September 22 to the famous American actor, singer and public figure Dean Reed could have turned 79 years old, but in 1986 he passed away at mysterious circumstances. He was found dead in a lake near his home in Berlin, and then the body was hastily cremated. The artist was originally from Denver (USA), but because of his political views he was forced to leave there, and therefore was a welcome guest in all socialist countries. In the USSR, Dean Reed enjoyed incredible popularity.
His musical career began in the US, but Dean Reed's songs were more popular in Latin America. After several successful tours, he decided to stay in Argentina, where he recorded albums, acted in films and hosted a television program. In addition, the artist took an active part in social and political life, speaking out against nuclear tests and the Vietnam War. He gave charity concerts, participated in anti-war rallies and criticized American politics. Because of his views, he was forced to leave Argentina, lived for some time in Italy, and then settled in the GDR.
Beliefs, because of which Dean Reed became an unwanted guest at home, provided him with a warm welcome in the USSR. He first came here in 1965, and after that he visited quite often and even gave concerts at the BAM. Dean Reed starred in films in the USSR and Eastern Europe, which were very popular with Soviet viewers, especially westerns, where Gojko Mitic played noble Indians, and Dean Reed played honest cowboys. In the USA, he was nicknamed Red Cowboy and Red Elvis, however, despite his leftist views, the artist did not declare himself a communist, did not join a socialist party in any country, did not renounce American citizenship and did not get tired of declaring his love to ordinary Americans.
From 1979 to 1985 Dean Reed toured extensively, spoke at political rallies, acted in films and recorded CDs. In 1985, a documentary film about the artist called "American Rebel" was released in the USA, after which he was invited to take part in the TV show "60 Minutes". Dean Reed really hoped that this would help his compatriots understand his position and contribute to the growth of his popularity in his homeland. However, the authors pursued other goals, and on the screens the artist appeared as an ardent supporter of the communist regime and an opponent of "democratic values". The singer returned to Berlin in frustrated feelings.
A month and a half after the airing of the program "60 Minutes", in June 1986, Dean Reed was found dead in the lake near his house. The official conclusion stated that death was the result of an accident. According to the main version, that day the actor quarreled with his wife, got behind the wheel, crashed into a tree, flew out of the car, fell into the lake and drowned. However, many fans of the singer and actor doubt that it was an accident. American relatives of Dean Reed were sure that he was killed because, after a long stay in the East, he expressed a desire to return to the West. Foreign newspapers even wrote that his murder was connected with "the terrorist activities of the secret services of the communist regime of the GDR." A version was also put forward that Dean Reed was recruited by the KGB, and the CIA, having learned about this, eliminated the dangerous agent.
The Literary Gazette published an interview in 1986 with Dean Reed's widow, actress Renata Blume, in which she stated: Any suggestion that my husband was killed is the most disgusting slander. Such speculation only insults the memory of Dean, hurting me and our daughter. My husband drowned. They found him dead in the lake. IN Lately Dean's health deteriorated sharply: he had diseased heart. As for the suggestion that he wanted to return to the US - and this is an absolute lie. He didn't intend to do anything like that.". At the same time, in an interview with other publications, Blume said that she doubted the version of suicide and was inclined to think that it was an accident, and on another occasion she stated that her husband had been killed.
After the documents of the state security service of the GDR were declassified, the artist's suicide letter was discovered in which he asked for forgiveness from his relatives for deciding to commit suicide. Graphological examination confirmed the authenticity of the letter. The medical report states that the autopsy revealed that Dean Reed had taken a powerful sleeping pill before his death. If you believe these documents, the version of suicide was still true: the artist fell asleep at the wheel and died. But the reasons that prompted the singer and actor to commit suicide are still not fully clarified. Some biographers are inclined to believe that after an unsuccessful television broadcast in the United States and the lost hope of returning to his homeland, Dean Reed fell into depression, which led to tragic consequences. However, this remains at the level of assumptions, and the reasons for the death of the artist are still a mystery.
Despite the incredible popularity in the USSR, Dean Reed's partner in westerns also failed to achieve recognition in his homeland:.
For the older generation Soviet people famous singer, actor, musician, director and composer Dean Reed. Biography, photos of this American in the Land of Soviets were replicated by many political and cinematographic publications. In the 70s, the American magazine People Magazine wrote about the actor that Russians consider him the third most important American personality after the US President and Secretary of State. The newspapermen were cunning: the popularity of the mentioned politicians in our country did not even come close to the glory of Dean Reed.
