In The Garden Of Scented Sitars Dept.

I've *cough* "streamlined" the format of th' IoF© to make it simpler for my bad self, so not actively seeking submissions, but Sitarswami's comps are as rare as they are impeccably realised, and it's a pleasure and an honor to make an exception for his new three-disc sitar-centric collection, In The Garden Of Scented Sitars. His screed follows, as do my sleeve designs, brought to you thru the magic of DALL-E©.

In The Garden of Scented Sitars

A late-night Google search of my memory banks reveals that the sitar first entered public consciousness in early 1966, centered around a fifth-grade group art project. There were four of us huddled close to the school’s portable record player auditioning Rubber Soul. The three of us content to do the least amount of work acceptable had agreed with an idea put forth by our class’s sole long-haired boy: we make hand puppets of, and pretend to be, The Beatles performing a song off their latest record. Hazy recollection suggests we chose “Run For Your Life” for our quickly forgotten pantomime (was I Ringo or George?). I wasn’t a Beatles fan, due to my older sister’s short-term obsession, but “Norwegian Wood” tickled the tinder in my ten- year-old brain. Later that year, stoked by the release of “Paint It Black” and “Turn-Down Day,” the smoldering embers sparked into a slow, burning, infatuation.

If incense was the olfactory signpost of late-60’s flower power, then a sitar was the aural manifestation. On the strength of its 18, 19, 20, or 21 strings the sitar provided world music with its first inroad into western pop. Soon, the scent of sitars permeated society heralding a golden age. Its aromatic, yet sublime, spice spread into the far reaches of the entertainment industry -- from film soundtracks to comedy routines. Teen music magazines tried to follow the beat widening their reportage and fanciful profiles. In Hit Parader and Tiger Beat you could now devour articles on Ravi Shankar (“Ravi & Raga at Monterey Pop” or “It’s A Happening, A Sitar Sensation”) along with the Brian Goes Back To The Beach exposés and Zappa’s “Folk Rock is a Drag” Hagstrom guitar ads.

When some listeners proved allergic, science responded. Genetic experiments conducted by Dr. V. Bell at Danelectro laboratories successfully bred a sitar with an electric guitar. Creating, in retrospect, a questionable, if not-illegitimate, offspring and one who will not be heard in this article.

Smelling profit, record label executives used the whiff of a sitar to entice novice buyers. With fifty years hindsight, these cash-in attempts seem harmless, charmingly naive. Some, like Emil Richards’ Journey to Bliss, should be heard. Others (e.g., Flower Power Sitar by Rajput & the Sepoy Mutiny or Kali Bahlu’s Cosmic Remembrance on the glorious World Pacific label) aren’t listenable for more than a few minutes but manage to evoke a timeless “What were they thinking?” excitement. Proof that the western-pop-sitar craze had blanketed the globe was the album release, in India, of Balsara & His Singing Sitars’ Great International Hits, featuring “the exciting new sounds of sitars” playing classics like “Tequila,” “Edelweiss” and “These Boots Are Made For Walking.”

But it’s those few plucked or strummed moments of eternal bliss that we live for. When I hear sitar in any recording the endorphins flow and my mood elevates suddenly. Who can ask more of any instrument?

The bulk of songs found In the Garden of Scented Sitars were recorded in the 1960s. By the early 70’s the sitar had fallen increasingly out of fashion, but the seeds planted grew. Throughout the decades devoted musicians have tended to the garden and its admirers continue to record.

I’ve sprinkled a few familiar tracks along the garden path and rather than presenting the Four Or Five Guys© with well-considered and researched insight into each of the sixty-nine bouquets displayed, below you’ll find only random commentary and indiscriminate petals of thought. Let’s digress:

The Flower Power Atomizer

Brewer & Shipley wrote Noel Harrison’s (the UK’s answer to Nancy Sinatra) one toke beyond ode to her eyes and to her mind.

