Pesniary | Pesniary II (1974)

You are grabbing now this music.

In advance of tonight's Bodega Pop Live on WFMU's Give the Drummer Radio broadcast, ROGUE STATES, I'd like to share this longstanding Belarusian folk band's hard-to-find second LP, appropriately monikered Pesniary II.

Here's what the Pedia of Wiki has to say about them:

Pesniary was the best-known Soviet group coming from the Belorussian SSR. It was one of the very few (and possibly the first) Soviet bands to tour in America in 1976. They've toured the South of the USA together with a folk band The New Christy Minstrels. 1974-1980 is considered the Golden Age era of the band when it achieved top popularity in the USSR, in Eastern Europe and in other countries.

In 1979, after the success of rock opera Guslar, the whole band was awarded the honorary title Meritorious Artist of the Soviet Union, and Mulyavin personally received a higher title of People's artist.

After band's leader Vladimir Muliavin death in a car accident on 26 January 2003, the original Pesniary split. Currently, three different bands laid claims to be the official descendants of the original "Pesniary" band. They are:

* Belarussian State Ensemble Pesniary - state-produced band under Ministry of Culture of Belarus, consisting mostly of young musicians.

* "Belorusskie Pesniari" led by former Pesniary saxophonist Uladzislau Misevich

* "Pesniari" led by former Pesniary vocalist Leanid Bartkevich.

All three keep touring and performing original Pesniary songs.

Watch the original band live on Soviet television ca. 1972: