Someone once said to me, “how can people follow your blog when it’s so eclectic? Is it not better to stick to one genre?” To which I replied, “I do this for me, this is my way of documenting my finds, what I like, what I want to hear again and what I want to learn more about. Ultimately I just share what I love, albeit an eclectic mix of no particular shape, genre or form!”
So I make no apologies and offer no explanations as to why my blog is so assorted, I just hope whoever tunes in can find something they like, discover something new and share what they are into? I’ll never close my ears to any possibilities…
Today’s song could be one of my most random yet?? I heard it and just smiled instantly! Not many songs can open with an array of animal noises and bizarre vocals, but this is what drew me in to listen more! Whether you like variety or not, where else are you going to hear some 1930’s Greek Hawaiian Guitar music??
Co-released by Olvido Records in 2017 and today reissued/released on Chicago, Illinois’, Mississippi Records, Kostas Bezos and the White Birds self-titled album is the first-ever compilation of χαβάγιες (“havagies”). Havagies being the nearly forgotten Hawaiian-influenced music of 1930’s Greece. Focusing on the compositions of Kostas Bezos and his ensemble White Birds, this re-issued record includes a 32-page booklet with extensive notes by Tony Klein and Dimitris Kourtis, many rare photographs, lyrics, obituaries and a bonus CD containing 18 additional tracks. Now restored and mastered from original 78’s by Michael Graves, this release is limited to 1,000 copies with the digital version to include all 32 songs and a PDF of the booklet.
“Kostas Bezos was a world-class slide guitarist, political cartoonist and sleepless Bohemian who created some of the most unique music of any era: surrealist guitar portraits blending Athens and Honolulu, haunting tropical serenades, wild acoustic orchestras, and heartbreaking steel guitar duets. Incredibly, this is the same musician responsible for the legendary “Kostis” rebetika recordings (see A. Kostis “The Jail’s a Fine School” Extract taken from Mississippi Records’ Bandcamp page (where you can also listen/purchase more of today’s artist)…
I’m not sure I could do the whole record in one go, but today’s song is definitely something I wanted to keep, investigate and share! Kostas Bezos was obviously a pioneer of his time and his guitar playing is so sweet and tender! His music is just speaking to me tonight and love that so much that I can hear it!
I hope you enjoy?! Check it out above….and just one more to share before I go (I couldn’t resist): “Τρέλα πέρα για πέρα (Utterly Crazy)”……the song titles alone are just fantastic!….see below!
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