In 2018, he would have turned eighty years old. During his life he published about thirty albums. However, his fate turned out to be at least strange. He certainly died at the peak of his talent, while having considerable influence on the army of his fans. Many thinking people got the impression that he had become a bargaining chip in a game too big that he didn't get out of alive.
Childhood and youth
The future singer was born on September 22, 1938 in the state of Colorado (Denver). There were three sons in the family. His father worked as a rural teacher, and his mother was a housewife. Dean grew up alive, active. The parents sent the ten-year-old boy to a cadet school, where the restless child studied for only a year.
The boy was fond of horse riding, athletics, basketball. At the age of eleven, he was given a riding horse. And his parents had the imprudence to present him with a guitar for his twelfth birthday, and this gift, it seems, determined his fate.
He grew up as a strong, impulsive guy, the ever-present leader of the guys, Dean Reed. His biography in youth testifies to a fickle, amorous and addicted disposition. Fate was favorable to him, paying tribute to his talent. At the age of sixteen, Dean wrote his first touching love song Don "t let her go.
In 1956, following the will of his parents, he entered the first year of the meteorological department of the University of Colorado. During his studies, the student additionally earned pocket money by playing the guitar and singing songs in bars.
First contract
In February 1959, his song "Memory" first made its way into the American hit parade. In two years talented performer managed to sign a contract with the recording studio "Capital Records" (Los Angeles).
Dean dropped out of university without regret and went to school acting skills Warner Bros. After his first disc, the second, third, fourth came out one after another. Moreover, each subsequent one testified to the growing skill of the composer and performer.
In 1961, his fourth disc "Our Summer Romance" took the 2nd position of the US national hit parade and became a big hit in South America. In the same 1961, "in hot pursuit" of the newly won popularity, he went on tour - to conquer the continent closest to his homeland - twenty-three-year-old Dean Reed.
His biography as a traveling artist, singing live for his admirers, begins precisely with these tours. Stately, photogenic, with a pleasant timbre of voice, innate rather than acquired artistic charm and plasticity of movements, the artist very quickly became an idol for young Latin Americans. He visits Peru, Argentina, Chile, Brazil.
Change of political views
Exploring mysterious death singer, it is worth paying special attention to this period of life. After all, speaking in theatrical language, the plot of the plot occurred just then. A person who quickly gains popularity suddenly finds himself outside his homeland, in a society where the American values he is accustomed to are not honored. He, as an artist (and this is understandable), is trying to better understand the people who admire his songs.
In Chile, the young singer meets personally the future president Allende, a fiery orator, a man of deep intellect, head of the socialist revolutionary party. His new friend, carried away by the political struggle for the presidency, even then saw in the talented American, his potential supporter, a natural heightened sense of justice. An experienced lawyer played it and won the game.
For a moment, let's digress from the biography of an American for generalization. History has the property of repeating certain basic patterns. So, in today's confrontation between two worldviews in the Arab East and in North Africa echoes of the events that took place in the 60-70s on the South American continent are noticeable.
At that time, Chile was in the sphere of competing interests of the Soviet and American intelligence services. Some supported Allende, others tried to remove him from politics. Almost fifty years later, only bits of this information become public thanks to the memoirs of the British professor, intelligence expert Christopher Andrew. However, this is not the main thing for us. The bottom line is that Dean Reed, being in Latin America and having contact with Allende, fell into the focus of attention of foreign intelligence.
The life of a singer in Argentina
For innate talent, sincerity and touching songs the youth of Latin America admired him for his love. He collected full stadiums in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Brazil. Naturally, enterprising businessmen, seeing the prospect of profits in Dean, offered him a contract to work in Argentina. And the producers were not mistaken. Here he had his own television show, he was popular, fruitfully made films ("First Love", "Guadalajara in Summer") and, in addition, successfully recorded super-popular discs.
Meanwhile, his tour directors and managers were indignant. After all, Dean Reed, in addition to creativity, was carried away by leftist views. And above all the struggle for peace and poverty. The ideas of Marxism and the ideology of opponents became close to him nuclear weapons. He was actively involved in the political struggle, and, as you know, it is impossible to deal with such a thing alone.
