Czesław Niemen

Czesław Niemen
Czesław Niemen (Celebrity Alley, Kielce)
Background information
Birth name	Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki
Born	February 16, 1939 in Stare Wasiliszki, Nowogródek Voivodeship, Poland (now Belarus)
Died	January 17, 2004 (aged 64) in Warsaw, Poland
Genres	Rock & roll, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, folk music, avant-garde jazz, electronic music
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, poet
Instruments	Multi-instrumentalist (mostly electronic instruments and keyboards)
Years active	1967–2001
Associated acts	Niebiesko-Czarni, Andrzej Kurylewicz
Website	Niemen at polishmusic.ca

Czesław Niemen (Polish pronunciation: [t͡ʂɛswaf ɲemɛn]; February 16, 1939 – January 17, 2004), born Czesław Juliusz Wydrzycki, was one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers of the last quarter-century,^[1] singing mainly in Polish.

Biography

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 huge, strongly self-identified and culturally influential 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). In the dawn of World War II these ethnic Belarusian lands were annexed by the Soviet Union and became a part of Belorussian SSR, according to Europe's post-war reorganization performed during the Yalta Conference at the same time when Gdańsk and Wrocław (called Danzig and Breslau in German) became a part of Poland. In the 1950s Niemen was allowed to move to Poland as one of many Poles embodied by the so-called Second Repatriation.

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.

In 1964 at Congress Hall, Warsaw, Niemen, together with his group, played as a support act to Marlene Dietrich during her concert. She heard his song "Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz" ("Do you still remember me?") there. She enjoyed it so much that she soon recorded her own version of it "Mutter, Hast du Mir Vergeben" ("Mother, have you forgiven me?") writing her own lyrics for the song.^[2]

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 song of 1967, "Dziwny jest ten świat" (Strange Is This World) is commonly acknowledged to be the most important Polish protest song of that era (in 1972 an English version was also recorded). 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 annoyed the 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 musical style to progressive rock while recording the monumental album Enigmatic. The most notable song from it 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 songs were also in sung poetry form. Niemen played Hammond organ, later mellotron and Moog synthesizer on his records.

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 1972 Rock & Jazz Now! opening show for the Olympic Games in Munich sharing stage with Mahavishnu Orchestra, John McLaughlin and Charles Mingus and subsequently toured with the band of Jack Bruce. 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 (Katharsis album). In 1972 he also contributed with a song performed by him in "Wesele" (The Wedding (1972 film)) by director Andrzej Wajda, laureate of an honorary Oscar. Later, Niemen also composed film soundtracks and theater music. In the 1990s he showed interest in art, painting and computer graphics.

Death and the funeral

He died of cancer on January 14 2004 in Warsaw. His remains were cremated and placed in a columbarium niche on Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw on January 30 2004.

Awards and recognitions

Niemen won the Sopot International Song Festival in 1979.

Niemen's support bands

Niemen cooperated with the following bands; some of them were support musicians, while others were independent bands: "Akwarele" ("Watercolours"), "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", female vocal band Alibabki.

"Aerolit" accompanied Czesław Niemen in 1974–1978. Initially it was formed from young musiсians of the rock band Krzak: Jacek Gazda, Jan Błędowski, Maciej Radziejewski, Piotr Dziemski.^[3] The word means "aerolite" in Polish.

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions	Certifications
		POL [4]
Dziwny jest ten świat	Released: May 15, 1967[5] Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza	31	POL: Gold[6]
Sukces	Released: May 20, 1968[7] Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza	—
Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz?	Released: June 30, 1969[8] Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza	35
Enigmatic	Released: January 19, 1970[9] Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza	28	POL: Gold
Niemen	Released: May 24, 1971[10] 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[11] Label: Veriton, Polton	—
spodchmurykapelusza	Released: October 27, 2001[12] 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 [4]
41 Potencjometrów Pana Jana	Released: October 22, 2007[13] Label: Polskie Radio	27
Kattorna/Pamflet na ludzkość	Released: February 28, 2009[14] 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 [4]
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	POL: Platinum[15]
od początku I	Released: 2002 Label: Polskie Radio/Polskie Nagrania Muza	7	POL: Gold[16]
od początku II	Released: 2003 Label: Polskie Radio/Polskie Nagrania Muza	14
Spiżowy krzyk	Released: May 30, 2008[17] Label: Polskie Nagrania Muza	20
Nasz Niemen	Released: July 27, 2009[18] Label: Agora SA	—	POL: Platinum[15]
Pamiętam ten dzień	Released: November 7, 2011[19] Label: Polskie Radio	4	POL: Platinum[15]
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

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 n June 17 2-zloty coin of Nordic Gold alloy.^{[20] [21]}

Books about Niemen

• 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.

References

1. "Niemen – czy go jeszcze pamiętasz?". TVP. January 18, 2009. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
2. Plus.pl
3. Krzak
4. http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=466&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=260&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=186&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=190&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=423&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=502&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=187&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=194&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=186&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=59&lang=en
   http://olis.onyx.pl/listy/index.asp?idlisty=704&lang=en
5. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368202,title,Dziwny-jest-ten-swiat,plyta.html
6. http://muzyka.onet.pl/pop/45-lat-zlotej-plyty-w-polsce-czeslaw-niemen-dziwny-jest-ten-swiat/jykpe
7. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368263,title,Sukces,plyta.html
8. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368233,title,Czy-mnie-jeszcze-pamietasz,plyta.html
9. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368245,title,Enigmatic,plyta.html
10. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368219,title,Niemen-Czerwony-Album,plyta.html
11. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,368286,title,Terra-Deflorata,plyta.html
12. http://muzyka.wp.pl/rid,53340,title,Spodchmurykapelusza,plyta.html
13. http://www.empikpolska.eu/41-potencjometrow-pana-jana-niemen-czeslaw,prod180020,muzyka-p
14. http://muzyka.onet.pl/czeslaw-niemen-kattorna-pamflet-na-ludzkosc
15. http://www.zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/platynowe/index.php
16. http://www.zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/zlote/index.php
17. http://www.lsi.lublin.pl/empik/f_IX.08/empik26.09.htm
18. http://www.olesiejuk.pl/zobacz/single/nasz-niemen-ksiazka-cd.html
19. http://olis.onyx.pl/plyty/index.asp?idplyty=3182
20. "Czesław Niemen na monetach kolekcjonerskich NBP"
21. "Banknoty i monety. Monety okolicznościowe z 2009 r."

External links

• Czesław Niemen at ProgArchives.com – photographs, reviews, music, discography
• (Polish) Niemen, partial dyscography incl. singles
• Forum
• Czesław Niemen at culture.pl
• Did James Brown Inspire the Beat Generation in Poland?