A song back: Yitzchak Kleftar performs Tslivi Mu'imin, 2.11.2015 (Editor: Maya Ben Nissen Photo: Dave Shahar)
(In the video above: Yitzchak Kleftar sings "Clilil Mamutin" with the band "Nashii Haron", from the "Sing Back" section of Walla! Culture)
Since his childhood, the musician Yitzhak Clifter has been referred to as Churchill, after the name of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill.
"At school they called me that because I was a little chubby, like Churchill," he recalls.
That is why the name "The Churchills" was chosen for the rock band in which he served as a guitarist in the first composition alongside Mickey Gabrielov and others.
The Churchills were active in Israel and abroad, but overseas their name was changed to Jericho Jones in order not to offend the patriotic feelings of the British and the honor of their leader. Even after Churchill left the band, the rest of its members chose to stay with the name C Rachels.
The legendary singer, composer and guitarist celebrated his 70th birthday a few days ago, and this is a wonderful opportunity to talk with one of the most talented, beloved and influential musicians in Israeli music. The first part of the interview is conducted in a slightly unusual way: we quoted in the ears of the Israeli Churchill Ten sayings that are identified with the British Churchill,
time passes.
Yitzhak Clifter (Photo: Ilan Bashor)
"Time is a bad ally" (Churchill)
Clifter: "First of all, Churchill was a great man. He stood against Hitler. Regarding time, I once had a song with lyrics by Jonathan Geffen - 'Takes time'. Time passes and that's it, we die in the end. That's what it is ".
"I drink, I smoke, and I'm 200% fit!"
(Churchill in response to General Bernard Lee Montgomery who defiantly claimed to him: "I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I'm 100% fit")
"I'm already 70 years old, I'm not a teenager. I'm a child but I'm 70 years old. Equipment is already being returned. I don't expect to behave like a 16-year-old. Nor like a 40-year-old. I've never drunk alcohol. I've smoked hashish but I didn't drink alcohol. I stopped smoking Cigarettes years ago. And fitness? I do physical therapy every day at home."
"Saving - worthy of all praise. Especially if your parents did it for you" (Churchill)
"I don't have a lot of money. I'm successful as an artist but as a private person I'm not very rich, you see. I manage to survive but I'm not very rich. In France they give a lot more to artists, but there are millions there and here there are only a few millions. They compare me to Eric Clapton, And I heard that he's sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars. He's a tycoon. And I'm sitting here on some money. I don't owe money, thank God I'm in the plus, but I don't have much. If I lived in the United States - I'd be worth tens or hundreds of millions today. But Israel is A small place with very little money. There are very few artists who manage to make a good living here. The situation is better with the Mizrahi singer. The Mizrahis love their artists, not like the Ashkenazim. I am in favor of the Ministry of Culture subsidizing artists who are in a difficult situation. Look at Gabi Shoshan, my friend, he He committed suicide over this background. He had nothing, poor thing. I'm very sad for him. It's trouble. Artists have nothing to eat. I'm in favor of the state subsidizing artists, even though I personally don't need to, I somehow manage to survive."
Yitzhak Clifter (Photo: Nimrod Saunders)
"Democracy is the worst system of government that exists, apart from all the other systems of government that have been tried to date" (Churchill)
"I agree with Churchill. Attempts to harm democracy disgust me. But I don't want to express myself politically. I am not a political artist and I have never interfered in politics. I have fans both among the religious and among the secular, both on the left and on the right, everywhere In Israel. I once composed a song for Eric Einstein: 'Sitting on the fence, one foot here, one foot there.'
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, though I do not always like to be taught" (Churchill)
"You learn new things all the time, even at the age of seventy. In my life I studied both self-taught and professionally with private teachers composition, choral analysis and more. I met people who inspired me. I think that anyone who studies and works as hard as I did - will reach my level. But people They say it differently, they say it's a matter of innate talent, and that actually shuts my mouth. It's also true. Art is also a matter of innate talent, and it's not enough to work - you also have to be talented. I'm both innately talented and I've worked hard. Probably both things are equally important."
Beehive group at the last union in 2013 (Photo: Photo: Ilan Bashor)
"There is only one answer to failure and that is victory" (Churchill)
Winston Churchill (Photo: GettyImages, Reg Speller/Getty Images)
"In an unfolding life, there are both failures and victories. Each one has his own destiny. In medicine, for example, if the venom does not kill you, it makes you stronger because it develops antibodies in you. I heard that there is cancer treatment by bees. A person is allowed to be stung by them in order to develop antibodies to be cured from cancer".
