I lived in Far Eastern Russia in 1993 and 1994. That was not too long after perestroika (catastroika) and glasnost, so the country was in turmoil. Western music was more-or-less illegal, but enforcement was lax, to say the least. I had Russian friends that listened to "plastinka" (LP records) of Beatles and various other "western" music, notably CCR. Of course, they had their own "country" which was generally gritty Russian folk music, which I thought was fantastic. Interestingly, one of the Russian biologists I worked closely with, and became close friends with, was Far Eastern Russia's greatest folk (country) performer (Vasily Solkin). You couldn't go anywhere in a city (usually Vladivostok) with him without beautiful girls mobbing him. He has remained a close friend all these years, and he is who I hunted with several times when I returned to Russia (up until 2001). His folk songs were mostly about hunting and trapping, (some fishing). Also, he was the publisher, owner, and contributing writer of a very popular magazine called "Zov Taigee" (Voice of the Forest), which was akin to Field & Stream or Outdoor Life, without all the advertisements.

So yes, they definitely do have their version of "country" music, and, in my opinion, it's much more "real" than ours.

Jack

Country was popular in Germany during my time in there.

Have the DVDs of NE, I believe that song was in Season 2E6 · War and Peace by Irving Berlin. :-)