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Brief history of Rembetika
Who do you think wrote and recorded the following song?
I've had alot of friends
That I really thought loved me
They always smiled at my face
but in my back they stabbed me
Maybe Bessie Smith? Perhaps some other Blues singer? No - it is a Greek song written by a man called Kostas Roukounas and recorded in the early 1930s.
Origins of rembetika
Rembetika originated in Tekes (a Greek word for hashish dens) and jails scattered around the main Greek cities in the early part of this century. The music was based primarily on an oral tradition where the art of improvisation was of the utmost importance.
The lyrics of Rembetica songs dealt with the life of an Greek Urban sub-culture whose norms were outside the mainstream of Society. The Rembetes had an inherent distrust of any authority and the music was their way of expressing thier creativity and independence.
Like the early Blues, Rembetika songs of the 1930s and 1940s have a sense of spontaneity, making them appear fresh after countless hearings despite the many years since they were recorded. They also have the power to move, excite, inspire and involve the listener.
Many of the songs were banned in Greece, chiefly because of their anti-authoritarian, non-conformist stance. Police, led by the notorious chief Baraktaris, raided hash dens, smashed instruments, arrested harrassed and assaulted the rembetes.
The people who formed this sub-culture were, in the main, what Greeks called "manges", which can be loosely translated as "wide-boys". They used an elaborate form of slang and dressed extravagantly - much the same as the Jazz/Blues subculture in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s. Although the Rembetes suffered police harrassment and repression, they were not submissive, and did not lose their identity or sense of humour.
Cafe-amans
Rembetika music didn't only originate in hash-dens and jails, although this is where the main inspiration came from. Around the turn of the century "cafe-amans" sprang up in Smyrna, Constantinople, and other ports in Western Asia Minor. In these cafes a singer would sing an improvised verse using the words "aman aman" while they thought of new words to improvise. Recordings of amanedes from the 1930s typically feature a four line verse stretched over 3 minutes or so. They are very difficult to sing and are rarely attempted today. The word "aman" is of Turkish origin meaning "mercy" and is used as an exclamation. These were often accompanied by one or two instruments played between the verses. A "taxim" (solo instrumental) usually sets the mood at the beginning of each amane.
The legendary singer Kostas Roukounas wrote and recorded many amanedes, including "Manes Ballos" (on LP/CD "Oi Megaloi Tou Rembetikou no.8" Margophone 8218):
I have a deep pain in my heart
And there is no cure
Slowly, slowly I'm getting worse
I've lost my life for sure
The burning of Smyrna 1922
In late August 1922, after three years of campaigns, the Greek front in Anatolia collapsed. The Army was swiftly evacuated. In September 1922, the ruler of Turkey, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk led his troops into Smyrna, a predominantly Christian city, and the troops proceeded to indulge in pillage, rape and slaughter. The city was then set on fire and totally destroyed. The allies - including three American destroyers nearby - refused to intervene as they wanted to protect their oil and trade interests (according to the excellent thoroughly researched best selling book "Smyrna 1922" by Marjorie Housepian Dobkin).
A million and a half Greeks were expelled to mainland Greece - mainly to Athens and Piraeus, in exchange for the Muslim population of Greece; effectively ending two millenia of Greek civilisation on the Anatolian mainland. The refugees brought to Greece the finest exponents of an oriental style of music with Turkish and Arabic influence called Smyrnaika. Smyrnaic music usually featured the violin, accordion, lauto (oud), santouri, but not the bouzouki.
From 1922 on, the Smyrnaika school had a strong and long lasting influence on the Rembetika style. The Smyrnaic music quickly became popular in the cafe-amans. The refugees themselves were living in poverty mainly in shanty towns. Some of them became part of the Rembetika sub-culture as they also felt outside of the mainstream of society due not only to their living conditions, but also because they were resented by the bulk of native Greeks.
Rembetic songs
(Photo: From left to right: Yiannis Davos on Mandola, the renowned singer/composer Dalgas on guitar, an unknown singer, Dimitris Semsis on violin and Arapakis on Santouri).