In what places in your personal life did you get poisoned but got stronger from it?
"Over the years, I ate all kinds of poison, but I only got stronger from it. For example, when I was 27 years old, it was very difficult for me to make a living, I had no money, I had no place to live, I lived with friends. But I came out stronger. Today I am a manager I am very beautiful myself."
It is impossible to ignore the fact that the crisis happened to you at the age of 27, when many great musicians died, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse, hence the coinage of the "27 Club".
"At that time I also thought about committing suicide. I thought about it but I didn't commit suicide. I was in a difficult situation, I had nowhere to live and everyone turned their backs on me. I was 27 years old, it happened a year after Hive broke up. After the breakup, Yonatan Gefen approached me to do 'Salon Conversations ". I lived in a dilapidated house, rain came in from the ceiling, I had no money and no one to take care of me. It was very difficult for me, but I managed to fall on my feet. Praise be to God."
The ensemble "Tsilil Mo'yim" - Yitzhak Kleftar, Shem Tov Levy and Shlomo Yadov - in concert in 1979 (Photo: National Photograph Collection, Sa'ar Yaacov, National Photograph Collection)
"You will never reach your goal if you dwell on every dog that barks" (Churchill)
"Listen, I'm not Churchill's national explainer, but this quote reminds me of an incident with dogs because of which I began to believe in a higher providence. One day I finished playing a recording of a song in Alon Olarchik's home studio, ordered a taxi and left the studio at two in the morning. The south of the city, it's dark, there's not a single person on the street, I go down with the guitar. Suddenly a dog comes up to me, barks at me and wants to bite me. I was terribly frightened, I didn't know what to do, I didn't even have a stick to defend myself. He approaches me and bares his teeth. I was scared. Suddenly a dog bigger than him came out, barked at the dog that threatened me and bit him. The smaller dog ran away. And the big dog sat next to me like a statue. I'm telling you, there is a higher providence."
Are you a believer?
"Sometimes I believe and sometimes I don't."
"Take care to deepen your roots, because without them you will not last" (Churchill said this to the first mayor of Tel Aviv, Meir Dizengoff, during Churchill's visit to Tel Aviv in 1921, when the trees planted in his honor quickly in the sands of the city began to collapse)
"I am connected to my roots. The child I was in Haifa is still inside me. I left Haifa and moved with my family to Tel Aviv when I was three years old, but I remember those days and where I lived. I wrote and composed the song 'If you are around' about the street where I lived in my childhood Arik Sinai sings. Listen, the beginning of the road has already passed and I'm leaving it in the past. I'm dealing with the present and the future. I'm not that nostalgic, even though there were beautiful moments in my past."
The band "Acharit Haimim" (Photo: mBox)
"I am ready to die a martyr's death, but prefer to postpone it as much as possible" (Churchill)
"If I had to choose between dying as a saint at a young age and dying as a saint at an old age - I would choose the second option."
"A pessimist sees a difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty" (Churchill)
"Sometimes I'm a pessimist and sometimes an optimist. In this period, I hope that the corona will pass within a month and that everything will calm down."
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Last week there was supposed to be a celebratory party in honor of Clifter's 70th birthday at the Havana club in Tel Aviv.
Quite a few friends and musicians were invited to it, including his friends from the Beehive band - which raised hopes in the industry to perhaps see a private reunion of the band there.
However, due to the spread of the corona virus and government restrictions, the party was canceled, and this caused the sorrow of many of the guests.
"We planned a party for Monday with food and drinks and it didn't happen. The corona virus canceled it, because gatherings are forbidden," says Clafter, "even during Israel's wars there was no such shutdown of everything."
The musician could be encouraged by the fact that he received many video greetings from the best musicians (see some of them at the end of the article).
How are you in these Corona days?
are you holding out
"I'm holding on, what can I do. I've been at home for two weeks, I haven't left the house all this time. It sucks for God. Nothing can be done. No one can visit me, I'm alone. There's a lot of time now and there's nothing to do. I'm taking a '
Did this difficult period lead you to create a new song?
"For now, not. You need to let things sink in a bit. You know, they say 'when cannons roar, the muses are silent'. That's the situation. I created the last song about two months ago and gave it to Arik Sinai, he will probably record it soon. But the song is not related to Corona."
