"RA-SID! RA-SID!"

This happened back in the 1960s, in India, where Rasid [Rashid Beybutov] was unbelievably popular. A train was carrying a delegation of Soviet cultural figures, including Turgunbayeva, Maslennikova, Mikhailov, Plisetskaya, Behbudov and others, to a concert in the city of Hyderabad. Unexpectedly, the train made an emergency  stopover early in the morning not far from the final destination. As it usually happens in such cases, the lights went off. Then the people on that train heard an unclear rumble of the crowd, which kept on getting louder and, finally, turned into the comprehensive "Ra-sid! Ra-sid!" The people were chanting and demanding that Rasid come out and sing for them. So, he sang for his Indian fans from the stepping board of the train carriage. People in India were fond of Rasid Behbudov, and this was willingly taken advantage of by the Soviet government, which frequently  organized concerts in this country that was "friendly to us" and took away all of the profit, leaving for Rasid as well as all other singers a fixed income of 16 Roubles for each performance.

Rasid Behbudov also enjoyed wide popularity in Bulgaria, Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Italy, as well as in such seemingly culturally distant countries as Belgium, Hungary, Finland and Chile. Throughout his long and fruitful creative career Behbudov traveled around the world: he often visited Europe, Asia and Latin America.

"His songs are still popular not only in Azerbaijan but also in other countries,"  Elxan Calabiyev, a musician and singer, told R+. "When we go to Moscow, myself and Samir Racabov, my partner in the duet, frequently perform his songs. And what especially astonished me was that intelligent young people know and love Behbudov's songs."

"There was a case when a group of young people by accident took a disk with his "Arshin Mal Alan" ["The Cloth Peddler"] film from us, and then one of the girls asked me, or even simply made me translate the original text into Russian, because we didn't have the Russian-language version of the film handy," Samir Racabov says. "We also sang his songs in Georgia, and we know that they know and remember Behbudov's songs in Tbilisi very well." 

"To me, when I was a kid, Behbudov was an icon, and he lived in the same building in Baku called the 'professors' where my family lived, but on the fifth floor," Samir said. "That's why, probably, to my family he was very special."

Grand school

Although born in Tbilisi, like many other outstanding Azerbaijani musicians, singers and composers, Rasid Behbudov's family and his father, a professional tar (string musical instrument) player Macid, came from Susa [Shusha; Karabakh]. 

"For most Azeris of that time - the beginning of the 20th century - Susa was the centre of arts, a school where everyone learned from each other," Lacin Samadzada, an arts historian, told R+. "Therefore, it is no surprise that people like Rasid and many other composers, musicians, singers emerged in that environment."

Music was often played in the Behbudovs' big home in Tbilisi; songs were rehearsed and even amateur plays and operettas were staged for friends and colleagues. Afterwards, Rasid underwent practice-based education programme in a school orchestra and then in a student orchestra. 

His openness to various musical trends and his own style of performance were the main traits of his personality, which explained the secret of Rasid's wide popularity in the world.

Besides the school of folk music, Rasid had had other places to study, including military orchestras, amateur theatres, as well as professional pop groups. Having moved to Yerevan after serving in the army, Rasid, just like many people of that time, was fascinated by jazz music. He joined a jazz orchestra where he started his solo career as a jazz singer.

At that time Rasid was frequently on tour to the other parts of the Soviet Union with his concerts, gaining experience and meeting with various renowned musicians and bands, one of whom was [Soviet jazz singer Leonid] Utesov's jazz orchestra, the most popular "band" at the time. 

All this served as a good learning experience, which allowed him to become highly professional.

In the summer of 1941, Moscow was set to host another pan-Soviet Union popular music contest. Behbudov, who was still young at the time but a relatively known singer, had thoroughly prepared for it. However, the World War II began, and, along with other musicians, he started  performing in military units on the frontline. In Crimea, he was performing in trenches and dug-outs, frequently in absolutely unacceptable conditions. As it usually happened at that time of the war, a concert could take place any time of the day and amid any weather and other conditions. It was just like in the "Soldier's father" film.

Baku success

Rasid became genuinely popular after moving to Baku. In 1943 he met the first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party's Central Committee, Mir Cafar Bagirov, who headed the authorities at the time. One of the eyewitnesses of that meeting said: "Bagirov asked: "Who are you?". "A singer", Behbudov replied. "'I know…What is your name?" "Rasid, a grandson of Ashug Behbudali, a son of xananda (folk singer) Macid". "Then why is "Rafael" written on the posters?" Bagirov asked: "Go and remember that you are an Azerbaijani and must live and sing in Baku, for Azerbaijan…" Indeed, Rasid once had such a stage-name, but he stopped using it and began performing in Baku under his own name. That decision became a turning point in his fate. The point is that during those distant years of poverty and war preparations began for filming "Arshin Mal Alan" ["The Cloth Peddler"], a comic operetta by Uzeyir Hacibayov, and Rasid was offered to play the main hero, Asgar. Initially, several Baku actors had been nominated for Asgar's role, but stage managers watched Behbudov's performance in the Officers House and selected him.

"At that time it was already Uzeyir's best-known work, and Rasid  probably understood  what a tremendous significance the future film will have," art historian Lacin Samadzada says. "Of course, he was also aware of the responsibility that he would have to bear if the film would fail, in particular, his own role."

Rasid knew Asgar's songs since his childhood, when he was playing the role at home in Tbilisi. Nevertheless, there were lengthy and exhausting rehearsals, as Rasid not only had to sing but also to create a dramatic image of his character. As Rasid himself said later, working on his first-ever movie was difficult, because it was significantly different from playing in a theatre: first, they could shoot the last scene and then the first one, and it was important for him to prepare himself spiritually for playing the character.

The long-awaited film, the shooting of which was known to everyone in Azerbaijan, appeared in movie theatres in 1945. Not surprisingly, the screenings were accompanied by huge queues. People went out to watch the movie several times, and very soon photos of "Arshin Mal Alan" scenes began to be sold near the theatres.

"Certainly, the film owed much to Rasid for its success," the arts critic said. "Of course, Behbudov himself became the most popular actor immediately after the film was released, he began to be recognised on the streets, while his songs instantly became very popular." With this movie Rasid shot to fame, and soon he became a solo singer of the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall. Afterwards, Behbudov's career only went uphill.

Today, looking back to his life, we can see that if he had not stayed in Baku, his life could have gone down a completely different path. And in that case there might not have been that Indian train and those fans, who shouted "Ra-sid! Ra-sid!".