The rock musical and the beginnings of rock music in Israel in the early 70s

ABSTRACT

This article uncovers an untold story of how rock music came to the big stages and national broadcasting studios of a country transitioning from the European sphere and a socialist ethos to the American sphere and a market-oriented culture. In demonstrating how the rock musical preceded, anticipated, and likely enabled rock music in Israel, this article will focus on five rock musicals from the early 1970s. We argue that the rock musical introduced a friendly and commercially oriented version of rock and rock’n’roll music and its antics, and thus enabled wide crowds to adopt a foreign-born culture such as rock. By the end of that process in the mid-1970s, the broad acceptance of American rock music and particularly a socially involved rock aesthetic had emerged through the overlooked and unlikely genre of the rock musical.

KEYWORDS:

• Rock
• 1970s
• rock musical
• rock opera
• Americanization

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous readers for their very helpful comments and suggestions. The Faculty of Humanities at the University of Haifa generously funded a work group on the origins of Israeli rock music. In that forum, we benefited from the helpful suggestions and insights of Tal Vaizman, from the assistance of Noa Toib who discovered exciting archival sources, and from Yair Raviv (and Noa) who transcribed video interviews with the founders of Israeli popular music. We are grateful to Dadi Shlesinger, guitarist with Lehakat Heil Ha-Yam at the time of the Raphsoda be-khahol production, for supplying first-hand knowledge on the production.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The present study refers to a large number of bands, musicals, albums, and songs, both from Israel and abroad. In some cases, the same title denotes both the name of a band and one of its albums; an album and its stage production; or a musical and its film production. Many Hebrew names and titles are significant for the study and hence merit translation. To ease distinction, Hebrew names of songs, albums and musicals are translated into English unless indicated otherwise. Band names are given in the original Hebrew. Titles of musicals, musical programs, albums (including singles and EPs), books, theater plays, films, and radio and television programs are given in italics. Song titles and lines quotations from song lyrics are given in double quotation marks.

2. Michael Figueroa has recently pointed out that musicals in late 1960s’ Israel carried over some of rock music’s countercultural ethos. Figueroa concentrates on two musicals created by lyricist Dan Almagor before his involvement in Don’t Call Me Black (that will be discussed later in the article) — Once There Was a Hasid (Heb. Ish hasid haya) (1968) and My Jerusalem (1969) (Heb. Yerusalayim sheli) — that mark the rise of that ethos in Israel. These two musicals certainly demonstrated what Figueroa identifies as an “aesthetics of ambivalence” toward Zionist ideology, but their musical style was far removed from the novel and subversive contemporary sounds of London and Woodstock: the music of Once There Was a Hasid was based on Hasidic tunes and that of My Jerusalem was written by classically trained Noam Sheriff, and song composers Sasha Argov and Nurit Hirsh – both indebted to the SLI tradition and its predominantly Russian roots. See Figueroa, “Aesthetics of ambivalence,” 261–82.

3. Jump was often referred to as a pop opera, rather than rock opera. Nonetheless, its clear framing as an answer to Hair may justify its classification as a rock music, if not to Warfield’s first category, then to his third (“and most arbitrary”) category – works “that used rock styles […] yet were never identified (at least not publicly) as ‘rock musicals’ by their creators […].” Scott Warfield, “From Hair to Rent and Beyond,” 282. See also Shuker, Popular Music: The Key Concepts, 109–11; 179.

4. One should note that some of these definitions could be challenged by contemporary perspectives: Jesus Christ Superstar, for example, shows more affinity with Pink Floyd’s style in 1970 than with Lloyd Weber and Rice’s own later style (for example, in their 1976 musical Evita). Thus, John Rockwell’s classification of Jesus Christ Superstar as a rock musical rather than a rock opera challenges Rockwell’s own definitions, and owes perhaps to Lloyd Weber and Rice’s subsequent mainstream success in the West End more than to the music and the lyrics intrinsically.

5. Harzion, “Dorot u-tmorot ba-zemer ha-ivri”; Burstyn, “Shira hadasha-atika.”

6. Schab, “Ancient Modes in the Modern Classroom;” Flam, “Pe’ulata ha-musikalit shel Bracha Zefira;” Tolnai-Torkan, “Bracha Zefira;” Topelberg, “Ha-Muzika ha-popularit be-Tel Aviv,” 98–104.

7. The musical style as well as the arrangements of contemporary songs were heavily influenced by the quintessential accompanying instrument of Russian folksong, the accordion. Cojocaru, “Jestot ha-accordion.”

8. For an excellent recent study of the early Americanization of Israel see: Frankel, ”Your Part in the Phantom”; Ram, The Globalization of Israel; and Segev, Elvis in Jerusalem.

