Krzysztof Krawczyk

Infobox Person
name=Krzysztof Krawczyk


image_size=220px
caption=Krzysztof Krawczyk at concert
birth_date=September 8, 1946
birth_place=Katowice, Poland
nationality=Polish
occupation=singer, guitarist, composer
spouse=Ewa Krawczyk
children=

Krzysztof Krawczyk [IPA-pl|'|k|sz|y|sz|t|o|f|-|'|k|r|a|f|cz|y|k] (born September 8, 1946 in Katowice) is a Polish pop singer having a baritone voice, a guitarist and composer. He was the vocalist of a popular Polish band, Trubadurzy, since 1963 until 1973 when he started his solo career. He was co-founder of the Post-secondary School of Stage Art in Łódź. His creative activity in the area of music is characterized by a combination of various music genres such as rock and roll, country music and rhythm & blues.

Biography

Krawczyk learnt to play guitar on his own, whereas his vocal abilities were practised when he attended secondary school of music in Łódź. However, he had to quit his musical studies and become an errand-boy. The reason was that his father, who was an actor, died and his mother suffered from depression. He was the only member of the family who earned money for living.

In 1963 he founded, together with Ryszard Poznakowski, Marian Lichtman, Sławomir Kowalewski and Halina Żytkowiak, one of the best known Polish beat music bands of the 1960s, Trubadurzy, who combined elements of rock with Polish folk music.

Ten years after that band's establishment, Krawczyk started his solo career. In the 1970s he recorded several successful songs such as "Parostatek" ("The steamship"), "Pokochaj moje marzenia" ("Love my dreams"), "Pamiętam Ciebie z tamtych lat" ("I remember you from those years") or "Ostatni raz zatańczysz ze mną" ("You'll dance with me that last time"). He had numerous performances at festivals in Opole, Sopot and Kołobrzeg. He also had concert tours around all countries of the Warsaw Pact as well as in Sweden, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland. His work of the 1970s was considered to be a kitsch by some critics. Nevertheless, his that-time songs have long been genuinely popular.

He collaborated with a famous cabaret performer, Bohdan Smoleń. They released several humoristic songs around 1985, e.g. "Mężczyzna po czterdziestce" ("The man in his forties") and "Dziewczyny, które mam na myśli" that used melody from Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias' "To all the girls I loved before" (1984). All these songs were very different from what he had performed before.

In the 1980s Krawczyk moved to the US for a couple of years, disappearing from the Polish pop stage. Before that, he had got addicted to alcohol and drugs, but was helped to get out by his present wife, Ewa Krawczyk. He returned to Poland in the mid-1990s. Then he encountered lack of interest from esteemed music producers, which induced him to get involved in disco polo business. He later admitted that that decision enabled him to survive the "hard times", given the albums he made at that time were very successful as far as the number of sold copies is concerned. That did not protect him against constant criticism. In the late 1990s Krawczyk changed his image from a "discotheque playboy" to a mature middle-aged artist who propagated family values. In this way, he successfully came back on stage with such hits like "Jestem sobą" ("I'm myself"), "Wiarygodny" ("The credible") or "Bo jesteś Ty" ("Because you are"). He sang a few songs with other artists, such as Andrzej Piaseczny, Edyta Bartosiewicz, Muniek Staszczyk, Goran Bregović and Rod Stewart.

In 2000, Krzysztof Krawczyk made a performance for pope John Paul II on Saint Peter's Square in Vatican.

He has been married three times. His first wife was Grażyna Adamus, whom he got to know at school, but that marriage lasted short time. He has a grown-up son with his second wife, Halina Żytkowiak. At present, Krawczyk lives in a small village of Grotniki near Łódź with his third wife, Ewa, as well as their three daughters whom they have adopted. He also has a grandson, Ryszard Krawczyk, who was born in May, 2006 in Konin.

