Bagels

The song was written by Yakov Yadov in 1926 for the coupletist Grigory Krasavin . A brilliant artist of the so-called “thieves genre”, he was especially popular during the time of the NEP . A student and follower of the famous eccentric Mikhail Savoyarov , Grigory Krasavin performed on stage like his teacher, with a violin , at the same time singing, playing in pauses, accompanying himself, dancing and supplementing singing with mimic improvisations .

In a large article in the journal "Neva" (2001, No. 2) ^[2] , devoted to the history of the song, Vladimir Bakhtin cites the following memoirs of Grigory Krasavin:

I was in the habit of collecting song tunes just in case. Sometimes, somewhere in a cafe or in a restaurant I hear something characteristic pop, I ask the pianist to give me notes. One of these tunes came in handy in 1926. (...) During the conversation, when I tried to find out what the Odessa “spite of the day” consists of, they told me that in Odessa hot bagels are sold at all corners from morning to evening and from evening to morning. One can only hear: “Buy bagels, hot bagels ...” This, they said, should be reflected in the song. Who can do this well and quickly? Only one person - Yakov Petrovich Yadov! A few hours later we were on Sumskaya Street in the apartment of Yadov. Yakov Petrovich really liked the music. He immediately caught fire: “This is a great idea! It is necessary to show in this song an unfortunate unemployed girl, freezing on the street for a piece of bread, dying of hunger to enrich Nepman, so to speak, one of the “grimaces of NEP”. ” He thought for a moment, then added: "Go to the dining room to drink tea, and I will bake bagels." (...) “In a week,” Grigory Krasavin continues his story, “in Odessa I sang“ Bagels ”after my first four numbers. All of Odessa sang them the next day, and after a while, when I arrived in Leningrad, Utesov, meeting me, said: “Grisha, I sing your Bagels.” Nothing? ”-“ Eat well! ”I answered him.“

In the story of the coupletist, uttered on a tape recorder in 1956, the story of the creation of the "Publics" looked like this:

“Arriving on a tour in Odessa, I was amazed that while I was driving from the station to Yadov on Sumskaya Street, all the way I was accompanied by exclamations“ buy bagels ! “I wanted to have a song with such a refrain. I told Yadov about my desire and played the violin, with which I usually performed, a melody that sank into my memory. Yakov Petrovich burst out in a usual violent laugh and told his wife Olga Petrovna in his hoarse voice: “Put a samovar for the artist. And I will bake bagels ... “For half an hour the machine was pounding in the next room. That same evening I performed Bagels at the Gambrinus from a sheet. The next day, Odessa sang "Bagels" ... " ^[3] .

Alexander Galyas, however, notes that “in the story of G. Krasavin, there is one nuance that confuses: it follows from it that Yakov Yadov lived on Sumskaya Street. Nevertheless, there has never been such a street in the center of Odessa , while Sumy Street is well known as the central highway of Kharkov. <...> Now everything is falling into place. G. Krasavin really took the stranger’s music, never knowing who was its true author, and the song was really born in Kharkov , then the capital of Ukraine, on Sumskaya Street ” ^[4] .

The melody of the song was borrowed by Krasavin from the popular foxtrot that attracted him. In various sources, the author of the melody is indicated as “G. Bogomazov "or" S. Bogomazov ” ^[5] . There is also an assumption that the author of the melody was Yakov Samoilovich Fayntuh.

The song "Publicity" triumphantly passed throughout the new Soviet country and went abroad. Immigrants brought her to New York , in the Jewish district, where, trying to stay together, those who arrived from Russia settled. The song was translated into Yiddish . Soon she entered the repertoire of pop singers. It was with the song "Public Women" in Yiddish that they began their great ascent to the pop stage Olympus Sisters Berry when they were still children. They, little girls, simply sang a song about bagels (bagels) heard somewhere near the neighbors, but a professional musician heard the singing and, amazed by the vocal data, called to record the performance on the radio.

The article by V. Bakhtin provides the full text of “Bagels” based on a manuscript stored in the archive of G. Krasavin:

The night is coming
The lantern is swinging
And the light bursts
In the darkness of the night ...
And I, unwashed,
With rags covered
Standing forgotten
Here - on the corner.

Hot bagels
For our public,
Drive the rubble
People, hurry up!
And on a rainy night
Me unhappy
Private merchant,
You take pity.

