Yuri Vladimirovich Ilchenko became famous when he was a soloist of the Leningrad rock group "Myths". There he played guitar and sang songs of his own composition. He had a chance to collaborate with the Time Machine and the Zemlyane Philharmonic Ensemble.
Ilchenko is considered one of the best guitarists in the USSR, playing blues and rock themes. It is difficult to overestimate his contribution to the development of Soviet rock music. It was a real hippie, shocking the policemen with a passport folded in four.
Childhood and youth
He was born in 1951 in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Very soon he and his family moved to Leningrad. He began to get involved in music from childhood, at that time he played the accordion with pleasure. His first guitar was homemade, his father, a professional musician, helped him to make it. He played this guitar in the MAKS school ensemble. The basis of the repertoire of this musical group was the songs of the Beatles, but they also performed works of their own composition. In this ensemble, Yuri worked until mid-1968. After studying 8 classes, he dropped out of school and became a stage worker, never receiving a full education. He also had the occasion to work as a mechanic at one of the Leningrad factories.
Finally, in 1969, fate brought him together with the musicians of the "Myths" group, with which his main work is connected. In this group he played several instruments, the main of which was, of course, the guitar. Very soon he began to perform songs of his composition. In 1970, Ilchenko was drafted into the army, from where he was demobilized in 1972. After demobilization, he decided to pursue a career as a musician with Myths. After 2 years, the ensemble broke up, and for some time Yuri had to play with whoever he had to. In 1975, "Myths" gathered again.
Notoriety
Ilchenko had a great influence on the music of "Myths", for example, it was at his insistence that a brass section was included in the group and compositions written in the style of jazz-rock appeared in the repertoire. At the end of 1976, which had begun long ago, the divisions began to intensify. In the end, this led to the fact that Yuri went to the Moscow "Time Machine". Muscovites came to Leningrad to take part in a local session, at which they had a resounding success. Ilchenko sang both his own songs and songs written by Makarevich at the Mashina concerts. Not having worked with the group for a year, Yuri returned to "Myths", which, however, very soon disintegrate again.
After that, Yuri Ilchenko worked in Lenkontsert, played in amateur groups, until, finally, he joined the "Earthlings". He worked with this ensemble until 1981. Then "Myths" once again, though not for a long time, reanimated, and Ilchenko participated with them in the recording of the album "The Way Home". In subsequent years, the musician played in various groups, tried to engage in small business, recorded his own albums, and in 1996 created the Exodus group, which existed for 2 years.
In 1997, Ilchenko left for the United States for a long time. In 2001 he arrived and began to closely engage in literary activity. Publishes poetry and prose, writes journalism. The last music album was recorded by him in 2011. He was called "Master of the Sky".