Discography

With Trubadurzy

*"Krajobrazy" (1968, Gold album)
*"Ej Sobótka, Sobótka" (1969, Gold album)
*"Kochana" (1970, Gold album)
*"Zaufaj sercu" (1971, Gold album)
*"Będziesz Ty" (1973, Gold album)
*"Znowu razem" (1973, Gold album)

olo

*"Byłaś mi nadzieją" (1974)
*"Rysunek na szkle" (1976, Gold album - 1978)
*"Pieśni S. Jesienina" (1977)
*"Jak minął dzień" (1977, Gold album - 1980)
*"Dla mojej dziewczyny" (1979)
*"Don't leave me" (1979)
*"Good Rock & Roll" (1980, Gold album - 1986)
*"Niki w krainie techniki" (1980)
*"From different Place" (1982)
*"Kolędy Polskie" (1986)
*"Wstaje nowy dzień" (1987)
*"Country album" (1987)
*"My road" (1989)
*"Koncert jubileuszowy" (1990)
*"Co za cyrk" (1990)
*"The singles album" (1991)
*"Country na drogę" (1991)
*"Wszystko za disco" (1991)
*"Kolędy i pastorałki" (1991)
*"A kiedy będziesz moją żoną" (1992)
*"Collection" (1992)
*"Live koncert" (1992)
*"Gdy nam śpiewał Elvis Presley" (1994, Gold album - 1996, Platinum album - 1997)
*"Kolędy i piosenki świąteczne" (1994)
*"Gdy nam śpiewał Elvis Presley 2" (1995, Gold album - 1996)
*"Świąteczne piosenki" (1995)
*"Ballady" (1995)
*"Canzone d'Amore" (1995, Gold album)
*"Krzysztof Krawczyk & weselni goście" (1995)
*"No Boundaries" (1995)
*"Złote przeboje" (1996)
*"Świąteczne piosenki" (1996)
*"Ave Maria" (1997)
*"Arrivederci moja dziewczyno" (1997, Gold album)
*"The Single Album" (1998)
*"Złote przeboje" (1998)
*"Jak przeżyć wszystko jeszcze raz" (1998)
*"Polskie Tango" (1998)
*"Album Jubileuszowy/Zawsze w drodze" (1999)
*"Gold" (1999)
*"Złota kolekcja - Pamiętam Ciebie z tamtych lat" (1999, Gold album)
*"Ojcu Świętemu śpiewajmy" (1999, Gold album)
*"Kolędy Polskie" (1999)
*"Platynowa kolekcja - Złote przeboje" (1999)
*"To, co dał nam los" (2000)
*"Zawsze w drodze" (2000)
*"Największe przeboje cz. 1" and "Największe przeboje cz. 2" (2000)
*"2000 takich świąt" (2000)
*"Polskie kolędy" (2000)
*"Daj mi drugie życie" feat. Goran Bregović (2001, Gold and then Platinum album)
*"Byłaś mi nadzieją" (2001, reedition of the 1974 album)
*"Najpiękniejsze polskie kolędy – Polskie perły" (2001)
*"... Bo marzę i śnię" (2002, Platinum album)
*"Cygańskie rytmy (Gwiazdy biesiadują)" (2003)
*"Live" (2003, Gold album)
*"Piosenki o miłości" (2003)
*"Złote przeboje" (2003)
*"Piosenki na Święta" (2003)
*"To co w życiu ważne" (2004, Platinum album)
*"The Best - Rysunek na szkle" (2004)
*"To, co w życiu ważne - Edycja specjalna" (2004)
*"Mona Lisa" (2004)
*"Jestem sobą" (2004, Platinum album, 5 CDs)
*"The Shadow Of Your Smile" (2005)
*"Amerykańskie piosenki (Edycja specjalna)" (2005)
*"Złota Kolekcja - Pamiętam Ciebie z tamtych lat" (2005)
*"Krzysztof Krawczyk - Special Edition - 3CD Box" (2006)
*"Tacy samotni" (2006, Platinum album)
*"Tacy samotni (Edycja Specjalna)" (2007, Gold album)
*"Gwiazdy XX Wieku - Krzysztof Krawczyk" (2007)
*"Leksykon Krzysztofa Krawczyka" (7 CDs in 2007 plus 13 CDs in 2008)

Filmography

* "Szatan z siódmej klasy" (1960)
* "Polowanie na muchy" (1969)
* "Zawodowcy" - performance of songs (1975)
* "Próba ognia i wody" - plays the role of himself (1978)
* "Nakręceni, czyli szołbiznes po polsku" - plays the role of himself (2003)
* "Sie macie ludzie" - plays the role of himself (2004)

References

*Polish2|Krzysztof Krawczyk|3 July 2008