Pershina participated in the recording of perhaps the best album in the biography of AQUARIUM " Triangle"(1981).

New ideas, the number of which increased significantly with the addition of Kuryokhin to the main line-up of the group, required a new embodiment, so Alexander Lyapin (guitar; ex- “WELL WEATHER”), Pyotr Troshchankov (drums; ex- “PIKNIK »), Igor Butman (saxophone). Each new album groups (" Taboo"In 1982," Radio Africa”In 1983) expanded her musical horizons and became the subject of scrupulous study in rock music circles throughout the country.

Following the proclaimed at the beginning of its musical career principle: “it's not the form, but the content that matters”, BG and the company decisively experimented with both style (that's why at different stages the group, feeling its own musical language, went through hobbies for psychedelia, folk-baroque, hard-, art- and jazz-rock, punk, reggae, "new wave", etc.), and with the composition (as a result of which "AQUARIUM" could look on stage as a string quartet, a jazz combo, a traditional rock band, a big rock band with a powerful brass section , and sometimes turned into a duet, for example, an acoustic guitar and a fretless bass or cello, without losing its characteristic sound). Under the influence of Kuryokhin's ideas in the mid-80s, AQUARIUM for some time was fond of free forms music, collaborated with V. Chekasin and V. Ponomareva. Grebenshchikov took part in solo projects and recordings of Kuryokhin.

In 1983-84 "AQUARIUM" becomes a laureate of the 1st and 2nd rock club festivals, in October 1983 it was reinforced by bassist Alexander Titov, and in August 1984 violinist Alexander Kussul (tragically died in August 1986, crossing the Volga). Nevertheless, tension was created within the group, exacerbated by the contradiction between its real popularity and official status. The matter ended with the fact that in the fall of 1984 "AQUARIUM" actually disintegrated. Kuryokhin performed with his experimental orchestra POPULARNAYA MECHANIKA, Lyapin with his own blues band TELE U, Vasiliev joined ZOO. Therefore, at the 3rd festival of the rock club (1985), composed of: Grebenshchikov, Kuryokhin, Titov, Troshchenkov, Kondrashkin and Chekasin (under the transparent pseudonym Vladimir Ponomarev), "AQUARIUM", despite all its stardom, sounded dry and cold, leaving the hall is indifferent. An attempt to change the sound formula once again by inviting a gifted new jazz guitarist Andrey Otryaskin (JUNGLE) was curious in itself, but turned out to be just as unproductive.

In September 1985, "AQUARIUM", to the delight of the army of its admirers, was reformed in its classical (or rather, one of the classic) line-up, which performed with triumph at the 4th festival of the rock club and was - as a sign of merit to the St. Petersburg rock n-roll - marked with his "Grand Prix". In the summer of 1986, a double album prepared by Joanna Stingray was released in the USA Red wave, one of the sides of which was provided to "AQUARIUM". The Western press reacted very favorably to the album, unlike the domestic one, but times changed - the era of glasnost and perestroika began. And in the fall of the same year, the group begins performing recitals at the Yubileiny Sports Palace (which became a sign of legalization of both AQUARIUM itself and all domestic rock), and also participates in the joint festival of the Leningrad Rock Club and the Moscow Rock Laboratory at DK MEI (Moscow).

On the initiative of Tropillo, Melodiya released two albums of the group; a number of her songs sounded in the sensational perestroika film by Sergei Solovyov "ASSA" (which laid the foundation for the director's long-term collaboration with Grebenshchikov and Kuryokhin); began "aquarium" - the hype in the press around the group and its leader, inspired by an enthusiastic article in "Ogonyok" by Andrey Voznesensky "White Nights of Boris Grebenshchikov." Ivan Voropaev (viola) and Andrey "Ryusha" Reshetin (violin) were introduced to the string group "AQUARIUM". The group toured extensively, meeting crowds of enthusiastic fans everywhere.

In April 1988, Grebenshchikov signed a contract with the American company CBS / Columbia. In June, AQUARIUM visited Canada, where he performed at a concert organized by Doctors for a Nuclear-Free World at the Forum Hall in Montreal. Grebenshchikov spent the second half of 1988 and most of 1989 abroad, recording his album and implementing other musical projects.

Left to themselves, the members of his group began to implement their personal plans: Lyapin organized his "EXPERIENCES", with which he toured throughout the country; Romanov, Vasiliev, Reshetin plus Kordyukov and accordionist Sergei Shchurakov united under the name "TRILISTNIK", Voropaev performed with the Kolomna group "ADO".

The songs of "AQUARIUM" sounded in the films "Ivanov" (directors A. Nekhoroshev, A. Ilkhovsky, 1982), "Darling, dear, beloved, the only one" (directed by D. Asanova, 1984), "ASSA" (1987), "Black a rose is an emblem of sadness, a red rose is an emblem of love ”(1989) and“ House under the Starry Sky ”(1992) by S. Solovyov; the band members were one of the heroes documentary"Rock" (directed by A. Uchitel, 1987) and the main ones - in the tape "Long Way Home" (directed by M. Aptid, 1989, USA). In the 1990s. the group recorded several new albums, reissued collections of their best songs... The musicians toured extensively and took part in a number of interesting joint projects.

In the 2000s, the work of AQUARIUM did not undergo noticeable changes. Two new albums have been released: "Sister Chaos"(2002) and "Songs of a Fisherman"(2003). Grebenshchikov remained true to himself in the style of the performed compositions and the sophistication of the arrangements. In particular, the famous representative of ethnic music Jivan Gasparyan (duduk) took part in the recording of the first album. The second album was recorded with the participation of a whole group of Indian musicians who played their national instruments.

