Indian Sitar

The introduction of Indian Sitar into the world of sixties paisley pop.

One would often think that the introduction of Indian sitar into the western world of sub-culture was wilfully driven by sitar guru, Ravi Shankar. Certainly the influence of this charismatic figure greatly enhanced the esoteric state of being amongst the hippie culture. Most notably George Harrison of the Beatles, with his regular excursion into India, brought forth the profound "Norwegian wood" in 1965 off the album Rubber Soul. It was this popular melody that most likely popularised the sitar to the greater appreciation of mass media. The roots, however, are found in November 1964, when the first recording of "Heart Full of Soul" by the Yardbirds was engineered by Brian Auger with rather unusual sounds blended in. An authentic Indian sitar player was brought into the studio, including a tabla player along side. Unfortunately the sitar player could not get the 4/4 time signature right, and due to the fact that the Yardbirds were a road group, the original would not be able to be played to live audience. Jeff Beck stood in and used his fuzz machine with a tone blender which created a similar and extremely effective sound.
Further more in northern London, Ray Davies of the Kinks has just released a single, "See My Friends", flavoured with esoteric Indian Sitar, which reached the top ten in the UK in 1965. Most notably the two most accomplished sitar players in the UK would be Davey Graham and session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. It was most likely Big Jim who stood in for the Kinks and a number of other English beatniks who were caught up in the eastern intrigue Another accomplished sitar player was the acoustic John Renbourn who came to life in the group Pentangle. The hippies were hard at work, even across the waters where Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, strongly influenced by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, would introduce Indian sitar into his concept album, Pet Sounds. Flying your freak flag was the name of the game and everybody was hopping on, namely James Lowe and his powerful back-up, commonly known as The Electric Prunes, would soar into the charts with "I had to much to dream last night", capturing the power of feedback guitar and Indian sitar. Alex Chilton of the Boxtops came forth with "Cry Like a Baby" in 1968, while Joe South resurrected his hippie theme tune, "Games People Play", using the full flavour of Indian sitar. Even the conservatives played the incense game namely B.J.Thomas - "Hooked on a feeling", and old folkie Donovan, with the assistance of Shaun Phillips, assisting him on sitar with the original full version, "Sunshine Superman". His majesty, Prince Jones, gave the Rolling Stones powerful inroads into the hippie culture with "Paint it Black" and "Mother's little Helper", while sitar obsessive, Dave Mason of Traffic, gave the band it's first two singles, "Paper Sun" and "Hole in my Shoe". Eastern intrigue had caught the day and you may well have found yourself in a dance hall, jiving to the sound of "Green Tambourine", by the Lemon Pipers, or sitting cross legged on the floor to the sound of Eric Burdon and the Animals. Folk roots of Indian sitar could be sourced in David Lindley's blue grass band Kaleidoscope as far back as 1965, while slow boat Chris Farlow of the Thunderbirds try to jump on the band wagon with "Moaning". By 1967 the official funeral of the hippie was recorded in Haight Ashbury, yet Ravi Shanker would still project his influence at Woodstock and the concert for Bangladesh.
Certain elements of Psycedelia embraced the Eastern intrigue with a permanence when a very young South African Alan Mostert, formed his band Quintessence that shook the foundations of Psycedelia in the late sixties in the UK. Of course one must understand that this was old hat to Jazz guitarist John Mclaughlin who formed a band called Shakti, influenced by South African guitarist, Johnny Fourie.
The age of sitar had finally come to an end, and would only find revival in the early nineties when son of actress Haley Mills, Crispian, would launch his Brit Pop band, Kula Shaker, but that's another story.

Shiloh Noone shiloh_noone@hotmail.com Rock Historian Fine Music Radio, 101.3 FM Wednesday 10 o'clock, Blues and Variation