Russkiye pesni

The idea of recording this album came to Alexander Gradsky in 1976, when, as a student of the Moscow Conservatory, he participated in recording and decoding works of Russian folklore. The first five tracks of the album were recorded in 1976, the final three in 1979.{{cite book|last=Dodolev|first=Yevgeny|date=2013|title=Александр Градский. The Голос|trans-title=Alexander Gradsky. The Golos|language=ru|location=Moscow|publisher=Ripol-Klassik|isbn=978-5-386-05582-0}}

The music and lyrics of most of the songs are traditional; Gradsky prepared arrangements of all the compositions, as well as completed the last verse in the "Tanya belaya". In addition, the album included the revolutionary song "Vy zhertvoyu pali", written at the end of the XIX century by Anton Amosov; when recording, an instrumental fragment was added to the end of the song.

The synthesizer Synthi 100, brought to the USSR by Peter Zinovieff, the creator of EMS, was widely used in the recording of the album.{{cite web|url=https://www.colta.ru/articles/music_modern/5213-bog-rok-n-rolla|title=Бог Рок-н-Ролла|last=Boyarinov|first=Denis|date=3 November 2014|website=Colta|access-date=4 August 2024|language=ru|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208091753/https://www.colta.ru/articles/music_modern/5213-bog-rok-n-rolla|archive-date=8 February 2022}}

Writer and journalist Vasiliy Golovanov, on the pages of Yunost magazine in March 1985, named the album among the most significant domestic works that managed to "squeeze out" English-language rock.{{cite web|url=http://www.nneformat.ru/texts/?id=8453|title=Вечный двигатель инженера Тухманова|last=Galchenko|first=Oleg|date=2 December 2015|website=Nash NeFormat|language=ru|access-date=4 August 2024|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630150439/http://www.nneformat.ru/texts/?id=8453|archive-date=30 June 2020}}

In a retrospective review for Colta, Denis Boyarinov stated that Gradsky does not try to fit a folk song to rock and roll schemes, does not engage in stylization and ornamentation. He leaves the authentic elements inherent in the folk song style — unusual musical dimensions, free-floating accents, archaic words, but at the same time boldly reshapes melodies, treating the ancient song as his own, or, overcome by compositional ambitions and inspired by the studio experiments of the Beatles and George Martin, inserts quotes from Bach, Stravinsky and "Farewell of Slavianka", references to Chaliapin, Lemeshev and musique concrète.

Meduza magazine included the song "Tanya Belaya" in the list of 13 important songs performed by Gradsky.{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/feature/2021/11/28/kakim-my-zapomnim-aleksandra-gradskogo-13-pesen-v-ispolnenii-yarchayshego-muzykanta|title=13 важных песен в исполнении Александра Градского. Каким мы запомним этого ярчайшего музыканта Высоцкий, Стинг, «Карузо» и концептуальный рок|date=28 November 2021|website=Meduza|access-date=4 August 2024|language=ru|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202175933/https://meduza.io/feature/2021/11/28/kakim-my-zapomnim-aleksandra-gradskogo-13-pesen-v-ispolnenii-yarchayshego-muzykanta|archive-date=2 December 2021}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side A

| total_length = 16:46

| title1 = Nichto v polyushke

| note1 = "Nothing Is Swaying in the Field"

| length1 = 4:34

| title2 = Daryu platok (Stradaniya)

| note2 = "I Present a Kerchief (Laments)"

| length2 = 2:33

| title3 = Tanya Belaya (Khorovod-tanok)

| note3 = "Tanya, Tanyusha (A Round Dance)"

| length3 = 3:11

| title4 = Plach

| note4 = "Lament"

| length4 = 2:09

| title5 = Na Ivana Kupala

| note5 = "On St. John's Night"

| length5 = 4:19

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side B

| total_length = 20:19

| title1 = Ne odna vo pole dorozhenka

| note1 = "There're Many Paths in the Field"

| length1 = 7:59

| title2 = Soldatskaya

| note2 = "Soldiers Song"

| length2 = 5:16

| title3 = Vy zhertvoyu pali

| note3 = "You've Fallen Victims"

| length3 = 7:04

}}

• Alexander Gradsky – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, piano, celesta, drums, bells, percussion
• Yuri Ivanov – bass guitar, harmonica
• Vladimir Vasilkov – percussion
• Sergey Zenko – flute, pipe, saxophone
• Skoromorokhi – backing band

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.{{Cite AV media notes|title=Russkiye pesni|others=Alexander Gradsky|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/1945295-Alexander-Gradsky-%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80-%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-Russian-Songs-Folk-Songs-Suite-%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-|date=1980|access-date=4 August 2024|type=liner notes|publisher=Melodiya|id=С 60–14621-22|location=USSR|archive-date=17 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017113900/https://www.discogs.com/release/1945295-Alexander-Gradsky-%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80-%D0%93%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-Russian-Songs-Folk-Songs-Suite-%D0%A0%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5-|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|321387|Russkiye pesni|type=album}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1980 albums

Category:Melodiya albums

Category:Russian-language albums

Category:1980s concept albums

Category:Folk rock albums by Russian artists

Category:Alexander Gradsky albums