Andrey Burlaka

Discography:

Archive. Volume 3 (SNC Records, CD, 1990)
Library of Babylon (SoLyd Records, CD, 1993)
Favorite songs of Ramses IV (Triarius, CD, 1993)
Aquarium (Triarii, CD, MC, LP, 1994)
Silver Day (Triarius, CD, 1994)
Children of December (Triarius, CD, 1994)
Kostroma mon amour (Triarius, CD, 1994)
Red Wave (SNC Records, 1994)
On Taganka (SoLyd Records, 1994)
The Sands of Petersburg (Triarius, CD, 1994)
Taboo (Triarius, CD, 1994)
Triangle (Triarius, 1994)
Sounds of the Northern Capital (Moroz Records, 1995)
Navigator (Triarius, CD, 1995)
We Go East (Moroz Records, 1995)
Electroshock (concert at GlavAPU on June 4, 1992) (Vykhod Branch, CD, 1995)
Acoustics (Triarius, CD, 1996)
Radio Africa (Triarius, 1996)
Snow Lion (Triarius, CD, 1996)
Equinox (Triarius, 1996)
Blue Album (Triarius, 1996)
Ten arrows (Triarius, 1996)
Assa (L-Junction, 1996)
Radio London (SoLyd Records, CD, 1996)
Chubchik (SoLyd Records, CD, 1996)
Reader 1980-87 (Triarius, 1997)
Hyperborea (SoLyd Records, 1997)
Russian-Abyssinian Orchestra (SoLyd Records, CD, 1997)
Lilith (1997)
Kunstkamera (1998)
Best Songs (1999)
Y (1999)
Terrarium "Pentagonal Sin" (2000)
Territory (2000)
Sister Chaos (Union, 2002)
Fisherman's Songs (CD Land + / CD Land Records, 2003)

Boris Grebenshchikov (early 1980s).

Boris Grebenshchikov with his daughter Alice.

Boris Grebenshchikov (early 1990s).

Group "Aquarium". Boris Grebenshchikov. 1990s.

Group "Aquarium" during a trip to Japan.

Group "Aquarium". Album cover "Hyperborea".

Andrey Romanov.

Alexander Titov.

Alexander Lyapin.

Group "Aquarium". Vsevolod Gakkel.

Grebenshchikov Boris, Boris Grebenshchikov
834 rebounds, of which 9 this month

Biography

- a group that stood and stands at the origins of Russian rock. Founded by Boris Grebenshchikov (BG) and his friend Anatoly Gunitsky (Anatoly Gunitsky, aka George, Stary Roker) in July 1972 in Leningrad.

Aquarium was founded as a postmodern poetry and musical project. Thirty years later, BG will describe this project as follows:
"I have a simple approach. Bob Marley said:" Who are playing with me is Wailers "- those who play with me are Wailers. If people are interested in playing with me, it will be" Aquarium ". It will not be me personally , because when we work together, we do everything together. If people are interested in playing this music, then this is “Aquarium.” (From an interview with BG “Our Radio”, Bryansk, 2002.)

According to the widespread version, the name of the group was suggested by Gunitsky when he saw a beer bar called "Aquarium" on Budapest Street in Leningrad (this institution was closed in the 1980s). But here is what Boris Grebenshchikov himself says about this:

This is the version of my friend Tolya Gunitskiy, with whom we founded Aquarium in the summer of 1972. But I absolutely and completely disagree with her. Because I was never interested in beer - not then, not now. And I firmly know that the name "Aquarium" was invented in the very middle of the present Trinity Bridge across the Neva, approximately between the middle and the exit from the bridge to Peter and Paul Fortress, as a result of the fact that we went through all possible words for three days.<…>We walked around the city, drove around the city, moved around by all methods and threw ourselves for three days, without sleep or rest, in combinations of words, one of which was to become the name of the group. For two and a half days we were engaged in this, and at about 5 pm on this bridge, either he or I, I can’t say this anymore, said: “Aquarium”. We stopped, looked at each other and said “Oh! May be". (BG for BBC, London, 2007.)

At first, the group did not go beyond rehearsals, but, according to some reports, in 1972 the group still gave one small concert outside the city. According to other sources, the first performance took place in the Leningrad restaurant "Tryum" near the Central Park of Culture and Leisure, and the first fee was 50 rubles in cash.

The first line-up of the group was as follows: BG, George (drums), Alexander Tsatsanidi (bass), Alexander Vasiliev (keyboards), Valery Obogrelov (sound). At the end of 1972, guitarist Edmund Shklyarsky, later the leader of the Picnic group, rehearsed with Aquarium for a short time. In January 1973 bassist Mikhail "Fan" Feinstein-Vasiliev, the first professional musician in Aquarium, appeared. In the same year, Andrey "Dyusha" Romanov joined the group as a keyboard player; soon, under the influence of the playing of Richard Mayer and Ian Anderson, he retrained as a flutist.

In 1973, "Aquarium" has its first concert experience, but the group still rarely performs: all this time, "Aquarium" almost does not perform, but sits mainly in the south, drinks port wine and sings songs (its own and the Beatles) or rehearsals at the faculty PM. The equipment is in the back room, and it is enough to occasionally play at weddings. (From an interview with BG)

"Prehistoric" albums

The first magnetic albums of the Aquarium date back to 1973. In January - February during the holidays BG and George recorded "The Temptation of the Holy Aquarium". The album was produced using home recording technology and the sound quality naturally left a lot to be desired. "The Temptation of the Holy Aquarium" has long been considered lost, but in 1997 the recording was discovered and released in 2001 on CD as part of the collection "Prehistoric Aquarium".

Soon, another short album "Minuet to the Farmer" was prepared, but this record seems to have been completely lost.

The third album was called The Proverbs of the Count Diffuser. It was recorded by BG, George, Fan and Dusha Romanov. None of the band members remember the exact time of the recording, but most likely it was the spring of 1974.

In 1974 the group participates in an amateur theater performing plays of the absurd on the steps of the Engineering Castle. After the theater was headed by a professional director Eric Goroshevsky, Grebenshchikov became disillusioned with the idea of ​​synthesizing rock, poetry and theater, and Aquarium concentrated on musical activity (however, the group finally separated from the theater only in 1977). George left the group, but continued to communicate with its members.