Songs that were written in jails continued to be heard outside the prisons - even though they were banned. They became popular with the underworld, especially as some of the lyrics dealt with the joys of smoking hash. The song "Inside Manthos Hash Den" by Roza Eskenazi is typical:
I'm mixed up at dawn
But smoke I won't lack
Inside Manthos hash den
There's the finest black
(Black = black hashish)
The rembetes had a very ambiguous attitude to death. There was a mixture of defiance - a refusal to give in; yet also a certain resignation. In many songs the singer views death as a release from the torments of this life. The following amane ("Rast manes" - Amanedes - margophone LP/CD 8222) was sung by Panayi (it is believed that he was an alcoholic and was paid for his wonderful recordings by a string of drinks):
I have such a pain
It really hurts some
Death is my doctor
I wait for him to come
All aspects of life were unflinchingly covered by the rembetes in their songs. Songs of pleasure and pain, comical and satirical songs, songs about taverns, of life on the sea, of exile in foreign lands, and especially of the many varied faces of love and longing.
During or at the end of most songs, the artists, composers or musicians often compliment each other or comment on the song, which encourages the singer or musicians, and gives the music a very spontaneous feel. At the end of "Jalied for 5 years", the composer Papasoglu says "I'm going to smoke until I'm really stoned again today". The most frequently used term is "Na Zisis" (may you live long) or "yia-sou" (loosely translated - "your health" or "Cheers").
(Photo: Agapios Tomboulis with Oud, Roza, and Lambros Savaidis with Lyra).
Many legendary singers recorded songs in the mid/late 1920s through the 1930s - including Marika Papagika (in USA), Antonis Dalgas, Roza Eskenazi, Rita Ambatsi, Kostas Roukounas, Manthos Vamvakaris, Stratos Payiomitsis, Kostas Karipis, Marika Politissa, Evangellos Sofroniou, and many others.
1937 - Censorship
The Metaxas regime banned the recording of hashish/uncoventional songs completely in 1937. Also banned were amanedes and all Turkish or Eastern influences on Greek music. Lyric content was monitored rigorously, with many songs banned from distribution. Some rembetes refused to submit songs for consideration (notably Vangelis Papasoglu, who subsequently gave up music and tragically went to to catch tubercolosis and die in 1943).
1946 - after the war
Recording had been suspended from about 1941, but the Greek record manufacturers commenced work again in 1946. However, in 1947, censorship was reimposed.
late 1940s - 1950s
The composer Vasillis Tsitsanis heralded forth a type of Greek music which was more Westernised but had a strong rembetic influence. During this time and into the 1950s, new artists sprang up including Sotiria Bellou, Stella Haskil, Marika Ninou, Prodromos Tsaousakis, and many others.
1970s - revival of rembetika
After the military dictatorship was overthrown in 1974, there was a revival in rembetika music. This led to reissues of many original compositions; a process which continues to this day.
Contemporary singers such as Giorgos Dalaras, Haris Alexiou, Glykeria and Eleftheria Arvanitaki began to record old Rembetic and Smyrnaic songs. The great remebetes who were still alive, such as Kostas Roukounas and Roza, toured and some recorded and released new albums.
Remebtika in the 21st century
The wonderful legacy left by the talented virtuoso composers, musicians and singers will no doubt continue to inspire and move people in this new century, as it did in the last.
Recommended reading:
Books
"Road to rembetika" - Gail Holst
"Songs of the Greek Underworld" - Elias Petropoulos (translated by Ed Emery)
"Smyrna 1922 - The destruction of a city" - Marjorie Housepian Dobkin
"Auta Pou Thimame" ("Things I remember") - Roza Eskenazi
"Salonikios - the best violin in the Balkans" - Lisbet Torp
"Rembetiki Istoria 1-Perpiniadis/Genitsaris/Mathesis/Lelakis" - Kostas Hatsidouli
Also notes from albums and Cds. Special mention to Charles Howard and Dick Spottiswood for their notes on the Heritage and Rounder releases, and Panayiotis Kounidis for the notes on EMI releases.
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