Soon everything in Argentina changed, after the thaw there was a reaction. A CIA-backed dictatorial regime came to power in the country in 1966. Violence has become a common practice in dealing with dissent. By this time, Dean Reed, in addition to protests against the Vietnam War, began to regularly take part in political rallies of the Argentinean persuasion. The singer became an oppositionist, giving charitable concerts, the proceeds of which went to prisoners.
The unreliable singer's house was fired upon several times with automatic weapons, which forced him to leave Argentina. It became impossible to stay in a country where his life was in danger.
Dean in Western Europe
Dean Reed flew from Argentina to Spain. The biography of his wanderings, thus, continued already in Europe. However, in June, the cautious Spanish authorities preferred (away from sin) to label the politically active singer as unreliable and expel him from the country.
The next place of residence of the actor and singer, and quite successful, was the cheerful and apolitical Italy. In the westerns of local directors, the singer Dean Reed was quite successful and starred a lot. The actor's biography says that this period of his life was bright and eventful, the filmography was enriched with romantic roles in the films "Gang of Three Chrysanthemums" (a gangster film about the Great Depression era), "Farewell Sabata" (western), "Pirates of the Green Island" (adventure tape ).
Dean Reed's acting performance has finally received recognition. In 1964, Guadalajara was awarded two prizes at a festival in Mexico (Acapulco).
Dean Reed in the USSR
In 1966, from October 1 to November 30, an American ventured to make a tour "for iron curtain", V Soviet Union. He made our listener fall in love with him by performing the songs "Bella chao" and "Hava Nagila". The Soviet authorities gave him the green light. The geography of his performances as a singer is impressive: Moscow, Leningrad, Tbilisi, Baku, Rostov-on-Don, Kislovodsk. And after he performed on TV, in the program "New Year's Light", the song "Elizabeth", his vinyl discs began to be bought up in the USSR in hundreds of thousands of copies.
The actor starred in the films "God gave birth to them, I will kill them", "Zorro's Nephews". Dean Reed writes poems "To you", "My poor Motherland",
Again Chile, Argentina
Agree, if they worked with Dean foreign intelligence, then this stage in his life would be inevitable. In 1970, the singer actively participated in the election campaign of Salvador Allende. Then, inspired by the victory of the democratic forces, Dean went to Argentina, where he organized a press conference in Buenos Aires, at which he called for the overthrow of the dictatorial regime. He was arrested, but after 16 days he was released and deported from the country.
After his friend, President Salvador Allende, died in a military coup in Chile in 1973, the singer went to Peru in 1975, then illegally crossed the border into Chile. Here, the brave activist was imprisoned for a long time, but was soon released. Adversity stimulated his talent and forced Dean, as a creative person, to create a masterpiece. In 1977 he took best movie director Dean Reed in his life.
Biography of the singer Victor Hara and his tragic death during the Chilean military coup served as the main motive for this film.
Let's summarize the above: the singer, headlong, semi-illegally (and for this at least the help of the residency is needed) travels to a country hostile to his views in order to show political activity. Moreover, he guesses that he will inevitably be “imprisoned”. And it really does happen. However, he is always and constantly pardoned and released. What is the conclusion to be drawn from this? At least about the intercession of influential foreign intelligence and its advocacy.
Personal life
Let's break the chronology of the story to talk about the personal life of the actor. In 1964, the twenty-six-year-old actor marries Hollywood actress Patty Hobs, they travel and tour a lot. It was love. The biography of singer Dean Reed testifies: with his first wife, they traveled half the world. In 1967, he divorced Patty Hobbs in Italy, but the feeling did not leave former spouses, and they continue to live together, and they, already divorced, have a daughter, Ramona.
The fatal quarrel happened in 1970. Patty objected to Dean going to Chile for the election campaign. When he ignored her requests, the woman left him for the USA, to her parents.
After that, Dean Reed lived for some time in a civil marriage with the Estonian actress Eva Kivi. She loved him like creative man, also categorically did not share the hypertrophied political views of the American, and the couple soon broke up.
About his next novel should be told in more detail.
In 1971, Dean “accidentally” met his future second wife, thirty-year-old teacher and model Wiebke Dornbach. After a two-year relationship, they got married. In 1976, Wiebke and Reed had a daughter, Natasha. However, the very next year after the birth of the child (unexpectedly quickly, right?), Dean Reed divorced his wife.