In 1975 cellist Vsevolod "Seva" Gakkel appeared in "Aquarium".
"In the summer, we, as a rule, rarely went where, preferring to wander around the city. We went from place to place and played everywhere - usually in the open air. Our group, unlike everyone else, was the only mobile band in the world - an acoustic guitar , cello, flute - that's all ... We played in the Engineering Castle, in all sorts of parks, around the Faculty of Applied Mathematics - anywhere. We practically lived on the street - and so we spent most of our time. " (From an interview with the Izvestia newspaper on August 28, 2006)

Since 1976, "Aquarium" begins to conduct a fairly regular concert activities... The first joint concert of BG, Gakkel and Dyusha Romanov took place on February 25, 1976, and on March 10, "Aquarium" (BG, Dyusha, Fan, Seva, Kordyukov ...) travels with their own money as an uninvited guest to the Tallinn Popular Music Festival, where they play four acoustic songs and receives a prize for the most interesting and varied program (there are some doubts about the reliability of the latest information). They also meet Andrei Makarevich there.

In 1976, the album "On the other side of the mirror glass" appeared, and in 1978 - a joint album with Mike Naumenko "All brothers - sisters".

In 1978, it was relatively quiet, BG got fired up with the work of Bob Dylan and wrote songs all summer ("Who Stole the Rain", "You Will Go Your Own Way", "Road 21", "Steel", "Why the Sky Doesn't Fall"). In the summer of the same year he recorded a solo "long play" with Mike (Mikhail Naumenko, known for the songs "You are rubbish", "My sweet N"). It was called "All Brothers - Sisters" and was sold throughout the Union in a mind-boggling amount - about 20 pieces. The popularity of "Aquarium" has increased dramatically. Strangers recognize songs, and BGs recognize them on the streets. (BG. Aquarium's True Autobiography)

In 1977, "Aquarium" lost two of its musicians for two years - Dyusha Romanov and the barely appeared Alexander "Fagot" Aleksandrov: they were drafted into military service.

In 1979, Aquarium met two significant figures of Soviet rock at once - Artemy Troitsky and Andrey Tropillo, at whose studio the first "historical" albums of "Aquarium" were recorded. In the same year, Alexander Lyapin began to help the group at concerts (he finally became part of Aquarium a year later), Dyusha and Fagot returned from the army.

In the fall of 1980, the Public Toilets Music bootleg was released. There is also mention of the bootleg Music for the Dead and the Living. But at one time he did not receive wide distribution. In August 2002, the Triariy studio released this album, mistakenly dating it 1974.

Aquarium succeeded in making a loud statement in rock circles at the 1980 Tbilisi rock festival. The group did not receive prizes, but with their performance they made a real scandal. Compared to the rest of the participants of the festival, Aquarium behaved eccentrically and shockingly on stage, but the jury did not appreciate this: when during the concert Grebenshchikov, playing the guitar, lay down on the stage, all members of the jury defiantly left the hall. "Aquarium" was accused of promoting homosexuality (this was how one of the episodes of the performance was regarded), incest (singing the song "Marina", BG sang "to marry a Finn" instead of "to marry a Finn" marry a son ") and in indecent behavior and at first even wanted to immediately expel from the festival. The speech became known in Leningrad, and as a result BG lost his job and was expelled from the Komsomol.

The first "historical" albums

In January 1981, the Blue Album was released, which became the first "historical" independent studio work of "Aquarium". During the recording of the "Blue Album" the group still continued the period of passion for reggae, which can be understood from the songs "Rutman", "River", "The only home (Jah will give us everything)". "Blue Album", in fact, became the first full-fledged underground rock album in the USSR (the songs were recorded in the studio, the concept and original design were present).

Following the "Blue Album" in the summer of 1981, "Triangle" appeared, which, according to BG's plan, was to become the new "Sergeant Pepper". "Triangle" became a kind of return of "Aquarium" to traditional rock. The lyrics on the album are mostly absurd (some of them were written by George).

Shortly before the appearance of the "Triangle", a significant event took place in Soviet rock music - the Leningrad rock club was founded, into which the "Aquarium" was immediately accepted (this happened on March 7, 1981).

Album “Electricity. History of the Aquarium - Volume 2 "was released before the album" Acoustics (History of the Aquarium - Volume 1) ". According to BG, the hitch with the release of the album "Acoustics" was due to the fact that the cover for it was not yet ready. Accordingly, judging by the names of the albums, the album "Acoustics" was conceived as the third album, and "Electricity" - as the fourth.

Since 1982 the group has been actively involved in concerts. At the very beginning of the year, on January 6, a concert was played at the Lunacharsky Palace of Culture in Moscow, a recording of which in 1996 was released as a "live" album "Aroks and Stör".

Album “Acoustics. History of the Aquarium - Volume 1 "became a collection of songs that the group performed at home concerts. According to BG, anyone who has heard "Akustika" may assume that he knows "Aquarium".

A little later, the album "Tabu" was released. According to BG, these were difficult times for the group, and for this reason, a question mark was even placed on the cover after the group's name. In 1984, from the recordings made for "Tabu", but not included in it, Andrei Tropillo, without the knowledge of the band members, compiled and published the collection "M.C.I."

In 1983 "Aquarium" gives many concerts, mainly in Leningrad and Moscow. On May 15, 1983 the group participates in the first Leningrad rock festival, held under the name "1st city review competition of amateur rock groups of Leningrad for the best performance of anti-war songs under the motto" For anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship! " Aquarium took part in several subsequent annual rock festivals organized by the Leningrad Rock Club.

In the spring and summer, a new album "Radio Africa" ​​is being recorded, which Grebenshchikov called "pagan". Serious support in the creation of the album was provided by Sergey Kuryokhin: he is even the author of one of the compositions ("Tibetan Tango"). In general, the very name of the album goes back to the idea of ​​BG and Kuryokhin to call their joint projects "Radio Africa"; the projects were eventually abandoned, but the name remained. The album includes famous song"Rock and Roll is Dead", which became one of the band's main hits, and for many - a kind of anthem of the decade. For the first time, Alexander Titov performed the role of bass player on the album; soon he was invited to the group.

Despite the fact that "Radio Africa" ​​was not received by everyone, the popularity of "Aquarium" increased. At the end of 1983, the group was ranked among the top three in the USSR according to the results of the first in Soviet practice survey of experts conducted by the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets among about thirty journalists and rock figures from Moscow, Leningrad and Tallinn. The top ten in the "Ensembles" category looked like this: 1. "Speaker". 2. "Time Machine". 3. "Aquarium". 4. "Autograph". 5. "Dialogue". 6. "Ruya". 7. "Rock Hotel". 8. "Magnetic Band". 9. "Cruise". 10. "Earthlings". In February 1984, according to the results of an expert survey of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, the group was already ranked second among ensembles.

The first of two 1984 Aquarium albums was Ichthyology, a collection of acoustic concert recordings from 1983-1984.

The second was Silver Day, released in early October, the first album of Aquarium, recorded on professional equipment. In addition to the permanent members of the group, the violinist Alexander Kussul took part in its creation. Many consider "Day of the Silver" one of the best albums of the group - thanks to the harmonious concept (created over eight months), successful arrangements and, as always, obscure, but philosophical lyrics. At the “Day of Silver” the songs “Sitting on a beautiful hill”, “The sky is getting closer”, “Ivan Bodhidharma” were performed.

A logical continuation of the "Day of Silver" was the album "Children of December" in 1985, a little darker, but close in style; however, the gloom is largely determined by the opening song "Thirst", which was performed earlier, but in a new way, arranged for "Children of December". At the same time, songs such as "She Can Move" and "212-85-06" carry a completely opposite attitude. The album was recorded with the participation of twelve people, not counting the producer Andrei Tropillo (although he also made a small performing contribution, pronouncing the text of the ditty in "212-85-06").

Exit from the "underground"

The tenth album of "Aquarium" - "Ten arrows" (1986) - became a concert album. The album included live recordings from the two years leading up to its release. The only studio recording on the album is the song "City", which has become one of the most famous compositions of "Aquarium" (often the authorship of her music and poetry is mistakenly attributed to Francesco da Milano and Alexei Khvostenko, respectively). The album was dedicated to the memory of Alexander Kussul, who died shortly before the release of Ten Arrows.

In the same year, a double vinyl collection of Soviet rock music "Red Wave", in which one side of the four was occupied by "Aquarium", was released in the USA at the expense of Joanna Stingray in a circulation of 1,500 copies. However, it was too early to call this event a full-fledged exit from the underground: "Aquarium" did not give big concerts, he was rarely talked about in the press and on television. The musicians continued to communicate with the leaders of the Soviet underground: filmmakers Alexander Sokurov and Sergei Solovyov, musicians Viktor Tsoi and Sergei Kuryokhin, journalist Artemy Troitsky. A close relationship has been established at "Aquarium" with Mitki.

Soon after the appearance of "Red Wave", business moved from a dead center in the USSR: the first official disc of the group (the so-called "White Album") was released, published by "Melodiya" in 1987 and was a compilation of songs from "Day of Silver" and " Children of December ". Vsevolod Gakkel even connects the release of these two records:
“She (Stingray) sent one copy to Reagan, another to Gorbachev, accompanying this with a statement that what politicians cannot achieve at the diplomatic level is successfully obtained by rock musicians from both countries. As a result, Gorbachev asked his advisers: What is this Aquarium? Why don't they have a record? And the Ministry of Culture gave a directive to the Melodiya company to urgently release a record of this group, in order to create the illusion that the records of these groups have been released and sold a long time ago. " (Vsevolod Gakkel. Aquarium as a way to care for a tennis court.)

It was during this period that the group began to gain more and more fame, and 1987 can be considered the “year of the great turning point” in the history of “Aquarium”. Back in March 1984, the group was invited by Tamara and Vladimir Maksimov to record the first program "Musical Ring" on Leningrad television. On October 24, 1986, the ensemble appears on the "Musical Ring" for the second time, and on January 17, 1987 this performance is broadcast on the first all-Union program. "Musical ring" becomes the first "visualization" of "Aquarium" "in full height"- in the studio talk show and concert mode and throughout the USSR. This was a kind of evidence of the group's final exit from the underground, its official recognition and recognition as an essential element of the Soviet youth musical culture that time. Before that, the group was known mainly among fans and comrades in the shop. Already in March 1987, the magazine "Yunost" named "Aquarium" the best musical ensemble country. Best Musician was recognized by BG.

In 1987, at Mosfilm, Sergei Solovyov's film Assa was filmed, in which five songs from Aquarium were used, including City. In parallel with the film, the soundtrack of the same name was released, which includes five songs of "Aquarium" in its own performance.

In the same year the album “Equinox” was released on “Melodia”, the first studio album after a two-year break and the last before a four-year break due to the temporary cessation of “Aquarium” activities. BG described it as the swan song of "Aquarium" of the 80s and was generally dissatisfied with the disc:
“And so we contacted them (with“ Melody ”), recorded“ Equinox ”and failed our, perhaps, the best record. Everything is fine, we had complete control, but the way“ Melody ”works is all little things , snags, problems with cables, something is cut down, someone has a headache ... And all this was expressed in a complete jelly-like appearance. " (From an interview with BG magazine "Urlight")

BG in the West

On June 3, 1988, the band played their first concert abroad - in Montreal, Canada, after which BG recorded two songs ("China" and "King Arthur") for his upcoming solo album in English. In August 1988, he worked in the US and UK on a solo album called "Radio Silence". In autumn and winter "Aquarium" gives several concerts, but BG is constantly absent from the USA, appears in the press and gives concerts independently of the group. Work is underway on the album "Feudalism", but the group is unable to complete and release it.