The cover of the album "Sitting on the fence" by Eric Einstein and Yitzhak Klefter, in which they are photographed next to the diners of the "Keter HaMizrah" restaurant (photo: Walla! system, album cover)
The financial situation of many artists has been affected by the corona virus, how are you?
"I'm fine, but the industry has really suffered a blow. And the compensation the state is offering is a joke. A mockery of Resh."
Clifter went through quite a few medical difficulties in his life.
In 2000, a cancerous tumor was discovered in his head, he needed surgery and Beehive members organized a fundraising show for him, which was successful.
The musician, who was a heavy smoker, was hospitalized in 2011 in Ichilov Hospital due to complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was released a few months later and underwent a long rehabilitation.
In March 2018 it was announced that he was hospitalized again in Ichilov due to the lung disease.
When I demand his health, he says: "I have COPD, it's a chronic lung disease. I wouldn't roll the dice to get it, but it is what it is. It limits me a bit. I'm on oxygen on and off. I quit smoking before Ten years, as soon as the disease started bothering me."
As soon as you hear sounds of your music, you know it's your music.
Can you explain this magic?
"I don't know. I can't explain it. I can't define it. I can only say that in the army I met Albert Piamante, who was a musical arranger for the Shirion band in which I served. I asked him how to become a professional musician, what to do, so he told me 'Work on the guitar for three years, eight hours a day'. That's what I did and learned to play. It's like being a doctor."
There is almost always something sad in your songs.
"Could be. I like playing blues and singing blues. Blues is a sad thing. But I should be satisfied because I'm relatively successful."
Back-up song: Yitzhak Klifter and Sharon Karlan sing "If you're around (My town)" November 8, 2009 (Dave Shahar)
Yitzhak Klefter, one of the greatest guitarists and composers in Israel, was born on March 31, 1950 in Haifa and grew up in Tel Aviv.
He was a member of the Churchills named after his nickname Churchill;
in the first band that performed rock in Hebrew, the latter days, in which he signed mythological solo pieces including "The tree is tall" and "Open the door for me";
in the Beehive band, in which he composed, among other things, the songs "Yo Ya" and "She's so beautiful" which were written by Danny Sanderson, and he performed solo the "Junk song" which he also composed;
And the group Tslili Mewin in which he wrote, composed and performed the huge hit "Tslili Mewin" and composed and performed the song "Takes Time".
He collaborated with Eric Einstein many times, among other things when he composed all the songs on his albums "Sitting on the fence" and "Shabir" and played with him on some of his hits.
He participated in the show "Living Room Conversations" with Yonatan Gefen, for whom he composed, among other things, "Bedouin Love Song" and "
In 1980, he embarked on a solo career, during which he released five studio albums that included the hits that he also composed, "My love is not his love", "We met", "I and you then", "Hold on" and "Free imagination".
Clifter composed other songs including "Simple Account" and "Let's Stay" for Gidi Gov, "I Love" for the album "The Sixteenth Lamb", "If you are around" by Eric Sinai, "Ballad for Naive" by Yael Levy, "Just yesterday" and "What you love" to Gali Atari and the "Red Devils" in honor of Hapoel Tel Aviv winning the state championship.
Clifter performed for a period of time with his friends from the Efraim Shamir Hive and Alon Olarchik, under the name "We Met".
In addition, he composed music for several Israeli films, including "Dead End Road" by Yaki Yoshua, "Until the End of the Night" by Eitan Green and "Fictive Marriage" by Haim Bouzaglo.
Let's talk about some of your biggest hits.
Did you know at the time of the creation, that your solo in the song "The tree is tall" of the end of days would become such a mythological solo?
"I didn't know. I worked on the solo for about two weeks, then we went into the studio, we recorded the record, we did the song 'The tree is tall'. It came out the way it did. I never knew at all that my song would become a hit. There were songs of mine that I wrote that I thought would be more successful , and there were songs I wrote that I thought would be less successful. For example, I didn't know that 'Bedouin Love Song' would be successful. But I thought that the song 'Stars are just drops in the dark' would be a lager and it didn't happen. We don't know what will happen. Gambling."
What don't we know about your huge hit "Tsilim Metun", which celebrated its forty-year anniversary last year?
"I can only say that while I was writing 'Clilim Ma'in' I said to myself, 'I'm going to write a good song, however long it takes - it will take.' It was written about an ideal woman, not a specific woman."
