BAJANSKI BAL - THOSE WERE THE DAYS & DOROGAJ DLINNAJU

Bajanski Bal live @ RED NIGHTS Basel, Nov. 2014 The song „Dorogaj Dlinnaju“ was composed in Russia by Boris Fomin and Konstantin Podrevski and was first made popular there by Alexander Wertinski in 1917. To this day it is much loved and performed often in variete and operetta programs throughout Russia. The English text was written by Eugene Raskin (an American of Jewish-Russian descent), who first performed the song in the early sixties with his folk duo „Gene & Francesca“ as „Those Were The Days“. But the song only achieved real hit status in the west in1968, when none other than Paul McCartney and Richard Hewson arranged it for the then yet totally unknown Mary Hopkin and it was released under the Beatles’ own „Apple“ label. The song instantly became a number one hit in several western countries. Raskin, who managed to copyright the song for himself, for both the music and the lyrics, became a rich man from the royalties he received for this single song. Boris Fomin died as a poor man in Leningrad in 1948... Bajanski Bal pay hommage to the song’s ancestry and perform a mixed English/ Russian version of it, in one of their „unplugged“ brackets. In both its Russian and its English versions the song oozes nostalgia and memories of happy days gone by. Shot by Thomas Alf, Francis Carol, Georges Green, Ben O'Bond Edited by Bronislaw Baranbantchik (Benno Hungerbühler) Andrei Ichtchenko: Accordion Piotr Galtchinski: Vocals Michal Abramski: Guitar Juri Welandowski: Tuba (Jörgen Welander) Bronislaw Barabantchik: Drums (Benno Hungerbühler) © otherways films, 2015 http://www.bajanski-bal.com

Added 13 May 2026