The biography, the personal life of the singer during the second marriage give rise to some reflections. A logical question arises: “Has there been a purely external “correction” of his fate?”
Why should we ask it? It was under the influence of Wiebke (according to his own recollections) that the stubborn American Dean Reed settled in the GDR, and this, in a strange way, coincided with the interests of Eastern geopolitics.
Since 1973, the biography of Dean Reed has been associated with permanent residence in the GDR. This is where his house came from. He returned here from his trips. Here he recorded 13 albums. Among the films shot is the hugely successful in the USSR Blood Brothers (1975), a western where Dean starred with Gojko Mitic.
By the way, after her divorce from Dean, the "teacher" Wiebke Reed committed dizzying career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (organizations where either diplomats or spies work). Such "accidents" are quite revealing. Comments, as they say, are unnecessary.
In 1981, the singer who fell in love married actress Renate Blume and adopted her son Alexander. Being already aged, he takes care of a woman for a long time and touchingly, dreaming of finally finding his quiet bay in life. Renata also fell in love with him.
At the top of the glory
The last seven years of his life fell on the maximum popularity of the singer and actor in the world. His CDs are released in millions of copies. Any planned tour comes true. At the same time, there is inevitably an element of politics in its activities. So, in 1978, the singer took part in a farm demonstration in Minnesota (USA). He was arrested, a trial took place, but the singer was acquitted. After which he returned to the GDR.
In 1979 he went to the Soviet Union to the builders of the Baikal-Amur Mainline with a concert program by Dean Reed. Biography, songs of this paradoxical American, it would seem, won the entire Soviet audience and listeners.
The singer had another trip to the USA, possibly fatal.
Provocation
On the threshold of his fiftieth birthday (and this is natural), Dean began, according to the memoirs of the same Renata, to yearn for his homeland. In 1985, US filmmaker Will Roberts sparked interest in him with the documentary American Rebel. And when the CBS channel invited Red Elvis to an interview on the TV show 60 Minutes, he had hopes of gaining popularity in his homeland.
However, he fell for the bait: politically biased showmen pursued opposite goals. They played along with the CIA, which had a long-standing "tooth" on the singer.
Before the interview, the TV crew deliberately rocked the anti-Soviet audience with clips of tapes where Dean was filmed in Beirut posing with AKM; was at a meeting with Yasser Arafat; walking along Red Square. To match the announcement was the script of the show itself. Americans, brought up on anti-Soviet propaganda, heard from Dean Reed, answering biased questions, information that certainly repulsed them:
- support for the construction of the Berlin Wall;
- approval of the introduction of troops into Afghanistan;
- criticism of American complicity with Pinochet.
As a result, the audience flooded the studio with letters demanding to drive the "red" singer out of America. Dean Reed returned to the GDR morally devastated.
Version 1. Suicide
It was like an abruptly interrupted flight. The body of the forty-seven-year-old singer was found on June 13, 1986, on the southeastern outskirts of Berlin, on the lake, near the house where he lived. Law enforcement officers of the GDR came to the conclusion about suicide.
In their opinion, there was logical evidence that an American outcast had deliberately committed suicide. But this is not how the biography describes the man who was Dean Reed. The cause of death is likely due to the fiasco he had on the aforementioned show. The actor in the United States was called a traitor, although he loved his homeland, criticizing its politicians. In fact, he simply knew how to share his true patriotism and his political views, contrary to those generally accepted in America. Of course, he suffered from a misunderstanding of this by his compatriots.
The stubborn silence of Renata Blume after the sudden death of her husband is striking, accompanied only by a mean phrase: “I am sure that this is not suicide”, devoid of any comments.
Later, tempting creative offers (for example, the role of Jenny Marx) suddenly rained down on the widowed actress, as if from a cornucopia. She is awarded prizes, titles. Isn't this a kind of payment for her silence?
However, we should pay tribute: the actress was not cunning. In an interview, she pinned her hopes that the truth would become clear when the documents stored in the archives of the GDR security service were revealed.
However, the sensation did not happen. Not so long ago, the singer's biographer Chuck Lozhevsky, having gained access to secret archives, published information about Dean's suicide note, containing a request to his family for forgiveness, written on the back of a sheet of the script sent to him. In the stomach of the deceased was an incompletely dissolved sleeping pill. The journalist concluded that Dean, having decided to commit suicide, deliberately took sleeping pills and went for a swim.
Version 2. Murder
Let's consider the second version. She also has the right to exist. At the very least, the hackneyed scenario is one where a person writes a suicide note under duress. Special services cannot be denied the ability to cover their tracks. Or maybe Dean figured out the game that the undisclosed persons were playing with him?
Renata Blume in an interview expressed her belief that Dean Reed could not commit suicide in this way. The actress never believed in it. She provides side evidence for this. Soon he was going to work on a new film. According to Renata, he "burned with him", he dreamed about him for several previous years. Therefore, the voluntary death of such a workaholic as Dean Reed was, and even on the eve of the coveted work, looked very unconvincing.
By the way, the relatives of the deceased are of the same opinion. And with them (and this is important) Dean never stopped talking.
Conclusion
It seemed that the whole world was numb when it became known that suddenly and unexpectedly, a favorite of people from of Eastern Europe and Latin America by Dean Reed. Biography, cause of death, his songs became part of the legend about the artist - a fighter, a truly fearless, non-mercantile man who values his convictions and is able to defend them, no matter how hopeless it may look.
He, of course, was a man of remarkable talent and courage, and such a combination is worth a lot. Therefore, foreign intelligence agencies of many superpowers fought for and against it. Any opponent would admit it wonderful person worthy adversary. Such a person is easier to deceive or destroy than to defeat.
Dean Reed - american singer and a rock and roll and country musician, actor, musician, director and composer from the United States, beloved by the public in the Soviet Union. He was an amazingly handsome, stately man, photo- and telegenic, artistic, and also played the guitar perfectly.
The artist's work has become known all over the world, and women in different countries went crazy with the smile, athletic figure and incredible timbre of the voice of this talented and charismatic singer. He became a legend during his lifetime.
Childhood and youth
Dean Reed was born on September 22, 1938 under the zodiac sign of Virgo. Father future star Cyril Reed worked as a teacher, Ruth's mother Anna did housework. In addition to Dean, the family brought up two more sons - Vern and Dale.
First musical instrument- a guitar - young Dean received as a birthday present, he wrote his first song about passionate love at the age of 16.
Entering the University of Colorado at the age of 18 to study meteorology, the young man simultaneously performs in clubs and bars. But then the young man quits his studies and decides to check whether his talent is enough for a full-fledged career as a musician.
Music
Such an act leads to the fact that Reed signed his first contact with a major music label at the age of 20. The guy’s tracks were not immediately noticed by the audience, but the songs from the second and especially the third album received numerous rotations on the radio, fell in love with the people and even entered the charts of the “hottest hits” of those years.
Dean Reed - "Hymn" rising sun"He goes on tour first in the US, and then comes to Latin America, where Dina is waiting dizzying success. Here he stays to live for several years to create, give concerts, appear in TV shows, videos, and even host his own TV show.
In Latin America, he becomes interested in "leftist" political views and becomes a social activist who advocates the fight against poverty and world peace. This greatly unnerves the singer's managers and tour director, but the artist is adamant. He takes an interest in local politics and participates in public dialogue, but it ends badly - during the national revolution, Dean is first imprisoned and then deported from Argentina.
The artist moves to Europe and again begins to actively tour. Performances in the Soviet Union are a huge success, he instantly becomes a people's favorite and drives around with concerts. big cities countries. In 1973, Dean decides to stay in the GDR: he records 13 albums, directs a film about his friend himself, and acts in dozens of films as an actor. In Russia, a film about the struggle of Americans and Indians, starring Dean Reed and was especially popular.
The singer turned out to be an extremely controversial person - he remained a patriot of his homeland, but adhered to Marxist views. He sincerely missed the United States, but criticized the actions of the American authorities and justified the decisions made in the USSR. Many considered Dean a traitor, but he only separated the love of the house from politics.
According to the musician himself, all the artist's songs have always been about one thing - about passionate deep love, to which the singer was inspired by the homeland and women. For a short time, but bright career Dean Reed has recorded more than three dozen albums, and this is not counting the numerous collections released and reissued in individual countries. IN last years he recorded mostly unofficial cover versions of famous American and Italian songs.
The inhabitants of the USSR will forever remember him with the performance of the songs "Bella, Chao", "Hava Nagila" and others. The main legendary moment in his career on Soviet soil was the performance of the song "Elizabeth" on New Year's Eve on the country's main television channel. After that, records with Reed's recordings were sold out in the Union in millions of copies.
Dean Reed - "Bella Ciao!"Dean loved the people of the USSR, and the domestic public answered him the same. The singer even thought about moving to the Union for permanent residence and planned to buy an apartment in Moscow.
Personal life
Dean Reed lived a life full of love ups and downs. He first married Hollywood actress Patricia Hobbs, with whom he traveled half the world and eventually divorced in Italy.
Dean's second wife was Wiebke Reed (Dorndeck), who worked as a teacher and model. This union also ended in divorce in November 1977.
From the first and second marriages, Reed had two children - daughters Ramon (born in 1968) and Natasha (1976).
Later, Dean's interpreter, during a tour in the USSR, Oleg Smirnov, said in an interview that Wibke Dorndeck was "provided" to the singer by the special services of the GDR in order to leave the performer in Germany. Many years later, Dean and Oleg analyzed the circumstances of their acquaintance with Dorndek and summed up that the future wife of the artist was “planted”. After the break with the musician, Wiebke made an excellent career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR.
The singer had a civil marriage with an actress from Estonia named Eva Kivi. The couple was together for 15 years. Eva recalled in an interview how the lovers met in 1971 in Moscow. According to Kiwi, feelings flashed at first sight. When the eyes of the young people met, Dean grabbed the girl in his arms and began to kiss. From Moscow, the artists came to Tallinn, and in the evenings the singer serenaded Eva under the window.
Later, Eva said that after the first night together with Reed, a friend ran into the artist's hotel room to sit on the bed in which Kiwi slept with the legendary musician.
For the sake of Dean Reed, the actress left her husband Ants Antson, from whom the girl had a two-year-old son. However, Dean and Eva never became husband and wife. According to Kivi, this was primarily prevented by the artist's previous marriage to the niece of the long-term leader of the GDR, Honecker.
As a result, the lovers quarreled with the difference in political views.
The artist returned to the GDR, where he married for the third time to actress Renate Blume. The man adopted the child of Alexander's girlfriend. The wedding of the lovers took place in 1981.
Later, Renata said that Dean conquered the actress with romantic courtship. The man did everything to make her feel like the happiest woman.
Death
On June 17, 1986, the famous artist was found dead in Lake Zeuthen. This place was close to Reed's home in East Berlin. Then it was officially announced that the man had drowned. But the artist's family believed that Dean was killed by the Stasi, because the singer recently wanted to return to the United States. It is officially known that from 1976 to 1978 Dean Reed collaborated with the secret police.
Once the musician's third wife, Renata Blume, stated that her husband had been killed with five stabs. However, later, when the documents on this case, taken from the Stasi archive, were carefully studied, official reason The death of the artist was declared a suicide. The German friends of the performer also adhered to this version: after an autopsy, a tablet of a potent sleeping pill that had not completely dissolved was found in Dean's stomach.
Later, the performer's neighbor, General Eberhard Fansch, shared that shortly before his death, the man and his wife heard Reed quarreling with Renata. In general, quarrels between husband and wife were very frequent, and Dean told his friend more than once that he was thinking about suicide, but Fengshu managed to dissuade his comrade from settling accounts with life. Then it became known that a suicide note addressed to the general was found in the singer's car.
Dean Reed was buried in Rauchfangswerder (Germany). But later, the artist's mother transported her son's ashes to the Green Montana Cemetery in Boulder (USA), where the grave of the famous artist is now located.
She wrote a song called "Don't Let Go", dedicated to a childhood idol. Even in honor of Reed named a street in the city of Tynda Amur region.
Dean Reed - The Secret of Life and DeathIn the early 2000s, the actor wanted to make a film "Comrade Rock Star" in memory of Dean Reed, where he was going to play leading role. But the project was never implemented.
In 2014, a documentary film about the singer's biography called "Dean Reed. The Secret of Life and Death.
Discography
- 1966 - "Sings Dean Reed"
- 1970 - Our Summer Romance
- 1972 - "We are revolutionaries"
- 1976 - A JehoSvet
- 1976 - "Sings Dean Reed"
- 1978 - We'll Say Yes
- 1980 - "My song for you"
- 1980 - "Rock and roll, country, lyrical songs"
- 1982 - "Country"
- 1986 – Country Songs
Dean is a South Korean alternative R&B singer, songwriter and record producer. Dean collaborates with many famous American and South Korean artists. In 2016 he released a solo mini-album "130 Mood: TRBL".
