by Kelly Adolph

Created on: February 04, 2009

Markos Vamvakaris the Greek music composer was born May 10, 1905 in Syros, Greece. Although hailing from a poor working family, he was amidst music from a young age, as his father played the Greek bagpipes and would have Markos accompany him on the dog-skinned drums.

Markos left school at the age of eight to work with his mother and later several other odd jobs until he was 15, at which time he stowed away on a ship to Piraeus and got a job loading on the docks.

In 1925, Markos rediscovered his love for music when he heard Old Nikos play bouzouki, six months later, he himself was playing at the teke where he'd first heard Old Nikos. His talent amazed others as Nikos would show Markos a piece in the morning and he'd play it better than them that night.

In 1932, Markos recorded two songs for Columbia which were not released right away. Imagine for a moment this tough looking ominous figure, trying his best to walk inconspicuously among the various odd and distorted shadows of a poorly paved Athenian street, with an instrument called a Bouzouke hidden under his coat. In 1933, he had his first official recording session where Spyros Peristeris supervised and played guitar. This recording session produced zebekiko, O Dervises and one Hassapiko, O Harmanes, on which Markos did the vocals, something he had not considered doing in the past. Markos claimed to fame at this point at the age of 29 was that he could sing and play this instrument at the same time.
Due to the success and popularity of his voice, which was rough and rather strident, he later teamed up with vocalist Stratos Pagioumitzis, baglamatzis Jiorgos Batis and bouzouki player Anestis Delias and formed the famous Piraeus Quartet. This quartet was extremely popular and made many recordings.

Markos popularity sustained for many years, during which he decided to change his style in an effort to fit with the then mainstream, and by the 1940's he changed the subject matter. His style of music initially chronicled the lives of poverty, hardship and the struggle just to survive with lyrical references to jail terms, drugs and misery in love affairs. Later, when he decided to change his style, Vamvakaris softened and cleaned up his lyrics for a wider audience.

Markos hailed in this well into his older age, however, after the liberation of Greece from the occupation of Nazi Germany, many difficult times arrived, and his kind of music was no longer fashionable. Markos fortunes lasted for some time, and after many great names rerecorded many of his old songs, this sustained Markos until the day he left us on February 8, 1972 at the age of 67.

Several of Markos Vamvakaris performances are available today on My Only Consolation: Classic Pireotic Rembetica 1932-1946 (Rounder) and the two-disc CD set Oi Teleftaioi Rembetes (The Last Rembetes) on the Greek label Lyra, though non-Greek speakers should know there is no English language notes on the Lyra album.

Learn more about this author, Kelly Adolph.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.