Seweryn Krajewski was born in 1947 in Nova Sol, but two years later his family moved to Sopot which was very important for his music preferences in the future. Important because Sopot was and still is a very popular vacation destination because of its beautiful beaches, gorgeous luxurious hotels, great restaurants and lots of music events. In the 60’s Sopot was the cradle of jazz and rock ‘n’ roll.
New western music was brought to Sopot by sailors who would bring new albums because they knew that it was a very good business – young people were so hungry for the new styles in music that they could not hear from the radio at that time.
The Beatles, Chuck Norris, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones and all others whose way of performing music could not be tolerated by the Polish government. Because it was from the west from behind the ”iron curtain”. But times were changing a little bit for Sopot. Young people wanted to express themselves be free and be loud
There were articles in newspapers about those terrible young people who were misbehaving at concerts by waving their jackets at music concerts. Before concerts young musicians were supposed to tie their long hair.
But going back to very young at the time Seweryn Krajewski, who was on his way to become a world known violinist by studying violin at State music school in Gdansk, which he attended from 1961. This young, quiet boy realized very quickly that his heart was not really with Classical music.
1961 was also a very important year in history of Sopot because that was the first year when the biggest festival started which in 1977 became the “InterVision” – International Music Festival also at the same year the first great competition for young people took place. 16 years old Seweryn was too young for the first Young Talent Show so he decided to try the next year but the next never happened – the government was too scared of that young exploding energy. Instead, he was just waiting for hours in front of the gate to the place where it was supposed to be take place before realizing that it was not happening.
Seweryn used to play piano during school breaks and sing some foreign songs with pretend words; he was also playing his own compositions. One of the guys from the same school asked him to join the group that they were about to form, and this is how he became a member of a new group that was soon to be called “Czerwone Gitary” – The Red Guitars because of their red guitars used on stage.
After one of the members left, Seweryn became the leader and main provider of their repertoire. About 90% of the song was written and performed by Seweryn. The group instantly became very famous.
Many people called them the Beatles of Eastern Europe, but Seweryn’s songs were not trying to be like someone else’s – he had his own very distinct style. Between his talent and his looks he became one of the most loved and desired performer not only in Poland, but in a lot of eastern countries that he was able to visit.
The Red Guitars “explosion” got a lot of recognition maybe the most important was in 1969 invitation to Olympia, Paris by Billboard magazine to perform for the highest amount of sold albums that year, it was very exciting for the group and for Seweryn because they were hoping to finally meet the most famous group at the times – The Beatles who were supposed to perform at the same place.
