Edo Ljubić (part II)

Edo Ljubić was one of the most influential figures in American tamburitza music. When he arrived here from Yugoslavia in the late 1930's to perform at the Worlds Fair he was already a well established and extremely popular singer and musician. He performed in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and even had his own radio show in Belgrade, which only increased his popularity and landed him gigs all over Europe. Upon his arrival in America Edo was an instant sensation. His style was something new and fresh and marked a real turning point in the music. He played with all the great tamburitza musicians of the time and no doubt was a huge inspiration to all of them. His career lasted for decades and he recorded countless 78 rpms, 45's, and LP's with his own orchestras as well as many others. There's a nice biography of Edo Ljubić in English here; and one in Croatian here.

These recordings of Edo Ljubić with the Kapugi Brothers Tamburitza Orchestra are a great example of his collaboration with America's premier tamburaši. The arrangements for these four tracks are all by Edo. The first record features a beautiful old Bosnian song, "U Stambulu na Bosforu", one of his most famous recordings. The second record features Edo singing two famous old numbers. The first, "Neven Kolo", a dance composed by legendary Serbian band leader, tamburaš, and composer Marko Nešić of Novi Sad. The second is "Kad sam bio mlađan lovac ja", a famous song which is usually attributed to composer Marko Nešić, but which was in fact composed by Alojz Lesjak, a conductor from Šid and Vukovar.¹

 ¹ "Marko Nešić - Sa pesmom u narodu" Almanax, D. Tomić (urednik), Tiski Cvet 2009, Novi Sad

U Stambulu

Nekad cvale bele ruže


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Neven Kolo

Mladi lovac