Grigoris Bithikotsis

Grigoris Bithikotsis ( Greek Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης , born December 11, 1922 in Peristeri , Greece , as the son of Ioannis and Tassia Bithikotsis; † April 7, 2005 in Athens , Greece) was - like Stelios Kazantzidis - one of the most important Greek singers of the 20th century Century. Bithikotsis was married twice, most recently to Metaxia. The daughters Anna and Tasia come from the first marriage. The son Grigoris Bithikotsis junior now also appears as a singer.

Bithikotsis grew up in a poor district of Athens as the son of a not very wealthy, large family, and taught himself to play bouzouki . In the 1950s he achieved tremendous popularity in Greece with the laiko chant, a refined form of rembetiko .

Grigoris Bithikotsis is best known for his collaboration with Mikis Theodorakis . Theodorakis had the song cycle Epitaphios , composed by him based on poems by Jannis Ritsos , first recorded by Manos Hadjidakis with Nana Mouskouri as the interpreter, but was dissatisfied with the result because the conventional arrangements did not seem to suit the texts to him. That is why Mikis Theodorakis took up the song cycle again under his own musical direction. As a singer he brought in the working class Bithikotsis, which some critics accused him of not doing justice to the poet Ritsos. In the cycle of poems, a mother laments the death of her boy during the tobacco workers' strike in Thessaloniki in 1936. Theodorakis wrote music that was rooted in the rembetiko, the songs of the marginalized and outcast, and used the bouzouki , actually the instrument of the poor, as the main instrument. That was felt to be sensational.

The record of Epitaphios with Theodorakis and Bithikotsis went on sale for the Christmas holidays in 1960. Grigoris Bithikotsis achieved fame and made numerous other records, some in collaboration with Theodorakis.

For his 80th birthday in 2002, a big concert was held in Athens in honor of Bithikotsis , at which the most important Greek singers performed and sang the successful songs of the old star. In the end, Bithikotsis himself performed again and was celebrated frenetically.

His records have not appeared in Germany, not even compilations; the Greek publications do not meet today's requirements in terms of sound quality.

Grigoris Bithikotsis died on April 7, 2005 in a hospital in Athens, where he had been since January of the same year. He succumbed to sepsis and multiple organ failure. Thousands of people attended his state funeral.

Discography (selection)

14 Hryses Epityhies N1
14 Hryses Epityhies N2
1950–1962 (sampler)
1963–1971 (sampler)
36 Hronia
Apotis 45 Strofes No. 4th
Alpha - Omega
Gia panta Nï. 1
Gia ron Grigori - I Synanlia to Stadio Erininis kai Filias (80th birthday concert with many Greek artists)
Episimi Agapimeni
I ellada tou Grigori
Mazi me ton Grigori
Megaloprepeia
Mia gynaika feygei
O Agnostus Theos
Oi Magalyteres Epityhies Tou
Ouranio Toxo
Prasino fos
Mazi (with Stelios Kazandjidis)
Sti Megali Leoforo
Stratos Dionysiou / Ta zeimpekika tou Grigori kai tou Stratou (with Stratos Dionysiou)
Ta Aythentics No. 2
Tragoudia apo tis 45 Strofes
Hamenes Agapes
Apo tous thisayrous ton 45 Strofon (with Viky Mosholiou)
Ena to xelidoni

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Bithikotsis, Grigoris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Γρηγόρης Μπιθικώτσης
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Greek singer
DATE OF BIRTH	December 11, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH	Peristeri
DATE OF DEATH	April 7, 2005
Place of death	Athens