The activity of "Aquarium" as a single collective is finally suspended. Grebenshchikov would later express himself unequivocally on this matter:

- Tell me, Bob, is the Aquarium gone forever?
- Yes, “Aquarium” has moved into the realm of mythology and legends.
(From an interview with BG in the newspaper "Vybor", Vyatka, October 11, 1991)

"The Aquarium group has existed since 1972. Everything that we could do, we have already done." (From an interview with BG in Yaroslavl, November 17, 1991)

"Radio Silence" was released in Europe and the United States in the early summer of 1989. Gakkel and Dyusha Romanov took part in his recording, however, only BG's name is indicated on the front cover. Director Michael Apted created the film “ Long road home "(eng." The Long Way Home "), which aired on MTV in June 1989.

In the same year, the Russian-Abyssinian Orchestra was founded. Under this name, the Aquarium participants record the soundtrack for Sergei Debizhev's film The Golden Dream (1989), as well as part of the music for Sergei Solovyov's film The Black Rose is the emblem of sadness, the red rose is the emblem of love (1989). Later this name will appear in the credits of Debizhev's film "Two Captains 2".

At the same time, attempts by other participants of the "Aquarium" to organize own groups... Dyusha Romanov's "Shamrock" was founded in 1987; Titov in 1990 announced the creation of the Vostok-1 project; later "Three Sashka" appeared with the participation of Lyapin and Titov; in December, the Turkish Tea ensemble appeared, headed by Lyapin, Gakkel and all the same Titov. In early 1991, Lyapin recorded a solo album "Cold Beer Nostalgia" (the title included a clear allusion to the early "Aquarium" song "Cold Beer").

In the fall of 1990, the musicians of "Aquarium" began to record songs for S. Solovyov's film "House under the Starry Sky" and at the same time for the band's next album. Although the film will take place, the songs from this film will never appear as a standalone release until 2000. Ten years later, Triariy studio will release for the first time the "House under the Starry Sky" soundtrack titled "Made on Mosfilm" with a subtitle explaining that the songs were recorded during the filming of the aforementioned film.

In 1990 BG began recording his second solo album on English language- "Radio London" ("Radio London"). The intended album will be released for the first time only six years later by SoLyd Records in the demo stage.

BG-Band (1991-1992)

"BG-Band" was first assembled by Grebenshchikov on April 4, 1991 and was a kind of reincarnation of "Aquarium" in a new name and sound and in new "old" faces. The ensemble includes BG, Oleg Sakmarov (flute), Sergei Shchurakov (accordion, mandolin), Andrei Reshetin (violin) and Sergei Berezovoy (bass). Reshetin and Shchurakov have already taken part in the recording of Equinox (1987), while Sakmarov and Berezovoy were known for their touring work with the last line-up of Aquarium.

During its existence (1991-1992), the new group gave 171 concerts in Moscow, Leningrad-St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, Riga, Kazan, Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk, Kharkov and several cities of the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia, where completely new songs and some from the previous repertoire of BG and "Aquarium". There is a concert album of the collective, released in 1993 under the title “Letters from Captain Voronin. Concert in Vyatka ".

In January - February 1992, Grebenshchikov and musicians from the BG-Band recorded in Moscow the Russian Album, based on songs from this period. In November of the same year, "Russian Album" was released in the form of a vinyl record and became a symbol of BG's final return to its homeland. The album presented to its listeners a completely new collective: now the lyrics, melodies and performances were based on Russian song traditions - none of the album's compositions departs from this style. The texts use Orthodox images: such are the songs "Nikita Ryazansky" and "Horses of Lawlessness"; the introductory instrumental is called the Archangel (that is, Michael the Archangel).

"Perhaps the only album in the history of Russian music - apart from some counter-cultural actions that have sunk into oblivion - that has any direct relation to what is called" dark-folk "or" folk noir "was" Russian album "Grebenshchikov (who at that time was fond of the work of David Tibet), filled with borrowings and references to Current 93 (so once" Sergei Ilyich "introduced the population of the Land of Soviets to" Cat Black "by Bolan), although this album as "dark folk" is not perceived at all ... "(From the article" England was burning ... and Russia is burning in its own way ")

When the Russian Album was reissued on a CD in 1995, five more songs from the BG-Band period were added to the 11 main compositions (live and studio recordings of 1991 and 1992). Currently, the album is officially referred to the work of the "Aquarium" itself, but the name of the group is not indicated on the cover, therefore, "Russian Album" can formally be ranked among the solo albums of BG.

Despite the fact that at this time "Aquarium" under the original name no longer exists, its collections are being published: two new "volumes" of the group's history - "Archive. History of the Aquarium - Volume 3 "(1991) and a little later -" Library of Babylon. History of the Aquarium - Volume 4 "(1993).

Aquarium 2.0 (1992-1997)

"Aquarium" in 1992

The new "Aquarium" was assembled in September 1992. It included only two members of the old "Aquarium" (BG and Titov) and one musician of the "BG-Band" (Sakmarov). Three more appeared at all for the first time: Alexey "Lord" Ratsen, Alexey Zubarev and Andrey Vikharev. A little later this six was joined by Sergei Shchurakov - another notable figure of the "BG-Band".

The 1993 cover of Ramses IV's Favorite Songs bore the title Aquarium; thus, this album became nominally the first album of the revived "Aquarium".

The album Sands of Petersburg, released in 1994, somewhat deviated from the stylistics set by the Russian Album and Favorite Songs ...: it was composed of songs from the 1980s that had not previously been released on studio albums. The only one new song became "St. George's Day", completed from the first two lines that had existed for a long time.

The development of the Russian tradition in combination with waltz motifs was successfully continued in the album "Kostroma mon amour" (1994), the title song of which is a kind of anthem of the Russian province. At this time, Grebenshchikov, following Zen, discovered Lamaist Buddhism, and the very first song of the album "Russian Nirvana", similar in music to the melody of Tikhon Khrennikov from the movie "True Friends" (1954), is replete with Buddhist terms and ends in something self-ironic line: "Oh, Volga, Mother Volga, Buddhist river." The song "Sing, Sing, Lyre" is written on one of George's early poems.

