Raga rock
Raga rock is rock or pop music with a pronounced Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of Indian musical instruments, such as the sitar, tambura, and tabla. The term "raga" refers to the specific melodic modes used in Indian classical music.
Not to be confused with Reggae rock.Raga rock
- Rock
- rāga
- psychedelic rock
- pop
- other Indian forms of music
Mid-1960s, United Kingdom and United States
The style emerged as part of the psychedelic rock aesthetic in the 1960s.[1] Most raga rock recordings originate from that decade, although there are subsequent examples of Indian-derived sounds in rock and pop music, particularly during the 1990s.
Development[edit]
Definition[edit]
Ragas are specific melodic modes used in the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. The term "raga rock" originated in March 1966 as a description of rock music that featured Indian sitar styling. According to musicologist Jonathan Bellman, citing Lillian Roxon's 1969 book Rock Encyclopedia: "This catchphrase eventually came to describe any Rock song that evoked an Indian or general Oriental mood, whether by use of sitar or another instrument imitating it."[2] Music journalist Rob Chapman says the phrase was a "catch-all term" and "something of a misnomer", since it was often applied to any piece of rock music that "used non-European instrumentation or music styles to denote its exotic qualities".[3]
A major influence on raga rock was the music of Bengali sitarist Ravi Shankar. He himself became a pop music icon in 1966, following the rise of the raga rock trend.[4] Rock's use of elements from the Indian classical tradition included:
1960s[edit]
Early examples[edit]
Music researcher William Echard states that "Heart Full of Soul" by the Yardbirds, which was released in June 1965, "is frequently cited as a key text in starting the trend" towards incorporating Indian-inspired elements in rock music.[9] An Indian sitarist and a tabla player accompanied the Yardbirds on a demo recording of the song, but only the tabla part was deemed usable.[10] Instead, Jeff Beck emulated the sitar figure, tone and accompanying drone on the electric guitar for the master recording.[11] The song reached number 2 on the UK chart[12] and number 9 in the US.[13] According to Chapman, the other record "chiefly credited with introducing raga motifs into Western pop" is the Kinks' July 1965 single "See My Friends", which was another top-ten hit in the UK.[3] Written by Ray Davies and inspired by a visit to India,[14] the song used open-tuned guitars to imitate the drone produced by an Indian tambura.[15][16] Davies' vocal affectations added to the track's Indian quality;[17] in author Peter Lavezzoli's description, "See My Friends" was "the first pop song to evoke an Indian feel".[18] Before either of these examples, the Beatles' April 1965 single "Ticket to Ride", which was number 1 in many countries around the world, featured a melody that author Ian MacDonald terms "raga-like"[19] over a subtle Indian drone produced by electric guitars.[20]
"Heart Full of Soul" and "See My Friends" were both influential on the emerging trend,[21] but according to author Jon Savage, "the first truly mass exposure" was through the Beatles' 1965 film Help!, which included incidental music played by Indian session musicians.[22][nb 1] Writing in 1997, Bellman commented that the Yardbirds and Kinks recordings were often overlooked in discussions of raga rock's origins, as history instead highlighted the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)".[14] Issued in December 1965 on the band's Rubber Soul album, the folk-styled "Norwegian Wood" was the first Western pop song to incorporate the sitar, which was played by lead guitarist George Harrison,[24][25] and the first to feature Indian instrumentation played by a rock musician.[26] The song's popularity inspired a wave of interest in the sitar and Indian sounds, a phenomenon that Shankar later called "the great sitar explosion".[27][28] According to authors Nicholas Schaffner and Bernard Gendron, raga rock was inaugurated by the release of "Norwegian Wood".[29][30][nb 2]
1970s and beyond[edit]
From 1969 and through the early 1970s, the British progressive rock band Quintessence mixed elements of Indian classical music with rock and jazz.[92] Ananda Shankar (a nephew of Ravi Shankar) released his self-titled album in 1970, a raga rock work[93] that blended sitar with Moog synthesizer.[94] Later in the decade, guitarist John McLaughlin and his band Shakti introduced a jazz-influenced version of raga rock over the course of three albums.[95]
In the 1990s, the British indie rock group Cornershop began to assimilate Asian instruments such as the sitar and dholki into their music, culminating with their 1997 album When I Was Born for the 7th Time.[96] The album, which fused Indian music with rock, funk, hip hop and country music, featured the UK number 1 single "Brimful of Asha" (itself a tribute to Indian singer Asha Bhosle) and a cover of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" sung entirely in Punjabi.[96][97] In 1996, the British rock group Kula Shaker had top 10 raga rock hits with "Tattva" and "Govinda", both of which included Sanskrit lyrics. The band continued to introduce raga rock material into their repertoire, including "Song of Love/Narayana", which lead singer Crispian Mills had also sung on the Prodigy's 1997 album The Fat of the Land.[98] The Brian Jonestown Massacre released the albums Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request in 1996 and Give It Back! in 1997, both of which contained Indian and psychedelic rock influences.
Recently, a revival of sorts has been heralded by Western bands such as the Black Angels and the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Indian bands such as the Raghu Dixit Project, Agam and Swarathma, with an increasing blend of Western instruments with the traditional Indian ones – the flute and the sitar.