Πάμε στο τεκέ μου

Not a singer or writer today, but a song, from the early days of rebetiko. Baglamades was believed to have been first recorded in the U.S. by Kuria Koula (Miss Koula or Koula Antonopoulou) in 1920.

There’s no credited composer: the text accompanying the video refers to it as a great Asia Minor rebetiko. It may have arrived in New York (or perhaps Chicago) with Antonopoulou, who was from Istanbul, and her husband, a musician from Patras, in 1915.

After Miss Koula’s 1920 recording, Marika Papagika released this version in 1928. At roughly the same time, Greek recordings appear, in 1927 (sung by Kostas Karipis, released on the German Odeon label), in 1928 (Giorgos Vidalis, also on Odeon) and 1929 (Antonis Dalgas, recorded in Athens).

While there were minor variations in lyrics, all versions deal with hashish smoking and include some of the slang associated with the rebetes, giving a peek into the music that set the stage for the blossoming of classic rebetiko in the 1930s and ‘40s.