In 1994, two BG solo albums were released - "Songs of Alexander Vertinsky" and "Heartfelt Songs" (the latter was recorded together with "Aquarium", designated on the cover as "Anna Karenina Quartet"). In addition, the collection "Boris Grebenchikov & Aquarium 1991-1994" appears in France for European listeners.

In 1995, for the first time in four years (a considerable period for Aquarium), the group underwent changes: Ratsen left, but the violinist Andrei Surotdinov appeared. The new line-up recorded the album "Navigator" in London. It was released on September 1, 1995 and in style was not much different from "Kostroma mon amour": the same waltzes ("Navigator", "Blue Light", "Fastest Airplane"), some Buddhist themes ("Ficus religious", that is Bo tree, in the shadow of which Buddha found enlightenment) and Russian folk motifs ("The Last Turn").

The reported live album for 1995 was named "Cyclone Center" and was released in early 1996. The studio "Snow Lion", which appeared in 1996, became the last in a kind of trilogy - "Kostroma Mon Amour" - "Navigator" - "Snow Lion". Stylistically, he was close in "Kostroma" and "Navigator" - waltz melodies, the Russian theme in the songs. The Snow Lion was the last to be recorded in England.

The change came in 1997. First, under the name of the Russian-Abyssinian Orchestra, Aquarium publishes the instrumental collection Bardo, which was recorded over a period of seven years (starting with the soundtrack to the film Golden Dream, dated 1989). Then the epic-mythological "Hyperborea" was released, which included previously unreleased songs of the 1970s and 1980s. The sound of the group becomes harder, more "electricity" is added to the detriment of acoustics, the range of instruments expands: the recording uses a harpsichord, double bass, khomuz.

Lilith Blues Band Aquarium (1997-1998)

In 1997 BG made another attempt to establish itself on the western rock scene and, together with "The Band" ( former band Bob Dylan) performed a series of concerts in New York clubs, and also prepared the album "Lilith", released in two versions (Russian and American). The disc was recorded without the participation of other permanent members of "Aquarium" (not counting BG), but it is usually ranked among the discography of the entire group.

New Electric Dog (1998-1999)

1998 marked the beginning of the "New electric dog". "Electric Dog" - an early song from "Aquarium", included in the "Blue Album" (1981); in 1998, this was the name of the concert program, with which "Aquarium" performed on a large tour around the cities of Russia and neighboring countries. With this name BG, as it were, announced a return to the origins. He made a new "set" of musicians for the group, and it was replenished by Nikolai Koshkin (drums), Alexander Ponomarev (guitar), Dmitry Veselov (percussion) and Boris Rubekin (keyboards). The first three left the group a year later, when the New Electric Dog period ended; Rubekin is still a member of Aquarium. In addition to them, Oleg "Shar" Shavkunov had joined the group the year before.

In the same year, "Aquarium" released the anthology album "Kunstkamera", which consists of recordings made from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. BG's solo discography is replenished with three albums at once: "Refuge" - an album of mantras recorded together with Gabrielle Roth & "The Mirrors"; "Boris Grebenshchikov and Deadushki" with techno versions of old songs "Aquarium" and "Prayer and Lent" - a live album, which was originally created as an Internet-only album. It was only in 2001 that the album was finally released on compact discs at the numerous requests of listeners.

In May 1999, the BG solo album "Boris Grebenshchikov sings the songs of Bulat Okudzhava" appeared. As in the case with "Songs of Alexander Vertinsky", BG himself accompanied himself on an acoustic guitar, but the recording still took place not without the participation of other members of the "Aquarium".

Aquarium 3.0 (1999— ...)

The first studio album of "Aquarium" of the third convocation was the disc "OE" ("Psi") - the band's twentieth album in its entire history. Albert Potapkin, a member of the group since 1999, took part in its creation. According to BG, there is no concept in the album, it just became a reflection of the state of the group at that moment. Indeed, one cannot say that all the songs are made in the same vein: the disc contains both positive ones (“Masha and the Bear”, “While they are carrying sake”) and darker ones (“Moon, calm me down”, “The name of my melancholy”) songs. For the first time in many years a reggae composition ("Stop the car") appeared.

On May 25, 2000, the album "Pentagonal Sin" was released. This album was released under the pseudonym "Terrarium", since on the album, in addition to BG, there are invited rock musicians who perform their songs on the verses of George. On November 1, 2000, the album-collection "Territory" was released simultaneously in Russia and Germany, consisting of old songs, two of which were specially re-recorded for the album.

In 2001, Oleg Sakmarov left the group.

In January 2002 in America and Europe, and at the beginning of May in Russia, BG's 13th solo album "Pereprava" ("Bardo") was released; Gabrielle Roth & "The Mirrors" will again take part in his recording. The album is a reworking of instrumental compositions from the album of the same name "Bardo" of the "Russian-Abyssinian Orchestra" (that is, "Aquarium" under a pseudonym) in 1997.

The first completely new album in three years, "Sister Chaos", appeared only in 2002. The disc turned out to be unlike anything that Aquarium did before. Like "OY", the album turned out to be very emotional and versatile (BG identified "Sister Chaos" as the first colorful album in the history of music.) Reggae appeared again - the ironic song "Rastamans from the hinterland".

"The album was supposed to be called" Psalms ", just, the elders dissuaded me from this name. The album is a psalm. There is not one psalm, there are nine psalms." (From an interview with BG)

In the same year, the group received the Poborol award for their contribution to the development of music. The release on CD "Anthology" has begun - in two years all the albums have been reissued on CDs with bonus tracks.

The recording of the next "numbered" album "Songs of a Fisherman" (2003) was attended by Indian musicians who played traditional instruments. Despite the somewhat gloomy composition "The Man from Kemerovo", the album turned out to be generally positive in mood. A little later, on the occasion of Grebenshchikov's fiftieth birthday, a double album-collection "50 BG" was released in a limited edition of 300 copies, which is sold exclusively at the group's concerts.

