Lazaros Rouvas, born in northwestern Greece in 1985, was a versatile composer and musician. He is probably best known for the folk music he wrote and recorded, but he also wrote lyrics, music or both for at least half-a-dozen rebetiko songs during the 1930s.
In various discography listings, he is credited with composing almost 100 songs, including 20 songs he’s recorded as a singer between 1928 and 1932.
A lot of his output was Epirotika, clarinet-driven, soulful music from the Epirus region where he was born. He also wrote a number of other folk songs and played laouto (a Greek mainland lute) or clarinet on many of them. He was busy: most of those recordings were made in the 1930s and ’40s.
His rebetiko songs were often created in collaboration with Giorgos Petropouleas. His work, alone or with Petropouleas, was for major artists such as Rosa Eskenazi, Kostas Roukounas and Stellakis Perpiniades. He also worked with other musicians associated with rebetiko, including violinist, composer and recording executive Dimitrios Semsis.
This is how I want you was originally recorded by Roza Eskenazi in 1936, with Semsis on violin and Kostas Skarvelis on guitar. This version was recorded two years ago in Athens by Manos Chamarakis. It’s a nice love song:
What should I do with the money and the tall palaces
they’re worth nothing, aman aman in front of your two eyes
A fleeting kiss from you, whatever you say, is worth it
that’s why I loved you, aman aman and let the world curse me.
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