15 Facts About Arkady Severny

Arkady Dmitriyevich Severny was a Soviet Russian folk singer.

Arkady Severny was very popular in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, primarily because of his criminal songs.

Arkady Severny sang more than 1,000 songs based on criminal folklore and literature.

Arkady Severny recorded more than 80 albums, both solo and orchestral.

Arkady Severny belonged to the so-called "golden youth", with his father occupying a senior position on the Ivanovo railroad.

The young Arkady Severny did well at school, and loved to play the seven-string guitar.

Once, in the company of friends, Arkady Severny sang about a dozen songs, which he recorded on tape.

Arkady Severny performed prison songs on the radio at the request of the program's listening audience.

The pseudonym Arkady Severny was adopted as a matter of style.

Arkady Severny, being the Russian word for "northern", fit Arkady Severny's carefully cultivated image as a prison singer perfectly.

In 1968, Arkady Severny was discharged from the Soviet Army, where he had served as lieutenant for a year in a helicopter regiment not far from Leningrad.

Arkady Severny then received an invitation from producer Sergei Maklakov.

Arkady Severny performed his songs throughout an entire evening at Maklakov's residence, resulting in 500 meters of recordings on the now outdated reel-to-reel tape recorder that were quickly disseminated throughout the entire Soviet Union and eventually gave rise to the popularity of the performer's prison songs.

On 12 April 1980, Arkady Severny died from a massive intracerebral hemorrhage while staying at a friend's house in Leningrad.

Arkady Severny managed to combine and concentrate practically the entire international lexicon of the "prison song" genre.