The song "She's so beautiful" by Hive, which you composed to the words of Danny Sanderson, is one of the band's most played songs.
How was the song created?
"I have no idea why exactly this song is the most played of Beehive. If I knew what was successful, I would be very rich today. I composed songs in my house. One day I played two of my songs to Ephraim Shamir, he told me to combine them into one song."
More in Walla!
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Yitzhak Klefter performing in Haifa in 2009 (Photo: Creative Commons)
One of your biggest collaborations was with Eric Einstein, among other things on the albums "Sitting on the Fence" and "Shabir" from the early eighties in which you composed and arranged all the songs.
What would Eric think of these Corona days?
As someone who liked to be at home, maybe he actually enjoyed the isolation?
"Yes. Eric was at home a lot and didn't leave it. He didn't show up either. I tried to convince him to show up and he got mad at me, said 'you want to kill me'. If Eric showed up I would make a lot of money."
What is the greatest lesson you received from Einstein?
"Eric championed the values of work, perseverance and personal honesty. He loved sports. We used to meet a lot, I would come with a guitar, sit with him and we would write songs. We wrote about three or four songs a month. When Eric approached me, I told him I wasn't good enough. I have a poor self-image. Eric replied to me: 'Then come and play badly'. I came, I played badly and that's what came out."
"Yes, it upsets me too. Even now, it is not heard enough in my opinion."
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Yitzhak Kleftar with Ephraim Shamir and Alon Olarchik (Photo: Nicole de Castro)
The management of Einstein's estate is controversial, and there were insiders and industry figures who believed that, to a certain extent, improper commercialization of his works and image was done after his death, among other things in the musical and in the advertisement.
How about that?
"I don't know if Eric would have liked it. He was modest and honest. He was an example to everyone around him."
Two Hive veterans - both you and Yoni Rechter - worked closely with Eric.
In your conversations, did you compare your work with his?
Did you consult each other?
"No, no, Yoni and I never talked about Eric in a special way."
About six months ago, the legendary restaurant "Ketar HaMizrah" which was located in Ibn Gvirol in Tel Aviv, closed after 68 years.
The office of the Hagar production company of Einstein, Zvi Shisl and Boaz Davidson was next to the restaurant, and they, you and other artists often sat there.
"Yes, the owner passed away. The food there was good at fair prices. There was a parliament of guys there, including the late Eli Israeli and Shem Tov Levi.
Eric and Sissel's office, 'Hagar', was in the back.
It was an apartment that was used as an office.
It's a shame it closed."
These days mark the 50th anniversary of the breakup of The Beatles. What inspiration did you get from the greatest band in history and who else were you influenced musically?
"That's right, my inspiration is The Beatles.
As a teenager I loved the songs, I loved 'She Loves You' and all their songs.
The Beatles had a big influence on me starting to play the guitar.
I heard a lot of radio and the carol marches.
At the age of 16, we played with The Shadows, which was Cliff Richard's backing band.
Hank Marvin from the band has been an inspiration to me for many years, and also Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, all these greats."
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Yitzhak Klefter during his hospitalization at Ichilov Hospital in April 2018 (Photo: Lior Tzur, Ichilov Spokesperson)
Do you also listen to new music these days?
Who won your heart from the younger generation?
"I heard that the Mizrahi singer Itai Levy performed my song 'Tsilil Ma'im', and I loved it."
As one of the great guitarists, what is your advice to a young guitarist?
"To play for three years, eight hours a day, like what I did."
Your friend Gidi became a serial unifier - Beehive, "Lila Gov", "The 16th Lamb" and these days "Zah Zah" has united.
Is there any chance of a reunion of one of the ensembles you were a part of - a partial reunion (because not all the members of the original ensemble are alive) of the first incarnation of the Churchills or of the end times (even though Zohar Levi and Gabi Shoshan are not with us) or a full reunion of Beehive or of the composition "tuned sound"?
"I don't know. Let's finish the corona virus first, then we'll talk."
The Abba band, to whom Hive lost in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest,
stunned the world and announced that she will release four new songs in the characters of their avatars.
So why wouldn't a beehive do it?
"I never thought about it. Listen, Abba is a band that is sitting on a billion dollars. There is nothing to compare at all. The means at their disposal are not the means at our disposal. I don't have a billion dollars, that's something completely different. I have no idea if there will be another union of Beehive. It's not up to me. Danny Sanderson said it's over, and that the reunion in 2013 was the last reunion. Will there be another reunion? It's up to Danny and Gidi, they're the bosses of the band, and it depends on whether I'll be healthy enough for me."