Youth, early career
kwon hyuk was born on November 10, 1992 in Hongeung-dong, Seoul. In high school, he developed an interest in American hip hop and turnips, that's when the guy started playing music. At the time, he considered music an "escape from study" rather than a serious pursuit. Initially Dean wrote songs in his room and kept the hobby a secret from his parents. However, his parents supported his decision to become an artist, despite the fact that he was the first musician in the family.
He began his career at the age of sixteen, performing with hip-hop artist Keith Ape. By the age of eighteen, he was writing songs for k-pop stars under the pseudonym Deanfluenza. The pseudonym was coined on behalf of the actor James Dean, whose rebellious image he liked, and the word "influenza" ("flu"), meaning his desire to spread influence over the music industry like a virus.
At the age of twenty, he was under the guidance and tutelage of Joombas Music Group executive director and producer Hyuk Shin / Hyuk Shin (writer of EXO songs - "Growl" and Justin Bieber - "One Less Lonely Girl"), in a team of composers from the Los Angeles company. At this time Dean worked on songs EXO- "Black Pearl" and VIXX - "Voodoo Doll".
2015: American and Korean debut
Dean debuted in the US in July 2015 with the single "I"m Not Sorry", released with the participation of the Grammy Award winner Eric Bellinger. This is the difference Dean from most of the Korean singers who started collaborating with American artists after their debut in Korea. In the same year Dean collaborated with Mila J - "Here & Now" and Anderson Paak - "Put My Hands on You".
They made their South Korean debut in October 2015 with their second single "Pour Up", released with Zico (leader of Block B). The single was awarded for " Best R&B and Soul Song at the Korean Music Awards on February 29, 2016. Dean worked with Korean hip hop artists Zion.T, Crush and Junggigo on the single "247", as well as with DOK2's "I Love It" and Dynamic Duo's "How You Doin"?".
2016: SXSW & EP 130 Mood: TRBL
January 8 Dean performed the tracks " Pour Up" And " I'm Not Sorry" on the show "Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook". In addition, in January, he released the single "What 2 Do" with the rapper Crush and Filipino-American singer Jeff Bernat, and also appeared on the show "Sugar Man" / "Sugar man" as a producer to recreate the once popular song Mose - "It's Love", which was then performed by the members of iKON.
March 2016 Dean became the first Asian artist to perform at Spotify House on music festival SXSW, along with artists such as Miguel And Chvrches. The American magazine Spin wrote a positive review about him, comparing him with the young Asher(one of the most successful African-American R&B musicians). Vibe noted that he had " smooth sound, reminiscent of the era of Usher in the 90s and Bryson Tiller".
On March 21, he released the music video for the track "Bonnie & Clyde", which was then included on the first mini-album "130 Mood: TRBL". On March 23, the music video for "D (Half Moon)" featuring Gaeko was released, and a showcase was held in Gangnam, Seoul. The album, which included 7 songs, was released the next day, its name was given in honor of the racing number " 130
", which James Dean painted on his car, and which embodies the same experimental spirit in music, as part of the name " TRBL"is a stylization of the word" trouble" ("Problems"). The album tells a love story through back-to-back tracks written and produced by Dean in collaboration with various artists, some of the tracks have previously been released as singles. The album hit several famous charts: Gaon Album Chart (10th line), Billboard World Albums (3rd line), Billboard Heatseekers Albums (22nd place). The song "D (Half Moon)" was on the Melon chart at number 5, and " Bonnie & Clyde"Took number 12 on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart. Billboard K-Town commentator Jeff Benjamin described the album's position on the international chart as " a rarity for a k-pop artist, especially considering this is his debut release". He said the album was " impressive creative debut that elevates R&B to new level
", he especially remembered "Pour Up" (feat Zico), "21
and "What 2 Do" (with Korean R&B star Crush And Jeff Bernat). Horizon Asia magazine called " 130 Mood: TRBL"a groundbreaking album that represents a new musical genre in the K-pop world. " D (Half Moon)" the review describes how " the most romantic a sad song album from unique sound Dean vocals", "filled with vocal harmony and echoes that highlight the feeling of emptiness".
