Czesław Niemen

Czesław Niemen (Polish pronunciation: [t͡ʂɛswaf ɲemɛn]; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, and often credited as just Niemen, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the 20th century,[1][2][3] singing mainly in Polish.

Czesław Niemen
Czesław Niemen, 1976
Background information
Birth nameCzesław Juliusz Wydrzycki
Born(1939-02-16)February 16, 1939
in Stare Wasiliszki, Nowogródek Voivodeship, Poland (now Belarus)
DiedJanuary 17, 2004(2004-01-17) (aged 64)
in Warsaw, Poland
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet
InstrumentsMulti-instrumentalist (mostly electronic instruments and keyboards)
Years active1967–2001
Associated actsNiebiesko-Czarni, Andrzej Kurylewicz
WebsiteNiemen at polishmusic.ca

Biography

Early life

Niemen was born in Stare Wasiliszki in the Nowogródek Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic (now in the Grodno Region of Belarus). Czesław Niemen belonged to a community of Poles, living outside the eastern borders of contemporary Poland, on the eastern lands of the historical Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (called 'Kresy' – 'borderlands' – in Polish).[4]

In the dawn of World War II these ethnic Polish-Belarusian lands were annexed by the Soviet Union and became a part of the Belorussian SSR, which was affirmed by Europe's post-war reorganization performed during the Yalta Conference.

1960s

He made his debut in the early 1960s, singing Polish rock and soul music. He possessed an unusually wide voice range and equally rich intonation. He was also an ardent composer and a keyboard player.[5]

In 1964 at Congress Hall, Warsaw, Niemen, together with his group, played as a support act to Marlene Dietrich during her concert.[6] She heard his song "Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz" ("Do you still remember me?") there. She enjoyed it so much that she soon wrote her own lyrics for the song and recorded "Mutter, Hast du Mir Vergeben" ("Mother, have you forgiven me?").[7]

Soon after his first successful concerts in France, he started to use the pseudonym Niemen instead of his real name, gaining wider notoriety in Poland and making it easier to pronounce by foreigners (Niemen is a Polish pronunciation of the Neman River, which flows in close proximity to his place of birth). His 1967 song "Dziwny jest ten świat" (Strange Is This World) is commonly acknowledged to be the most important Polish protest song of that era; an English version was also recorded in 1972. The song was influenced by the American blues tradition. He was one of the first Polish performers to wear long hair and colourful clothes and introduced the style of psychedelia to communist Poland, which displeased officials.

The first three LP album's Niemen recorded with his band "Akwarele" (Watercolours). Subsequently, he recorded with his other new bands: "Enigmatic", "Grupa Niemen" and "Aerolit". In 1969 he changed his musical style to progressive rock while recording the monumental album Enigmatic. That album's most notable song was "Bema pamięci żałobny rapsod" (A Mournful Rhapsody in Memory of Józef Bem), based on the 19th century poem by Cyprian Kamil Norwid. The rest of Enigmatic's songs were also in sung poetry form.[8] Niemen played the Hammond organ on his records, later moving to the mellotron and the Moog synthesizer.

1970s

In the early 1970s, Niemen recorded three English language albums under the CBS label, two of them (and three more in Poland) with the Silesian band SBB. With SBB Niemen performed at the Rock & Jazz Now! opening show for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich sharing the stage with Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin and Charles Mingus and subsequently toured with Jack Bruce's band.[9] In 1972 he also performed a song he wrote in Andrzej Wajda's film Wesele (The Wedding).[10] In 1974 he recorded Mourner's Rhapsody with Jan Hammer and Rick Laird from Mahavishnu Orchestra. In the seventies, Niemen turned to jazz-rock fusion and electronic music, recording the album Katharsis.[11]

Later years and death

Niemen went on to compose film soundtracks and theater music, and in the 1990s he showed interest in art, painting and computer graphics.

He died of cancer on January 17, 2004 in Warsaw. His remains were cremated and placed in a columbarium niche on Powązki Cemetery in Warsaw on January 30, 2004.[12]

Awards and recognitions

Niemen won the Sopot International Song Festival in 1979.

Remembrance

In 2009, National Bank of Poland presented three coins dedicated to Niemen: issued on June 19 two silver 10-zloty coins, one of which of square shape, and issued on June 17, 2-zloty coin of Nordic Gold alloy.[13] [14]

Niemen's support bands

Niemen cooperated with the following bands; some of them were support musicians, while others were independent bands: "Akwarele" ("Watercolours") (1967–1969),[15] "I Niemen" ("And Niemen") (1969–1970), also under the name "Niemen Enigmatic"), "Grupa Niemen" (made of the members of Silesian Blues Band), Niebiesko-Czarni, "Aerolit", and female vocal band Alibabki. "Aerolit" accompanied Czesław Niemen in 1974–1978. Initially it was formed from young musicians of the rock band Krzak: Jacek Gazda, Jan Błędowski, Maciej Radziejewski, Piotr Dziemski.[16] The word means "aerolite" in Polish.

