Erkin Koray

Erkin Koray (24 June 1941 - 7 August 2023) was a Turkish singer-songwriter, guitarist and one of the pioneers of Anatolian rock, a kind of psychedelic rock. Koray has been in the Turkish rock music scene since the late 1950s or early 1960s. He was widely acclaimed as being the first person to ever play rock and roll in Turkey; in 1957, he and his band gained fame by playing covers of Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. He was also one of the first Turkish musicians to embrace the electric guitar and modern amplification.
== Links To Peel ==
Peel first played Erkin Koray's material on a 1994 BBC World Service documentary series of the Turkish music scene, where he spoke to record collectors and musicians in Turkey. On 01 July 1995 (BFBS), he related the story of his first encounter with Koray's music:
"This next record I bought entirely on spec actually out of a catalogue simply because it was Turkish. I went to Turkey last year with the Pig and we really liked it there and liked the people that we met, and I was most anxious to find some good Turkish music that I could play to you: there's doubtless a great deal of it, but I've not heard it. This record, well quite frankly I can't tell when it was out. I'm tempted to say, which will sound rather pompous, from the drum sound that it was the late 60s. The track in question comes from an album first released in 1973. If anybody knows anything about this, I shall be most grateful to receive any information." 
In the 1995 documentary Rare, Precious Or Beautiful, Peel mentions Erkin Koray's Electric Turk album as rather good and one of his favourite cover album sleeves between 1966 and 1976. Peel at that time didn't realise the Electric Turk album was released in the 90's that featured a compilation of Erkin Koray's music output between the 60's and 70's. 
== Shows Played ==
;1994
* 19 November 1994 (BBC World Service): Korkulu Rüya (LP - Elektronik Türküler) Doğan Plak ‎
;thumb|220x220px1995
*17 June 1995: 'Aşka Inanmiyorum (LP-Electric Türk)' (Xotic Mind)
*01 July 1995 (BFBS): 'Aşka Inanmiyorum (LP-Electric Türk)' (Xotic Mind)
*28 July 1995: 'Köprüden Geçti Gelin (Bridge Passed) (LP-Electric Türk)' (Xotic Mind Productions)
*05 August 1995 (BFBS): 'Köprüden Geçti Gelin (LP-Electric Türk)' (Xotic Mind Productions)
== External Links ==
* Discogs
* Wikipedia
;Footnotes
Category:Artists