The Passing of a Generation

Earlier this week we received some sad news.  Our Great Uncle Marvin passed away on Monday.  He was the second of three sons born to Russian immigrants on the old west side of Chicago.  Children of musicians, it was only natural that all three boys would grow up to be musicians as well.  Norman, the eldest, played piano and accordion.  Marvin played guitar.  Anatol, the youngest of the three (and my grandfather), played bass fiddle.

What I remember most as a child were the family get-togethers at my grandfather's house.  When two or more of the brothers were together, you could always count on music being played.  Jazz standards and old blues songs, traditional Russian songs they learned from their parents and anything else that struck their fancy.  Stories were swapped and jokes were shared. And there was laughter.  Lots of laughter.  All of this was the soundtrack to a lot of happy memories.

Occasionally at those family parties, my grandfather would slip a cassette tape into a boombox to record the music.  Sometime after he passed away, I came across a box of those old tapes.  At that time I was working as an audio restoration engineer, restoring old time radio shows.  Before I left that job I made sure to bring in those tapes and transfer them over to a digital format for everyone in the family to enjoy. 

I still have a hard time listening to these recordings.  I always get a little choked up, especially when I first hear everyone talking and laughing together in between songs.  By the time I'm done listening, however, I'm smiling too.  I know some can't bear to hear these.  And I completely understand.  But I'll put it to you this way: if they didn't want the family to enjoy these, I don't think they would have bothered to record them in the first place.

Below are a couple songs from the Berkman Brothers.  The first is a Russian ballad they learned from their parents.  I don't know the name of it.  If you do, please let me know.  It is from the earliest tape I found, dated September 15 & 16, 1981.  The second might be the last song the three ever recorded together, from a tape labeled July 19, 1994.

As sad as this week's news was, I am happy the three of them are back together again; playing music, joking, arguing and sharing stories.  And maybe they can finally learn the words to all those Russian songs from their parents, too.

Russian Song.m4a

Those Were the Days.m4a

By the way, here's a heartfelt memorial written to Uncle Marv by one of his neighbors. Make sure you check out the video of him playing at the end.