In 2003, three brass musicians joined Aquarium - Fyodor Kuvaitsev (clarinet), who participated in several recordings and performances in the 1980s, Alexander Berenson (trumpet) and Igor Timofeev (saxophone and flute), and for about a year the group played composed of nine people. At the very beginning of 2005, drummer Albert Potapkin left the group, and in the summer of the same year - Berenson and Kuvaitsev.

In 2004, BG's 14th solo album "Without Words" was also released in a limited edition. The album contains 16 instrumental compositions representing Japanese-Chinese motives.

The logical continuation of the band's activities in 2005 was the album "ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM". The songs that compose this album were written by BG in the Spanish resort town of Palamos.

In 2005, an announcement appeared on the official website of Aquarium that, at the request of the Soyuz studio, two thematic collections were to be published. As a result, in 2005 the collection “Reggae” appeared with one new song “Words of the Rastafarian”, which confirmed the restoration of BG's interest in Rastafarianism, and in 2006 - “Songs of Love” with the studio version of the song “Keys to My Doors”. "Reggae" and "Songs of Love" are not collections from the "Aquarium" itself, but are collections from the studio "Soyuz", published with the permission of the group.

In the fall of 2004, bassist Vladimir Kudryavtsev left the group, and in 2005, after a series of concerts without a rhythm section, Aquarium had a new bassist - jazz musician Andrei Svetlov.

At the moment, the last album of "Aquarium" is "Careless Russian Tramp", released on April 5, 2006. The album includes two songs performed at concerts since the late 1990s ("Afanasy Nikitin boogie" and "Skorbets"), several compositions similar in style to the 1980s "Aquarium" ("On the meaning of everything that exists", "Spiritual people ") and to the previous albums" Songs of a Fisherman "and" ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM "(" It's up to me "," Therapist "). There are also experiments uncharacteristic for the group's work on the album, like the same "Afanasy Nikitin boogie". Several songs at once, including the title one, are devoted to the alcohol theme, and from different points of view.

In 2007, the album "Feudalism", recorded eighteen years earlier, was released.

In its fourth decade, Aquarium continues to actively record and give concerts all over the world, mainly in Russia and neighboring countries. Summarizing the group phenomenon, Boris Grebenshchikov says:

“Aquarium is a shining beast. Winged shining beast. He brings you medicine. He brings what you lacked, and you yourself did not know it. "

In the summer of 2008, bassist Andrei Svetlov left the group, in his place was invited BG's old colleague - Alexander Titov, who after a long break again enters the stage with the Aquarium, and also participates in the recording of the album "White Horse".

November 25, 2008 at social network"Kroogi" has released the album "Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" for download (the line-up of the group is announced as "Aquarium International"). The release of the new studio album "White Horse" is announced for December 3 (on the night of December 4, its digital version will also be presented on the Kroogi network.)

The current composition of the "Aquarium":

V – Є Boris Grebenshchikov (guitar, vocals, songwriter);
c – Є Boris Rubekin (keys);
в – Є Oleg Shar (percussion);
c – Є Albert Potapkin (drums);
c – Є Igor Timofeev (saxophone, flute, duduk, guitar);
c – Є Andrey Surotdinov (violin);
в – Є Alexander Titov (bass).

The official website of the ensemble - www.aquarium.ru

Founder and Leader group "Aquarium" - Boris Grebenshchikov(born on November 27, 1953 in Leningrad).

Back in 1968, Boris began his first steps in mastering the six-string guitar. A little earlier, he had already made timid attempts to master the seven-string, but he did not like it. At first he sang and played covers of songs.
In the fall of 1971, having passed the period of writing and performing English-language songs, he willingly directed his work to his native Russian.
Name group AQUARIUM Boris came up with the idea together with Anatoly Gunitskiy (the first drummer of the Aquarium; among the initiates his name is George). Gunitsky and Boris studied at the same school, but in different classes. Even during their school years, they jointly wrote poetry, plays, etc.
And so in 1972 the first backbone of the Aquarium group was formed, consisting of five people.

In 1973, in addition to regular rehearsals, the guys held their first concert, but the group still performed quite rarely. In the same year, their first magnetic albums appear.

Summer 1974 The aquarium was organized by a theater, which later turned into a studio theater. But six months later, George and Groshevsky remain to work in this theater, and Grebenshchikov with the remaining guys, like inveterate rock and roll players, decided to go separately from their theatrical careers.

In 1975- the group was joined by cellist Vsevolod Gakkel (Seva).

In the spring of 1976- the band performed at the Tallinn Rock Festival, where the guys met Andrei Makarevich ().
Six months later, the group learned from the newspapers about the prize they had received for an interesting musical program.

In the same year, the first well-recorded album was released. Aquarium.

The ensemble began to tour more and more often with chamber-acoustic concerts. And their records also began to spread slowly in society.

Soon Sasha Aleksandrov, who played the bassoon, joined the group. But in 1977 he and another participant (Dyusha) went to the army.

After some time, the team was replenished with 3 musicians: Mike and Guberman (came from the disintegrated) and Alexander Lyapin.

And in 1980, the Aquarium managed to really make itself known at the Tbilisi rock festival. Although the group was left without prizes, it did loud scandal... The thing is that during the performances the musicians of the Aquarium behaved eccentrically and defiantly compared to others, but to their surprise, this had a negative effect on the jury. As a result, all BG members were expelled from the Komsomol and deprived of official work.

Early 1981 The band released the Blue Album, which featured some reggae songs. And in the summer of the same year the album "Triangle" was released.

This year "Aquarium" was admitted to the Leningrad Rock Club.

Since 1982, the group begins to actively perform, mainly in Moscow and Leningrad, and also took part in several rock festivals. In parallel, the next albums and collections of concert songs were recorded "Aquarium".

At the same time, in the same year, B. Grebenshchikov helped financially in the creation of the debut album "45" of the then little-known

The group began to rapidly gain popularity. And so by the end of 1983, according to the results of a survey of Soviet musical experts, "Aquariums" entered the three best ensembles of the USSR.

At the end of 1984 - the group's first album was released, recorded in a professional studio.

In January 1986, the next, but a bit gloomy album, "Children of December" was released.

