The late Babis Goles is one of those who kept rebetiko alive, performing old songs from the 1960s until his death in 2015. I was fortunate to see Goles in an Athens taverna a couple of years before his death, when he was playing with young musicians who were keeping the flame lit for another generation.
Goles was born in Patras, Greece’s third-largest city, and was self-taught on guitar, oud and bouzouki. According to the Greek version of Wikipedia, “He had a deep knowledge of the repertoire of 78 rpm records and brought back many forgotten songs from a wider range that included, in addition to the various genres of rebetiko, the cantada and the folk song.”
Goles started performing in 1964 in cafes in Patras. He didn’t record his first album until 1982, but over the following years he recorded almost 300 old and new songs. Goles was central to the rebetiko revival and ensuring that the old music was brought back for new audiences.
He died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 68.
Marika of Smyrna was written by Dimitris Semsis and recorded by Antonis Dalgas in 1931. Goles released this version on his 1992 album, Το Δέκα Το Καλό.
Leave a Reply