The ID Company lp features Inga Rumpf on one side and Dagmar Krause on the other. I&D had previously recorded together in the German folk-blues unit, the City Preachers, and it’s a bit unnerving to hear Dagmar sing a rollicking version of “An Old Shanty Town.” Inga went on to front Frumpy before going solo, while Dagmar joined Slapp Happy and Art Bears.

One side of (Farq favorite) Shawn Phillips’ non-lp single soars into Tim Buckley territory. You’ll find the flipside further along the path. [that's him in the top photo - Ed.]

Sheb Wooley, the “Purple People Eater” perpetrator, lays waste to the counterculture.

Sopwith Camel delivers one of my sitar favorites. Who could have guessed that harmonica & sitar would blend so magically?

Ravi’s student, Warren Klein, ex-Factory and Fraternity of Man, adds age-appropriate sitar to Beck’s latter-day downer.

Ron Nasty, not Elvis Costello or Jeff Lynne, would have been the perfect replacement for John Lennon in the reformed church of The Beatles.

Every garden contains a poison bloom: Here, the A-side of The Meditations’ juicy, unbelievably bad, 45 frees the inner man with an overripe Elvis Presley-styled recitation b/w a b-side (appearing later) so creepy it reminds me of an incident related by a friend’s wife. She worked the front desk of a chain hotel in a small college town where the Beach Boys stopped for a one night stand. When Mike Love registered, he invited her up to his room after the show “to practice Transcendental Meditation.” Inspirational TM lyric: “Follow sense into infinity/When our day-to-day life flowers and blooms /and I touch reality.”

At the Shrine of the Paper Sun

Meghana Bhat introduces sitar jangle pop.
Now playing: the finest sitar pop instrumental ever waxed courtesy of Ravi’s nephew, Ananda .

Pastor John Rydgren issues a stern warning of the dangers to be found in the garden, simultaneously creating new dimensions in the middle of reality.

The Trees’ original version of Jane Delawney was ranked #1 in an informal poll taken by fellow sitar-heads of “songs that should have included sitar.” #2) “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts, #3) the Bonzo’s “Kama Sutra,” followed by, at #4) either (pick one) “Iron Man” or “Planet Caravan,” with The Kinks “Fancy” rounding out the top five.

Erstwhile Bruce Brown surf instrumentalists The Sandals combine sitars & monster mash.

It’s not The Kinks, but the Smell of Incense is nothing to sniff at and will give you some idea re: #5 above.

One reviewed opined “(Hiromasa Suzuki’s) backward journey along the lights and shadows in search of the musical and cultural sources of mainland Asia, from the gates of India to the roots of China...” To me, it’s an alluring mix of electric piano & sitar, thoroughly intoxicating despite the worst abrupt fade-out encountered in years.

Clark & Marilyn Burroughs were The Joyride. Clark sang tenor with the Hi-Lo’s, a late 50’s- early 60’s vocal group and replaced Curt Boettcher as The Association’s arranger at their insistence. His work for the group commenced with “Windy.”

A Hidden Path Discovered

ILYABT, a collage of snippets from the best sitar film soundtrack. Resistance is useless in the face of Brute Force.

Presenting The Petals and the high-flying mushroom infused folk-rock that made Milwaukee famous.

I’ve not heard sitar-flavored bluegrass but Fit & Limo’s take on The Dead leads me to suspect it might play well.

A longtime Beatle impersonator and Ravi’s lesser-known daughter cover a George b-side.

Brothers released the only non-Mountain/Leslie West album on Windfall records. The album’s cover art would provide a great alternative to Farq’s superb work found on this set.

I’ve excluded a conspicuous number of rare and precious, or popular, sitar gems from this post – no Traffic, no Rolling Stones, Chocolate Watch Band, Vince Donofrio, Alison Gros, John Renbourn, Pentangle, Elmer Gantry, ISB, Donovan, Pretty Things. Boeing Duveen, not even Joe Harriott or the Zodiac Cosmic Sounds. Sorry, maybe next time!

Kudos to Sitarswami for the swell sounds 'n screed!