Here on the outskirts
Year at the owner,
Damned Cain
I am a member.
I listen to swearing
Shaking all the pear
I eat slops
I sleep under the bench.

Hot bagels
For our public,
Drive me the rubble
People, not in vain.
I work at night
I am considered a daughter
And alone
At the artisan.

My father is a drunkard,
Buzzing and booming.
Mother reaches for the coffin
For a long time.
Absolutely missing
Real rubbish -
Sister walking
A brother is a thief!

Hot bagels
For our public,
Drive rubles
You to me at the moment ...
Chasing me
And they all swear
What relies
I need to get a patent.

I'm wasting my strength here
For the hardened days
But to me, dear ones,
Sixteen years…
Eyes are tired
And the lips are red
And the sunken cheeks
What poppies color.

Hot bagels
For our public,
Drive rubles
Someone to me ...
The bridegroom will meet
And I’ll mark it ...
... my honest way.

Senechka repeats to me:
“Do not whine, Zhenechka ...
Wait a little -
We’ll go to the registry office. ”
And I'm waiting with flour
With immense boredom ...
While I auk
Here in the rain.

Drive me the rubble
For our public
<Buy bagels>
I ask you soon
And on a rainy night
Me unhappy
Private merchant,
You pity!

Gradually, having gained popularity among the people, the song became much shorter: social topics were gone, and the folk rumor “edited” some phrases in its own way.

From an interview with Leonid Utesov, Zinovy ​​Paperny ^[6] :

- Your favorite song?
- A song of protest.
- Against what?
- Not against what, but about what. About the dough. In short, Bagels.
And he sings:
The night is coming
The lantern is swinging
Milton swears
In the darkness of the night. (...)
- And who is the author?
- Jacob Poisons.

• in Russian: in Russia (in addition to the first performer of Krasavin) Utesov (See. Songs performed by Utesov , the album "Gop with a wand", song No. 9), Elena Vaenga (album "Flute"); Abroad - Konstantin Kotlyarov, Mila Arzhanskaya (version of Mila Arshanskaya), Sarah Gorbi , Arkady Severny , Turetsky Choir , Yuri Morfessi , Lyapis Trubetskoy group and others. A similar song (with slightly modified lyrics) is in the repertoire of Mikhail Shufutinsky.
• Yiddish: Bublitchki Bagelach - The Barry Sisters
• in Polish: translation by Andrzej Vlast ^[7] : Barbara Rylsk ^[8]
• in French: Damia (Marie-Louise Damien) ^[9]
• in Finnish: Katri Helena ^[10]
• in German: Larisa Mondrus ^[11]

• Song "Bagels", with notes
• Galyas A. “Bagels” on Lanzheronovskaya: 80 years ago the legendary song “Buy Bagels!” Appeared // Odessa newspaper “Porto-Franco”. - 2006. - No. 25 (821). - Release of June 30th.
• Galyas A. “Bagels” in Odessa, on Lanzheronovskaya // Chanson Portal. - 2017. - September 10.
• Bakhtin V. The Forgotten and Unforgettable Yakov Yadov // Chanson Portal. - 2008 .-- June 3.
• The last interview of Leonid Utesov // "Chanson Portal". - 2009. - October 24.
• Section “Pure Odessa idols” → Subsection “Letter I” → “Yadov Yakov Petrovich” // “Odesskiy” - Pure Odessa site.
• Rosenboim A. Music played on the Moldavian ... // Russian Bazaar - Russian Bazaar Newspaper in New York (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, Bronx) and New Jersey. - 2001. - No. 48 (292). - Release of November 22-29.
• “Bagels” for the prosecutor: Letter from Yakov Yadov to A. Ya. Vyshinsky // Artistic and journalistic almanac “Egupets: City and Peace ” / Edited by M. S. Petrovsky. - K .: Spirit and Literature, 2002. - Vol. No. 10.]
• Letter from Jacob Yadov to A. Ya. Vyshinsky. 1940 year. // Lib.RU: “Classics”. - Updated: July 26, 2013.
• Yavorskaya A. The fate of the sea newspaper "Sailor" ...: According to the pages of the newspaper "Sailor" 1921. Part 1. // Odessa almanac "Deribasovskaya - Rishelievskaya": Literary and art edition of the series "Odessa Library". - Odessa: Publishing organization PLASKE JSC, 2018. - No. 2 (73). - S. 311-333.