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
POL
[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][19][25][26]
Dziwny jest ten świat
  • Released: May 15, 1967[27]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 31
Sukces
  • Released: May 20, 1968[29]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz?
  • Released: June 30, 1969[30]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 35
Enigmatic
  • Released: January 19, 1970[31]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 28
  • POL: Gold
Niemen
  • Released: May 24, 1971[32]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Niemen Vol. 1
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Niemen Vol. 2
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Niemen Aerolit
  • Released: 1975
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Katharsis
  • Released: 1976
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Idée Fixe
  • Released: 1978
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Postscriptum
  • Released: 1980
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Przeprowadzka
  • Released: 1982
  • Label: Rogot
 —
Terra Deflorata
  • Released: February 20, 1989[33]
  • Label: Veriton, Polton
 —
spodchmurykapelusza
  • Released: October 27, 2001[34]
  • Label: EMI Music Poland
 22
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

English-language albums
Title Album details
Strange Is This World
  • Released: 1972
  • Label: CBS
Ode to Venus
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: CBS
Mourner's Rhapsody
  • Released: 1974
  • Label: CBS

Russian-language albums
Title Album details
Russische Lieder
  • Released: 1973
  • Label: CBS

Live albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions
POL
[17]
41 Potencjometrów Pana Jana
  • Released: October 22, 2007[35]
  • Label: Polskie Radio
 27
Kattorna/Pamflet na ludzkość
  • Released: February 28, 2009[36]
  • Label: Polskie Radio
 24
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Compilation albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
POL
[17]
The Best of Niemen
  • Released: 1979
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Gwiazdy mocnego uderzenia: Czesław Niemen
  • Released: 1991
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 —
Sen o Warszawie
  • Released: 1995
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 37
Czas jak rzeka: Złota kolekcja
  • Released: 2000
  • Label: EMI Music Poland
 1
od początku I
  • Released: 2002
  • Label: Polskie Radio/Polskie Nagrania Muza
 7
od początku II
  • Released: 2003
  • Label: Polskie Radio/Polskie Nagrania Muza
 14
Spiżowy krzyk
  • Released: May 30, 2008[39]
  • Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza
 20
Nasz Niemen
  • Released: July 27, 2009[40]
  • Label: Agora SA
 —
Pamiętam ten dzień
  • Released: November 7, 2011[41]
  • Label: Polskie Radio
 4
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Further reading
  • Roman Radoszewski, Czesław Niemen: Kiedy się dziwić przestanę. Monografia artystyczna. Iskry, 2004. ISBN 83-207-1770-1.
  • Marek Gaszyński, Czas jak rzeka. Prószyński i S-ka, 2004. ISBN 83-7337-849-9.
  • Dariusz Michalski, Niemen o sobie. Warszawa: Twój Styl, 2005. ISBN 83-7163-568-0.
  • Tadeusz Skliński, Niemen: dyskografia, fakty, twórczość. Nemunas, 2006. ISBN 83-9230-920-0.
  • Dariusz Michalski, Czesław Niemen: Czy go jeszcze pamiętasz?. Warszawa: MG, 2009. ISBN 978-83-61297-76-5.
  • Jan Edward Czachor, Czesław Niemen w Świebodzinie. Stowarzyszenie Pamięci Czesława Niemena w Świebodzinie, 2010.
gollark: Anarchoprimitivism is not "based".
gollark: KIND OF?
gollark: Maaaaybe they could just not burn things in general?
gollark: I'm hoping people will get more used to not having to actually be physically at some place to work.
gollark: It should probably be "other than that they are lazy", but... again, does it matter?

References
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  4. "Niemen. Biografia". Retrieved October 5, 2019.
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  7. "Usługa chwilowo niedostępna". www1.plus.pl. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  8. "NIEMEN ENIGMATIC. NIEMEN CZESŁAW". Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  9. "JAZZ U NIEMENA, NIEMEN W JAZZIE". Retrieved October 5, 2019.
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  32. "Niemen – "Czerwony Album" – Czesław Niemen – Muzyka – WP.PL". muzyka.wp.pl. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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  34. "Spodchmurykapelusza – Czesław Niemen – Muzyka – WP.PL". muzyka.wp.pl. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
  35. "41 Potencjometrów Pana Jana - Niemen Czesław za 43,99 zł | Muzyka empik.com". empikpolska.eu. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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  37. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 18, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  38. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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  40. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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