Also in March, he reappeared on the show " sugar man", this time producing Hey's "Je T" aime" for Winner.
In April Dean participated in a photo shoot for Vogue magazine, together with other artists with whom he performed in underground clubs. On May 28, he performed at the Seoul Jazz Festival.
On June 3, he appeared on "Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook" and performed the songs " D (Half Moon)" and "Ordinary People" (John Legend). On June 4, the first solo concert Dean"legendary" in New York.
American singer and film actor Dean Reed was a favorite of the Soviet audience. Always cheerful, open to communication, the American artist was a welcome guest in all socialist countries. And therefore, when a message appeared about an unexpected and the same mysterious death artist, there are many versions of the cause of his death.
When Reid's body was found in Lake Zeutener See on June 17, 1986, it was under water, littered with stones. Forensic experts concluded that the singer died almost four days ago. Further, data on the causes of death are overgrown with various conflicting details. By official version police death of the singer - an accident. However, his mother and first wife Patricia are sure that Dean was killed for his decision to return to America. His last wife Renata Blume does not give interviews. But one day she let slip that her husband was killed with five stabs. And yet, most of the acquaintances are sure that after a quarrel with his wife, the singer decided to take his own life.
His neighbor, General Eberhard Fansch, tells about this in the film - he and his wife heard Dean and Renata loudly cursing shortly before the tragedy. Some time later it became known that on the seat of the car the deceased singer remained suicide note addressed to the general. Fansch himself recalls that Dean's thoughts of suicide were often visited, but a neighbor managed to dissuade him from a terrible act. In the film, Fansch bitterly admits: "He promised that he would not do anything to himself. He swore that he would not do this, but he did ...".
Doubts that Dean Reed's death is a suicide are expressed by the singer's friend, translator Oleg Smirnov. He is sure that there are a lot of white spots in this case, and the fact that the body was hastily cremated proves that the GDR authorities wanted to hide something. Witnesses also disappeared in an unknown way. When Patricia, who arrived at the scene of death, asked one of the policemen why Reed's wallet was dry if it was found in the lake, she heard an unexpected answer: who said that the body was found in the lake? When the woman later tried to find this policeman, he disappeared without a trace. Many are perplexed by another detail. If it was suicide, then why was the body pressed down by stones to the bottom? The filmmakers are trying to figure out all the versions of this case.
After the liquidation of the Stasi (Ministry of State Security of the GDR), the inhabitants East Germany learned that each of them has a detailed dossier. Such a person as Dean Reed, all the more, could not help but be under the close supervision of this service. However, according to the Stasi museum expert Felix Müller, there is not a single dossier on Reed in the Stasi archives. And there is no true information about how the artist died.
One of the great successes of the authors of the film is a large exclusive interview with the Estonian actress Eve Kivi, with whom Dean Reed had a long-term affair. Despite the fact that the singer was very loved in the USSR, he was not allowed to buy an apartment in Moscow and was forbidden to officially register a marriage with his beloved woman. And for many years, Eva and Dean had to meet in hotels ...
Not only the interview with Kiwi is unique - the documentary is completely built on exclusive materials. For example, it shows documents that none of the viewers could see before - the results of an autopsy that refute some versions of death, the text of Dean Reed's suicide letter.
The authors of the film trace the entire creative and life path of Reed, starting from the moment when he was 12 years old, not knowing musical literacy, having learned six chords on the guitar, began to write songs. He sang them to anyone who was willing to listen. Once such a random listener turned out to be a producer of Columbia Records ... Already in 1961, the 23-year-old singer, having albums of recorded songs, went on tour to Latin America. He meets Salvador Allende, Che Guevara, Victor Jara. The political views of the cheerful American are rapidly changing. The whole world discussed the act of the singer, when Reed defiantly washed the American flag "from the blood of Vietnamese children."
Due to conflicts with by the American government the singer leaves the country and, not having received permission to stay in the USSR, new house found in the GDR. Why, once, during a meeting with Eve Kivi, Dean Reed said: "How I hate this country and people from the GDR"? Why did the singer begin to receive death threats in Germany? According to the participants of the film, Dean Reed played a role in the political arena. And at the turn of the epochs, witnesses of neither ups nor downs are needed. Those who had been his puppeteers all his life, who had manipulated him, knew this. But will we know their names?
Bernara Battalova