In the spring of the same year- the last "samizdat" album "Ten arrows", dedicated to the memory of Alexander Kussul, who died in August. Nevertheless, Aquarium was somehow considered an underground group, but soon after the release of the vinyl collection of Russian rock "Red Wave" in the USA, which also contained Aquarium's songs, and the first official "White Album" of the group was released in the USSR.

In 1987 - Aquarium finally came out of the underground after participating in the talk show "Musical Ring" of Leningrad TV. And in the spring in the magazine "Youth" they call "Aquarium" the best music group country. A Boris Grebenshchikov- the best musician.

In 1987 - the song became the main soundtrack of the film "Assa", filmed at "Mosfilm", and the group also recorded their next album, "Equinox", which was released the following year, but BG himself was not satisfied with it.

Summer 1988 - Aquarium performed abroad for the first time - in Canada. After that, the guys continued to perform in a group at home, but Boris Grebenshchikov often went to the USA, where he gave a couple of concerts outside the band.

Throughout 1990, attempts were made by the rest of the "Aquarium" members to create their own groups, even some already in the next 1991 managed to record
your album mood.

In autumn 1990 - in parallel, the group records soundtracks for the film "House under the Starry Sky".
At the same time, Grebenshchikov was recording his second solo album in English, called Radio London, which would be released only 6 years later.

In March 1991 - in the recreation center "Yubileiny", "Aquarium" performed at the tenth anniversary of the Leningrad Rock Club.

In April 1991 - Grebenshchikov assembled a team - "BG-Band" - a kind of re-incarnation of "Aquarium", which included almost all of the same musicians.
"BG Band" existed for 2 years, but during this time the guys gave 170 concerts, where they performed completely new songs, as well as from the previous repertoire of "Aquarium".

In early 1992, BG-Band recorded the Russian Album in Moscow, which included songs from that period. And in November, a vinyl record of this, as it turned out, a very successful album, was released. In 1995, it was reissued on a CD, to which 5 more songs from the "BG-Band" period were added.

Nevertheless, 2 collections of songs by the "Aquarium" group were released in parallel.
In September 1992- the team of the new Aquarium was assembled - a kind of mixture of "BG-Band" and the former "Aquarium".

And in 1993, the album “Favorite Songs of Ramses IV” was released, thereby becoming the first album of the revived “Aquarium”.

In 1994, the next album, Songs of Petersburg, was released, which consisted of compositions from the 1980s, but had not been released earlier.

In 1994, B. Grebenshchikov himself released two more solo albums, some of the songs of which were recorded together with "Aquarium".

At the beginning of 1996 - the concert album "Cyclone Center" was released, and in 1996 the studio album "Snow Lion" was released.

In 1997 - Aquarium celebrated the anniversary - 25 years from the date of their appearance, in honor of which they gave 2 concerts - in St. Petersburg and Moscow. After which the composition of the Aquarium fell apart.

In the same year, Grebenshchikov, together with the American group The Band, recorded the album Lilith, which was released in both Russian and American versions.

Then Boris, in alliance with Alexander Lyapin, performed an acoustic duet for some time, and soon they were joined by Oleg Shavkunov (percussionist), V. Kudryavtsev (bass) and A. Surotdinov (keyboards, violin). They toured with this line-up until July 1998. Further, with a newly renewed line-up with a concert program "Electric Dog", the Aquarium group embarked on a large concert tour around the cities of Russia and Bl. abroad.

The album "Kunstkamera" is published, consisting of songs from the late 1980s - mid-1990s. In addition, Boris Grebenshchikov replenishes his solo discography with 3 albums at once: "Refuge", "Boris Grebenshchikov and Deadushki" and "Prayer and Fasting".

And in May 1999, another Grebenshchikov solo album was released - " Boris Grebenshchikov sings songs ", during the recording of which other members of" Aquarium "took part. After that, its composition again disintegrates.

The third convocation of the Aquarium was marked by the release of the disc "?" (which means "Psi") - the 15th album of the group. According to Boris, the album does not carry any definite concept, but everything only shows the state of the group at that very period.

In subsequent years, the group recorded new albums, the most emotional of which was "Sister Chaos" (2002). Boris himself also released his thirteenth solo album - "Crossing".

Due to the boom in digital technology, Aquarium reissued all of its albums on CDs, which also included bonus tracks.

In 2003 - the album "Songs of the Fisherman" was released, in the recording of which Indian musicians took part, moreover, the recording took place directly in India.
Later, by the 50th birthday of B. Grebenshchikov, a double album-collection "50 BG" was released.

In 2004, Grebenshchikov's next solo album, Without Words, was released.

In 2005 the band released the album "ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM", the songs of which were recorded in Spain.

In 2005, the Aquarium got its own official website www.aquarium.ru

In the spring of 2006 - the album "Careless Russian Tramp" was released

In 2007, a collection of songs from the 1986-1990 Aquarium was released - "Feudalism", with some adaptations and in the new composition of the group.
In the same year, the group performed in London, and Boris himself performed solo at the UN.

December 2008- marked the release of the next album - "White Horse", and October 2009 - the album "Pushkinskaya, 10".

2009-2010 - "Aquarium" with a concert tour "Day of Joy", tours across Russia and neighboring countries.

In September 2011, the musicians released their 22nd studio album - "Arkhangelsk".

At the beginning of February 2012- in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Aquarium, the musicians carried out an anniversary concert tour, under the exaggerated title "4000th anniversary of the group."

In March 2013 - BG stopped communicating with the Russian press.

For the 60th birthday of B. Grebenshikov, the French firm buda has released the second part of his selected works, entitled "Boris Grebenchikov AQUARIUM 19952013".

Boris was married three times and has 3 children (a boy and two girls, one of whom is adopted). In 2009 he underwent heart surgery.

"Aquarium"- one of the first and most popular musical groups of the Soviet Union, which had a particular influence on creative activity not one generation, but Grebenshchikov has completely turned into a cult figure. Creativity "Aquarium" is often cited in the texts of other authors and literature.

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