9. The Weavers’ visit seems to have appealed to audiences outside Tel-Aviv, particularly in villages and kibbutzim like Ein-Gev, Kfar Warburg, Na’an, and Sha’ar Ha-Negev. Their concerts in Tel Aviv (some of them were closed events) were perceived as events of genuine diplomatic significance. The presence of Abba Eban, recently returned from his tenure as ambassador to the United States, and the American Ambassador to Israel, Ogden Ried, was prominently noted in the advertisement. See for example Davar, June 24, 1959, 5; and Haaretz, July 1, 1959, 5. Paradoxically, it was the SLI that influenced The Weavers more than the Weavers influenced the local Israeli scene – most notably in the Weavers’ rendition of the songs “Tzena Tzena” and “Artza Alinu” in their 1951 films Tzena Tzena Tzena and Around the World respectively. When Giora Godik, the producer who had arranged the visits for The Golden Gate Quartet and The Weavers, brought over Los Paraguayos in October 1959, he advertised the tour as the third in a series of tours by “folklore ambassadors.” By that he was hinting that folk music from America and Paraguay are equally exotic for the local Israeli audience. See advertisements in Ma’ariv, September 16, 1959, 3.

10. Sagee-Keren, “Hishtarshut ha-jazz be-Israel.”

11. Heilbronner, “Tzrima: tarbuyot mishne, muzika u-mehaat tze’irim Yisraelim;” Katorza, “Hashpa’at ha-rock ha-psikhadeli al Poozy ve-Shabloul.” The fact that the Doors, Janis Joplin, or Marvin Gaye never reached the top 20 in the Israeli charts, and that the Jackson Five, which had four no. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, were not ranked in that year’s chart demonstrates the limits of the infiltration of American culture at the time.

12. Regev and Seroussi, Popular Music and National Culture in Israel, 137–60.

13. Alongside Kaveret and Tamouz, one should also mention Shlomo Artzi’s To All the Friends from the Trip from Sea to Sea (Heb. Lekhol ha-haverim me-ha-masa miyam el yam) (1974), and The Popolim’s eponymous album (1974). Zvika (then Henryk) Pik’s single What Now? (Heb. Ma akhshav?) has the singer with tight Stars and Stripes shirt as the predominant element on the cover.

14. Brill Bulding music took its name from the Brill Building in New York City, where numerous teams of professional songwriters penned material for girl groups and teen idols during the early 1960s.

15. Surely not by coincidence, while The Young Ones was released before Christmas of 1961, its release in Israel was perfectly timed for the beginning of the school summer break in July of the following year. Richard’s next film, Summer Holiday, although released in February 1963, opened in Israel also in July.

16. See Yoav Kutner’s interviews (for the epic series of Mif’al Ha-Pais) with Yitzhak Klepter and Ilan Virtzberg. https://israelimusic.pais.co.il/desktop/ accessed: December 1, 2022; See Dudi Patimer’s interview with Richard Peritz in Dudi Patimer, “Go, Richard, Go – sipuro shel ha-yotzer ve-ha-musikai Richard Peritz [The story of Richard Peritz],” Dudipedia – Israeli Music Conservation Project, May 10, 2020. https://dudipedia.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/ accessed: December 1, 2022; Poliker, Ha-tzel sheli va-ani, 221–3; and Lamrot ha-kol, Ep. 29, Galatz November 1995. Advertisements of arrival of stocks of Egmond electric guitars in January-February 1964 correspond exactly with the Richard-Shadows tour. See for example advertisements for the Somerfeld music shop in Tel Aviv in Ma’ariv: January 5, January, 24 January, February 3, February 4, and February 7, 1964.

17. See Yoav Kutner’s interviews with Yehonatan Geffen, Arale Kaminsky, Danny Litani, Dori Ben-Zeev, Menny Begger, Misha Segal, Mickey Gavrielov, Sholomo Yidov, Rami Kleinstein, among others. https://israelimusic.pais.co.il/desktop/ accessed: December 1, 2022.

18. Their band’s lineup resembled that of The Seekers, then at the height of their success. See analysis of the album in Wagner, “Lehakat Ha-halonot ha-gvohim.”

19. The main riff from of their hit “Suddenly You Love Me” (ranked no. 2 in that year) is still one of the best recognized riffs in Israel through its quotation in Gabi Shoshan’s 1974 “Le-hishtatot lif’amim.”

