Cem Karaca
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Cem Karaca (March 19, 1945 - February 8, 2004) was a prominent Turkish rock musician and one of the important figures in the Anatolian rock movement.
He was the only child of Irma Felekyan (Toto Karaca) of Armenian origin [citation needed] and Mehmet Ibrahim Karaca. His first group was called Dynamites, and was a classic rock cover band. Later he joined Jaguars, an Elvis Presley cover band. In 1967 he started to write his own music, forming the band Apaşlar (Apachees), his first Turkish-language group. In 1969 Karaca and the bass player Serhan Karabay left Apaşlar and started an original Anatolian sound group called Kardaslar (Brothers).
In 1972 Karaca joined the group Moğollar (Mongols) and wrote his masterpiece "Namus Belasi". However, Cahit Berkay, the leader of Moğollar, wanted an international name for his band, and he left for France to take the group to an another level. Karaca, who wanted to continue his Anatolian beat sound, left Moğollar and started his own band Dervişan (Dervishan or Dervishs). Karaca and Dervişan sang poetic and progressive songs.
He was left from Moğollar and founded Dervişan (Dervishes) group in 1974. In the 70's Turkey's image was getting destroyed by civil war. Everyone was blaming everyone for something — the left was fighting the right, there were separatist movements and the rise of Islamism. As the country fell into chaos, Cem Karaca started to get the attention of the government. At times he was accused of treason for being a separatist thinker, Marxist, and Leninist, and the Turkish government tried to portray Karaca as a man who is unknowingly writing songs to start a revolution. One politician said "Karaca is simply calling citizens to a bloody war against the state.", so that Dervişan was dissolved in end of 1977. He was founded Edirdahan (an acronym of "from Edirne to Ardahan") in 1978. He made one LP with Edirdahan.
In early 1979 he left for West Germany for business reasons. Turkey continued to spin out of control, and even a twenty-four hour military curfew did not help the situation. On September 12, 1980 the Turkish Armed Forces put it all to a dramatic end. General Kenan Evren took over the government and closed all the political parties down temporarily. After the coup, many people, including writers, artists, and journalists, were arrested. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Karaca by the government of Turkey.
The state called Karaca back to the country several times, but Karaca, not knowing the outcome of his return, decided not to come back to Turkey at least until the dust settled down. While he was in Germany, his father passed away, but he could not return to attend the funeral. After some time, the Turkish government decided to strip Cem Karaca of his Turkish citizenship, keeping the arrest warrant active.
Several years later, in 1987, the prime minister and leader of the Turkish Motherland Party, Turgut Ozal, issued an amnesty for Karaca. Shortly afterwards, he returned to his country he loved. His return also brought a new album by him, Merhaba Gencler and Her zaman Genc Kalanlar, one of his most powerful works. His return home was greeted happily by his fans, but in the intervening decade, Karaca had lost the young people and acquired few new listeners. His Ian Anderson-like looks and powerful voice combined with the words and sounds of the Anatolian rock that he created will remain dear to fans.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
[edit] 45likler (45 Rpms)
- Emrah/Karacaoğlan (1967) (with Apaşlar)
- Hudey / Vahşet / Bang Bang / Shakin' All Over (1967) (with Apaşlar)
- Emrah / Hücum / Karacaoğlan / Ayşen (1967) (with Apaşlar)
- Ümit Tarlaları/Anadolu Oyun Havası/Suya Giden Allı Gelin/Nasıl Da Geçtin (1967) (with Apaşlar)
- İstanbul'u Dinliyorum/Oy Bana Bana (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Oy Babo/Hikaye (1968) (with Apaşlar)
- İstanbul/Why (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Emrah 1970/Karanlık Yollar (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Resimdeki Gözyaşları/Emrah (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Resimdeki Gözyaşları/Şans Çocuğu (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Tears/No, No, No (1968) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Ayrılık Günümüz/Gılgamış (1969) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Zeyno/Niksar (1969) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Bu Son Olsun/Felek Beni (1969) (with Apaşlar and Ferdy Klein Band)
- Emmioğlu/O Leyli (1970) (with Ferdy Klein Band)
- Kendim Ettim kendim Buldum/Erenler (1970) (with Ferdy Klein Band)
- Adsız/Unut Beni (1970) (with Ferdy Klein Band)
- Muhtar/Baba (1970) (with Ferdy Klein Band)
- Dadaloğlu/Kalender (1970) (with Kardaşlar)
- Oy Gülüm Oy/Kara Sevda (1971) (with Kardaşlar)
- Tatlı Dillim/Demedim Mi (1971) (with Kardaşlar)
- Kara Yılan/Lümüne (1971) (with Kardaşlar)
- Acı Doktor (Kısım 1)/Acı Doktor (Kısım 2) (1971) (with Kardaşlar)
- Kara Üzüm/Mehmet'e Ağıt (1971) (with Kardaşlar)
- Askaros Deresi/Üryan Geldim (1972) (with Kardaşlar)
- Obur Dünya/El Çek Tabib (1973) (with Moğollar)
- Gel Gel/Üzüm Kaldı (1973) (with Moğollar)
- Namus Belası/Gurbet (1974) (with Moğollar)
- Beyaz Atlı/Yiğitler (1974) (with Dervişan)
- Tamirci Çırağı/Nerdesin ? (1975) (with Dervişan)
- Mutlaka Yavrum/Kavga (1975) (with Dervişan)
- Beni Siz Delirttiniz/Niyazi (1975) (with Dervişan)
- Parka/İhtarname (1976) (with Dervişan)
- Mor Perşembe/Bir Mirasyediye Ağıt (1977) (with Dervişan)
- 1 Mayıs/Durduramayacaklar Halkın Coşkun Akan Selini (1977) (with Dervişan)
[edit] LPs
- Apaslar-Kardaslar (1972)
- Cem Karaca'nın Apaşlar, Kardaşlar, Moğollar ve Ferdy Klein Orkestrasına Teşekkürleriyle (1974)
- Nem Kaldi (1975)
- Parka (1977)
- Yoksulluk Kader Olamaz (1977) (1)
- Safinaz (1978) (2)
- Hasret (1980) (It was sold as LP and tape)
- Bekle Beni(1982) (It was sold as tape only)
- Die Kanaken (1984)
- Merhaba Gençler (1987) (It was sold as compact cassette and CD)
[edit] Other Albums
- Töre (1988) (It was sold as CD)
- Yiyin Efendiler (1990)
- Nerde Kalmistik (1992)
- Bindik Bir Alamete (1999)
- Kahpe Bizans (2000)
- Hayvan Terli (2004) (Single)
[edit] Collection Albums
- The Best of Cem Karaca Volume 1 (1996)
- The Best of Cem Karaca Volume 2 (1997)
- The Best of Cem Karaca Volume 3 (2000)
- The Best of Cem Karaca Volume 4 (2001)
- The Best of Cem Karaca Volume 5 (2002)
- Ölümsüzler (2004) (After his death)
- Ölümsüzler 2 (2005) (After his death)
- Mutlaka Yavrum (2006 (After his death)
(1) It was released again with different cover, sort of songs and songs in 2003. (2) It was released again as compact cassette and CD in 1994 and with different cover after Cem Karaca's death)
He has also appeared as a guest artist on several recordings.
