Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης

Markos Vamvakaris (1905-1972) - was a highly renowned musician, composer, virtuoso bouzouki player, and singer of rebetiko (or even vari rebetiko).
Markos Vamvakaris was born on Syros into a very poor family, he was the eldest of six children. At the age of eight, Markos dropped out of school to help his mother at a cotton mill, later working as a newspaper delivery boy, a shoeshiner, in a spinning mill and as a butcher's assistant. When he was twelve, he believed the police were looking for him after he accidentally broke a window with a stone, so he secretly boarded a ship to Piraeus and fled. There, he worked as a coal loader in the docks, and as a skinner in slaughterhouses of Piraeus and Athens.

At the age of 21, Markos Vamvakaris married Eleni Mavroidi, whom he called "Zigoala." She, in turn, called him "Frangoskylo" (Frankish dog), referencing his Catholic background. Their marriage ended when he discovered she was having an affair with his best friend.

Around the same time, Markos first heard Nikos Aivaliotis playing the bouzouki and immediately fell in love with the instrument. Vamvakaris made a dramatic vow - that if he couldn't learn to play within six months, he would cut off his own hand with a butcher's knife. When Nikos heard him play just six months later, he couldn't believe this was the same young man who had never touched a bouzouki before. Nikos said: he could show Markos something in the morning, and by evening the young musician would return playing it better than anyone.

Later Markos Vamvakaris began playing in tekes (places where hashish was smoked), formed his band "Η Τετράς η ξακουστή του Πειραιώς", and since the bouzouki was considered an instrument of degenerate social classes, Markos Vamvakaris' first recording wasn't made until 1932. Although Vamvakaris himself didn't consider himself a good singer and wanted someone else to perform the vocals, economic circumstances forced him to sing on the recordings. From then on, many began imitating him (including women), and it became fashionable to sing in thes specific way. Moreover, when Vamvakaris performed in Piraeus' square, people were amazed by his dancing (precise steps, perfect rhythm, despite never having taken dance lessons), and would pay to see him dance again. With the money he earned, he opened his own spot, but the police wouldn't leave him alone - he refused to inform on others. So, he returned to Syros. Around the same time, he wrote "Frangosyriani", which became famous 25 years later thanks to Grigoris Bithikotsis.

In 1937, he modified his songs due to censorship imposed by Ioannis Metaxas. During the German occupation, many famous rebetiko performers perished. After liberation, new artists introduced styles completely alien to Vamvakaris' approach, the bouzouki was now considered obsolete, record companies refused to record him, nightclubs rejected him, and some of his songs were simply stolen by other performers. To compound his troubles, arthritis set in, preventing him from playing the bouzouki.

Moreover, in 1942 Markos Vamvakaris married for the second time (and had five children) and was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for marrying an Orthodox woman as a Catholic. By 1954, nearly forgotten, he returned to Syros where he was welcomed enthusiastically, playing in tavernas packed with eager listeners.

But the rebetiko style grew increasingly popular even among people with no connection to underworld dens or drugs. With the emergence of Vassilis Tsitsanis in the 1950s, who shifted the genre's themes toward love rather than hashish and prisons, and largely thanks to Grigoris Bithikotsis, interest in Markos Vamvakaris was rekindled. It was Bithikotsis who visited Vamvakaris at home and proposed recording Markos' songs with his own voice. In 1960 began Vamvakaris' "second career" as he regained recognition and became a central figure in rebetiko once more.

Markos Vamvakaris was among those rare artists who performed for both society's lowest and highest strata during his lifetime, witnessing the revival of the music he loved. Recognized as one of rebetiko's most influential performers - indeed, he became an era's symbol (rebetiko is often synonymous with his name, simply Markos) - he is called the "Patriarch of Rebetiko."





Text author: Marina Boronina. The text may be used only with reference to this page or the author.