Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch Together Again

Now being prepared is a major event on the Israeli

music scene - Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch are

working together on a new album. The two

singers/composers have reunited after 19 years of

separation, and the results of their joint efforts should

be released next spring.

To understand the importance of this happening, one

must realize the mark that Arik and Shalom have made

on the Israeli music scene. They are legendary

performers - creators and singers of some of most

popular music Israelis have known. Consider them the

McCartney/Lennon team of local rock. Without Arik

and Shalom, Israeli music would not be where it is

today.

Where did it all begin? The year was 1967, just a few

months after the Six Day War. It all started in a Tel Aviv

club called "The Tall Windows", a club named for a trio

performing there. A party was taking place in honor of

director Boaz Davidson, bound for cinema studies in

London. Actor Yosi Pollak arrived, dragging along a

20-year-old soldier, an entertainer in the Nahal troupe

who was also studying acting at Beit Tzvi.

The performance of the Tall Windows ended, and

singers Arik Einstein, Shmulik Krause and Josie Katz

came off the stage. Yosi called Shmulik over and

introduced him to the soldier. "This is Shalom," he said.

"He's really something - a great composer". Yosi asked

for a guitar and forced the soldier onto the stage. Even

though he was embarrassed, Shalom played two

songs, and then prepared to leave.

At that time, Arik Einstein, aged 28, was one of the

most popular singers in Israel. He rushed after Shalom,

and caught up to him at the exit of the club. "Where do

you think you're going?" he asked him. And that was

the first time they met - Arik Einstein would later say

that at that moment, he considered Shalom the fifth

Beatle.

The two began working together. Shalom composed

the music and Arik sang. They released their first joint

efforts - which were followed in 1968 by the album

Mazal G'di. Einstein was pleased with the results, but

Hanoch had little control over the musical

interpretations of his work.

By 1969 Shalom was becoming known on the Israeli

music scene. Shula Chen, a former fellow member of

Shalom's Nahal entertainment troupe, recorded four of

his songs. Shalom was also collaborating with Benny

Amdurski and Hanan Yovel in a group called

Hashlosharim. Meanwhile the connection with Arik

continued, and Shalom composed for him the song

Prague, which dealt with the Soviet invasion of

Czechoslovakia. Einstein, a previous two-time winner in

the annual Israeli Song Contest, sang Prague in the

first televised contest in 1969. The song's sound was

quite different from the melodies usually heard at the

festival, and Einstein finished in 7th place. Einstein

would never again appear in the festival, but his team

work with Hanoch was just beginning.

One of the greatest albums ever released in

Israeli was Shablul. This album, with Arik and Shalom

pictured together on the cover, was also the first time

when Shalom was allowed (or rather forced by Arik) to

participate in by singing. On the song Mah Sh'yotar

Amok, Yotar Kahol Shalom got his first real solo. The

album was a hit. Their next joint album, Plastalina

included the popular songs, Maya and Mah Iti? Once

again it was Einstein singing, but Shalom did get a

chance to sing as well.

At this time Shalom had different plans. In October,

1970, he went to London to try a solo career. He

stayed in England three years, managing to release

one unsuccessful album. Upon his return to Israel in

1973, Shalom was unable to fill the Tzavta club in Tel

Aviv. Einstein suggested a joint performance, and it

was scheduled for October 6th, the night after Yom

Kippur. That afternoon the war broke out, and the

performance was cancelled. Arik and Shalom began

performing instead for groups of soldiers, and refused

to allow these concerts to be televised.

After the war, Arik began to collaborate with Miki

Gavrielov on the album Sah L'at. Hanoch teamed up

with Ariel Zilber and Meir Yisrael and formed the rock

group, Tamuz. It was Einstein who gave the group its

name. Tamuz was marked by its use of electric guitars

and its energetic rhythm, not the type of music Arik

Einstein is known for, so the two drifted apart. Einstein

continued to sell his quieter albums, while Tamuz

quickly broke apart.

A turning point in Shalom Hanoch's career came in

1977, when he released his first solo album in

Hebrew Adam B'Toach Atzmo. When Shalom returned

to concert touring, he easily filled the Tzavta club. In

the summer of 1978 he performed at the Nueiba Rock

Festival, and was regarded as the King of Israeli

Rock.

In the beginning of 1979, Arik suggested that the two

perform together onstage. It was at this time that Arik's

close friend, Uri Zohar, had left the entertainment

world and had become ultra-religious, and Arik's wife

and two daughters were turning to the Haredi world as

well. Compared to their earlier work, where Einstein

was the lead singer and Hanoch his backup musician,

this time the story was different. Shalom was a rock

star of his own right. When audiences greeted Arik with

calls for Shalom, Arik may have realized that things had

changed. Though the two continued with their

scheduled concert dates, they have never performed

together since, a period of nineteen years.

The 1980's saw Shalom Hanoch release Hatuna

Lavana, probably the most bombastic Israeli rock

production of all time. Einstein at that time was

recording an album of the works of Sasha Argov. The

two couldn't have been farther apart from a musical

perspective. In August, 1982, Einstein attended a party

marking the end of Hanoch's concert tour, and upon

leaving, was seriously injured in a traffic accident.

Shalom, and backup singer Dafna Armoni, were at

Einstein's bedside during his recovery.

After the accident, Einstein stopped performing.

Apparently enormous offers were made, but Arik

refused to return to the stage. Shalom's career, on the

other hand, was marked by his concert tours. He

became the first Israeli performer to fill the Yarkon

Park, as well as performing to crowds in Jerusalem's

Sultans' Pool and at the ancient ampitheater in

Caesaria.

The renewed musical connection between Einstein and

Hanoch began when Shalom composed the song

Shalom Haver for Arik after Yitzhak Rabin's

assassination. Now the two are working together again,

in a recording studio. There is much pressure on them

for a successful album. Hanoch's last two releases did

not become commercial successes, and in the late

1990's, there is no talk of his being capable to attract

audiences like he once did. Even though Einstein's

albums continue to sell well, there has been criticism

that his newer songs are not novelties, but rather

repeats of his earlier work.

If Arik Einstein and Shalom Hanoch live up to their past

record and expectations of what they are capable,

their upcoming joint musical release should be

the biggest event on the Israeli cultural scene in

1999.

Based on "A Ballad of Arik and Shalom" which appeared in Yediot Aharonot on 9/20/98.

Source: http://israeliculture.miningco.com/ by Ellis Shuman ( not existing as of 2001-11-03).