20. See for example The No Names (Heb. Ktzat aheret) (1974) and Avner Kenner and Yoni Rechter’s album 14 Octaves (Heb. Arba-esre oktavot) (1975). Even farther from the mainstream, the British band Revolver (which, like The Tornadoes, disbanded during its long stint in Israel) recorded one of the most advanced-sounding psychedelic singles ever produced in Israel — Imagine/I’m Down — in 1970. The taste for British music persisted as evident through the radio charts well into the 1980s. More than half of the entries in the Reshet Bet annual radio charts for the years 1969, 1973, 1976 and 1981 were British.

21. “Ho yaldonet” of Ha-Hedim (The Echoes) from 1962 is such an example, importing the sound of early rock’n’roll.

22. Partygoers who went to the Ganei Noga club in central Tel Aviv (near the famed Mughrabi Cinema), for example, could see the (former) American actor Jimmy Lloyd alongside Zaza, a stripper from the Lido de Paris, the Yiddish comedian Ya‘akov Bodo, and a local magician named Kazablan. Ma’ariv, December 29, 1969, 28. At the Validor Hotel in Herzliya, the taste was even more provincial, and consisted of comedian Ticki Dayan, and The Great Suliman Band led by communal singing leader Shlomo Cohen, and Cohen’s son Yizhar (still fairly unknown; he would win the Eurovision song contest a few years later): Ma’ariv, December 28, 1969, 15. A richer variety show was staged at the Tel Aviv Cinema, where Pashanel, the country’s top producer, held a celebration starting at 23:45, where the lineup was adorned with the top entertainers that he represented, including well-known and beloved comedians alongside known singers like Yigal Bashan, Riki Gal and Rivka Zohar: Ma’ariv, December 28, 1969, 15.

23. Also on the lineup were Ha-Shokolada (The Chocolate), Ha-Bama Ha-Hashmalit (The Electric Stage) and Kokhavei Tzion (The Stars of Zion).

24. “Elenore” was taken from the band’s 1968 album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. It is worth noting that the song was released as a single already in September 1968, so its presence in the Israeli charts more than a year later reflects a chronological lag in the following of the musical fashion of the US.

25. Ya’akov Ha-Elyon, “Raphsoda be-khahol [Blue Barge],” Ma’ariv, November 6, 1969, 18.

26. Noam Shachak, “La-pizmonim yesh gam tzililim tzormim [songs also have discordant tones],” Ma’ariv, December 11, 1969, 28.

27. Dadi Shlesinger, guitarist with the group at the time, supplied us with first-hand knowledge on the rehearsals, the work with Benny Nagari, the instruments used by the band, and the production concept.

28. Waksman, Instruments of Desire.

29. The song was controversial to the utmost upon its release. IDF General (later assassinated in his role of extreme right-wing politician) Rehabam (“Ghandi”) Zeevi notoriously deemed the song defeatist and censored it under his military jurisdiction. The song later became the unofficial hymn of the political left and the peace movement and was famously sung by the crowd during the 1995 mass peace rally at the end of which prime minister Yizahk Rabin was assassinated. The blood-stained lyrics of “Song for Peace” became central in the national memory of a martyr for peace.

30. Natan Alterman, “Ha-shir, ha-mehaa, ha-menifest [The song, the protest, the manifest],” Ma’ariv, December 5, 1969, 10.

31. “‘Se’ar’ la-azazel, Tehi ‘ha-karahat’ [The hell with ‘Hair,’ long live ‘Bald Head’],” Lahiton 8 (January 9, 1970), 5.

32. Ehud Manor, Ein li eretz aheret, 178–9.

33. Davar, May 29, 1970.

34. “Ha-Sipur she-meahorei ha-taklit [the story behind the record],” Davar, June 12, 1970, 38.

35. The slang hantarish (signifying low quality) defies translation and therefore the Hebrew name of the album is retained here.

36. “Neesar al Danny Ben-Israel le-hashmi’a pizmonei ‘Se’ar’ [Danny Ben-Israel was prohibited from playing songs from ‘Hair,’]” Ma’ariv, June 17, 1970, 8.

37. Lamrot ha-kol, Ep. 25, Galatz, October 14, 1995.

38. Ya’akov Ha-Elyon, “masakh u-masekha [Curtain and Mask],” Ma’ariv, September 13, 1970, 14.

39. Talila Ben-Zakai, Ma’ariv, September 27, 1970, 17.

40. “Assi Dayan be-‘Kfotz’? [Assi Dayan in ‘Jump’?],” Davar, October 8, 1970, 6; “‘Kfotz’ in ‘Alhambra’ [‘Jump’ in ‘Alhambra’],” Davar, November 5, 1970, 10; “bi-ktzara [Shorts],” Davar, November 27, 1970, 39; and “Az’akat shav be-‘et hatzagat “Kfotz” [False alarm during a “Jump” show],” La-Merhav, November 30, 1970, 2.

