Artist: Shivkumar Sharma
Album: Call of the Valley
Year: 1967
The Beatles and The Byrds, among other rock bands of the 1960's, shared a fascination with Indian classical music and the sound capabilities of the sitar, incorporating Indian music into their sound with mixed results.
Call of the Valley represents one of the only Indian classical albums to make headway with Western audiences. Shivkumar Sharma was responsible for bringing a musical instrument called the santoor (a relative to the dulcimer) up to classical standards. Other instruments featured on this album are the bansuri, a relative of the flute, and slide guitar. The guitar and flute sound helped to make this album more palatable for Western listeners.
There's absolutely no way I ever would have heard this album if not for this 1001 albums challenge. Never. No way. This album is soooo far removed from what I ordinarily listen to. And yet, believe it or not, I not only liked it, but I can even spot a bit of its influence in some music I listen to. There's no doubt that the droning aspect of Indian classical music has had some effect on various forms of rock. A song like The Dandy Warhols' "Mohammed" certainly could not have existed without the influence of Indian classical.
Overall, this is really relaxing, spellbinding music. Compositions like "Piloo" are really hypnotic, sucking you into their little universes. I will say that after a while, the omnipresent flute gets a little obnoxious. After about 40 minutes I'd enough of this little foray, so the 70-minute running time tested my patience.
Essential listening? Eh. But I can certainly see the appeal of this music. Thumbs up.
Rating: Worth a listen
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