"I'll tell you something beautiful. When we were in Eurovision with the band Hive, we were put up in a hotel where all the bands were. I met the band Abba in the lobby at lunch. I remember the band member Frida looked at me and I liked it."
How did she look at you?
How did you react to this look?
"She looked at me like looking. But I didn't do anything about it. What could I do? She was married to a pianist. They divorced later. Abba grew up and became the world champion, we are not their size. I don't know what would have happened if I had done something step".
ליצחק קלפטר יש ילד אחד, הדי ג'יי המוערך אוריה, בנו המשותף עם דורית פלד. בין יצחק לאוריה לא שררו בעבר יחסים טובים. בריאיון הראשון של אוריה עם כותב שורות אלה למעריב לפני שבע שנים, הוא חשף בין השאר את הקשר המורכב שלהם: "אבא לא היה בא הרבה לימי הורים בבית ספר וכאלה דברים, היו תקופות - און אנד אוף. כשהייתי ילד פעם רבתי איתו, לא זוכר למה, התעצבנתי עליו, הענשתי אותו, והיתה בינינו תקופת נתק של שנתיים. לא ראיתי אותו בכלל בזמן הזה. אחר כך חידשנו את הקשר, טלפונית, ונפגשנו קצת. אף פעם בחיי לא היו לי שיחות נפש עם אבא. אני ואבא שלי לא נפתחים אחד בפני השני על הרגעים הקשים שאנחנו עוברים. לא דיברתי איתו פעם אחת בזמן משבר ומעולם גם לא התייעצתי איתו". יצחק קלפטר סירב לדבר על בנו בריאיון.
על מה אתה מתחרט?
"אני לא אגיד. אני שומר לעצמי. זה עניינים פרטיים שלי. מקצועית, אני שמח עם כל מה שעשיתי. אני שמח שהגעתי לאן שהגעתי. היום המצב שלי טוב יחסית. כמו שאמרתי לך, הארס לא הרג אותי, רק חיזק אותי".
אחד מהשירים שהשתתפת ביצירתם לאריק איינשטיין הוא "מעבדות לחירות", אותו הלחנת עם גיא בוקאטי למילותיו של יענקלה רוטבליט. אנחנו עכשיו בפסח, חג החירות, ולמרבה האירוניה כלואים בבידוד בגלל הקורונה. מהי חירות בשבילך?
"כן, זה מצב מבאס. מבחינתי החופש זה לצאת לפנסיה, לעשות בטן גב, לא להופיע ולא להקליט. זה החופש. אני כבר בן 70, חלאס, כבר עשיתי הרבה. יש לי עוד כמה שנים להעביר בלי לעשות כלום. לא להתחייב בכלל".
עוד בוואלה!
זה לא בדיוק געגוע: צלילים צורמים בהנצחת אריק איינשטיין
לכתבה המלאה
יצחק קלפטר(צילום: נמרוד סונדרס)
ובכל זאת, יש מצב שנזכה לראות אותך חוזר לבמה?
"אין לי הופעות עכשיו. תן לגמור את הקורונה ונראה מה העניינים".
מה הסיכוי שנזכה לשמוע שירים חדשים ממך?
"אני לא יודע. האמת היא שאני כבר חושב לצאת לפנסיה. כמו שספורטאים תולים את הנעליים, אז אני כבר תולה את הגיטרה. אולי פה ושם אני אוציא איזה שיר או משהו. אני לא יודע אם אני אוציא עוד אלבום. אני כבר בן 70, לא נותרו לי הרבה שנים לחיות. אז אני רוצה כבר לצאת לפנסיה. אני כבר התחלתי בתהליך של החזרת ציוד".
תהליך של החזרת ציוד. יצחק קלפטר(צילום: שלומי פינטו)
After all the great peaks you have conquered, what dreams do you still have left?
"The main thing is that we be healthy and pass the time well, that we have longevity. That's it."
Dear Isaac, we wish you many, many more years of health, joy and love.
Hang in there and take your time.
"Thank you. Look, here's Eric dead at the age of 74. You can't know anything. I'm already saying, come on, these are my last years, I'll do them in retirement. Stomach and back all day long. You see, no commitments, nothing."
Beehive members congratulate Yitzhak Klifter on his 70th birthday
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