41. Note the wrong accentuation on the word musagim (terms), pronounced musagim in the song “Let the Man Choose” (Heb. “Tnu la-adam livhor,”) or the word talmid (student) pronounced talmid in “Sodom and Gomorrah” (Heb. “Sdom va-amora.”).

42. The strange situation described in Poogy’s Opera bears some resemblance to Becket’s Waiting for Godot, only that here the plot begins with the unexpected arrival of the Godot-like Poogy.

43. Versions (apparently not full length) of all three works were eventually released in an official anthology in 2013.

44. Ya’akov Ha-Elyon, “masakh u-masekha [Curtain and Mask],” Ma’ariv, September 13, 1970, 14; “ha-kfitza ha-gdola kadima [The big leap forward],” Davar, November 30, 1970, 7; Nahman Ben-Ami, “Ha-kaftzan ha-mevulgan [The messy jumper],” Ma’ariv, December 29, 1970, 4.

45. See brief discussion of the problems in classifying Jesus Christ Superstar in note 4 above.

46. Yehonatan Geffen, Rock be-veit ha-sohar, 15.

47. Gillan joined Deep Purple shortly before work on In Rock, which marked a stylistic watershed for the band, showcasing Gillan’s hard-rock style, most notably in the 10-minute “Child in Time,” influenced by the American psychedelic rock band It’s a Beautiful Day.

48. The arguments for and against staging a perceivably anti-Jewish play, no matter its aesthetic and musical value and appeal, had been tested months earlier in a debate concerning the performance of J.S. Bach’s Passions. “Hashma’at ha-pasionim meet Bach – be’ad veneged [Playing Bach’s Passions – For and Against],” Davar, June 11, 1971, 15.

49. “Hafakat ‘Yeshu kokhav elyon tluya be-misrad ha-hinukh [The Production of Jesus Christ Superstar Depends on the Ministry of Education’s Decision],” Lahiton 90, November 1971, 3.

50. This invented idiom was famously used again in the Hebrew title of Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), translated as Brian kokhav elyon (Brian Superstar. Literally: Brian Supreme Star).

51. “Parodia al Ronald Reagan [parody of Ronald Reagan],” YouTube video, 6:12, posted by Mike Burstyn, May 29, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sopa43-9Fn0.

52. Benny Nagari interview with Yoav Kutner, Lamrot ha-kol, Galei Tzahal, Ep. 53, June 28, 1996. The Edwin Hawkins Singers recorded a cover version of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from Jesus Christ Superstar for their 1972 album I’d like to Teach the World to Sing. For the album they also recorded “Hurshat ha-ekaliptus [The Grove of Eucalyptus],” an SLI song from the repertoire of another military band.

53. The story was probably familiar to the Israeli theater audiences from the production of Edward Albee’s one-act play, The Death of Bessie Smith, in Tel Aviv in 1969.

54. Frankel, “What’s in a Name?” 9.

55. It also challenges attempts to equate “Americanization” with consumerism and the marketplace. Frankel, “What’s in a Name?” 10.

56. “Mumlatz [Recommended],” Ma’ariv, August 10, 1972, 20.

57. See, for example, Hava Nowak, “Tzoakim u-metzigim [Shouting and Staging],” Davar, July 20, 1972, 9; Yael Lotan, “Hashvaot mefukpakot [Dubious comparisons],” Davar, August 16, 1972, 10.

58. “mivhar mofa’im [Selected shows],” Ma’ariv, December 12, 1972, 18.

59. The film’s score, which was released as an LP, was recorded by well-known artists such as singer Danni Bassan (of Tislam fame), bass player and producer Mickey Shaviv, and respected guitar player Shlomo Mizrahi, known as “the Israeli Hendrix.”

60. Regev and Seroussi, Popular Music and National Culture in Israel, 151–60; Cohen, U-khshe-eftah et ha-delet.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alon Schab

Alon Schab is a musicologist, composer, and recorder player. He is a faculty member in the Department of Music at the University of Haifa, a committee member of the Purcell Society, and he chaired the Israeli Musicological Society from 2019–2022. He is the author of The Sonatas of Henry Purcell: Rhetoric and Reversal (University of Rochester Press, 2018), and A Performer’s Guide to Transcribing, Editing and Arranging Early Music (Oxford University Press, 2022).

Eran Shalev

Eran Shalev is a member of the history department at the University of Haifa. He is the author of American Zion: The Bible as a Political Text from the Revolution to the Civil War (Yale University Press 2012), and Rome Reborn on Western Shores: Historical Imagination and the Creation of the American Republic (University of Virginia Press, 2009). He is currently completing a book titled The Star-Spangled Republic: Political Astronomy in the Age of the American Constellation.