"Music can't be stopped. It's the most subversive thing of all. You can build a wall to keep people at bay, but music will still break through. Eventually even the Iron Curtain was torn down by rock 'n' roll and jeans. It wasn't nuclear weapons and intimidations and all that crap. That wall was shattered by ordinary music, man."
--Keith Richards
I still like to believe in Keith's statement. I like to believe that music is the ultimate freedom of expression. And, as we all well know, freedom of expression scares the living hell out of autocrats and dictators. And it's not just autocrats and dictators--I think it scares the living hell out of those who are generally in charge--"the establishment," if you will. A lot of ideas get conveyed in song--oftentimes questioning the status quo and longing for something better and freer.
Look at the evolution of popular music in the twentieth century, specifically in the United States. When blues, jazz, and rock 'n' roll all started out, it was unlike anything the general population had heard before. And it scared the establishment, especially in the south, primarily because of its origins in Black culture. In fact, when record companies first started producing blues records, they didn't call it blues music. In fact, it was referred to and marketed as "race music," a term which sounds unfathomably derogatory in 2025, but a century ago, it was a whole different ball game... and even the ball game was segregated.
"[If you take] five white guys and put 'em with five black guys and let 'em hang around together for about a month, and at the end of the month you'll notice that the white guys are walking, and talking, and standing... like the Black guys do! You'll never see the Black guys saying, 'Oh, golly, we won the big game today, yes sir!' But you'll see guys with red hair and freckles named Duffy say, 'What's happenin'? Let me see what you got, man. Right, hey, that's cool. Take it easy, baby. Shit, alright...'"
--George Carlin, "White Harlem," 1973
The blues eventually evolved into rock 'n' roll, which was even scarier. White performers began hearing it and wanting to do it too. Before too long, Blacks and Whites were violating all social taboos by intermingling. It wasn't just racial--it was sexual too! Never forget that when Elvis Presley appeared on "The Milton Berle Show," his hip gyrations were so controversial that when he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show," CBS censors were so nervous, they only filmed him from the waist up. The fact that this seems comical today just shows, in my opinion, how much of an impact a country's culture can have on its history. I will even go so far as to credit rock 'n' roll and R&B--and even folk music, to a degree--with not only ending segregation but also kicking off the sexual revolution as well.
Of course, all of this was completely banned in authoritarian countries like the former Soviet Union as well as most Eastern European countries that were under Soviet influence. In the mid- to late-1980s, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev introduced a policy of "glasnost," (or "openness"), essentially democratizing the country's political system. The people, especially the youth, were fascinated with the freedom of western culture and rock 'n' roll was at the heart of it. Billy Joel became the first western artist to do a full tour of the Soviet Union, playing many different cities to sold out crowds. Eventually, other artists followed suit, ideas were disseminated rather than censored, and before too long, the Berlin Wall and communism fell and the Cold War as we knew it ended.
Obviously that's a gross oversimplification of what happened, but given where we are today, it's easy to look back on that time period with a sense of nostalgia and wonder, and even a sense of despair. Once again, Russia is being run by a dictator. Different ideas and opinions are censored and those who have them are jailed (or worse). But I like to think that eventually, music--the ultimate freedom of expression--will prevail again. Which brings us to this week's album.
In 1988, Paul McCartney released an album of early rock covers that, at that time, was released exclusively in the U.S.S.R. on the Melodiya (Мелодия) label. In the liner notes, Sir Paul wrote:
"When I was young I asked my dad if people wanted peace. He said to me, 'Yes, people everywhere want peace--it's usually politicians that cause trouble.' It always seemed to me that the way the Beatles' music was admired in the U.S.S.R. tended to prove his point that people the world over have a great deal in common.
"In releasing this record exclusively in the Soviet Union, I extend the hand of peace and friendship to the people of the U.S.S.R."
The album was originally released on vinyl on Hallowe'en, 1988, and contained 11 songs. The initial pressing of 50,000 copies sold out quickly. A second pressing was made which added two more songs. Copies were smuggled into other countries and were selling for hundreds of dollars. In 1991, around the time the U.S.S.R. ceased to be, the album was released internationally on CD featuring yet another song from those sessions that was left off the original vinyl record. (Not to brag, but one of the gems of my vinyl collection is a Russian copy of the album--although I only paid about $15 for it.)
This week, in the spirit of freedom and openness, please enjoy Paul McCartney with his album Сно́ва в СССР, commonly known as "The Russsian Album." (The title actually translates as "Back in the U.S.S.R.," which is funny to me because I seriously considered submitting The Beatles' The White Album this week.) It should be noted that the YouTube link below features only the 11 songs from that original 1988 release.
Until next week, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
Yours in peace, love, and rock 'n' roll!
The Reverend Will the Thrill
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