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*"Three Kingfishers" by [[Donovan]]
*"Three Kingfishers" by [[Donovan]]
*"[[Paint It, Black]]" and "Gomper" by [[The Rolling Stones]]
*"[[Paint It, Black]]" and "Gomper" by [[The Rolling Stones]]
*"Om" by [[The Moody Blues]]
*"[[Om (The Moody Blues song)|Om]]" by [[The Moody Blues]]
*"[[Behind the Sun (song)|Behind the Sun]]" by [[Red Hot Chili Peppers|The Red Hot Chili Peppers]]
*"[[Behind the Sun (song)|Behind the Sun]]" by [[Red Hot Chili Peppers|The Red Hot Chili Peppers]]
*"[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]" by [[The Velvet Underground]]
*"[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]" by [[The Velvet Underground]]
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* [[Sitar in popular music]]
* [[Sitar in popular music]]
* [[Ravi Shankar]]
* [[Ravi Shankar]]
* [[Hippie]]
* [[Psychedelic music]]
* ''[[Charanjit Singh (musician)#Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat|Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat]]''
* ''[[Charanjit Singh (musician)#Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat|Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat]]''


Revision as of 08:08, 22 June 2012

Raga rock
Stylistic originsRock, pop, rāga and other Indian forms of music
Cultural originsMid-1960s, United Kingdom and United States
Typical instrumentsGuitar, bass, drums, sitar, tabla, tambura, electric sitar
Derivative formsIndian rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, psychedelic pop

Raga rock is a term used to describe rock or pop music with a heavy Indian influence, either in its construction, its timbre, or its use of instrumentation, such as the sitar and tabla. More recently the term has been adopted by scholars describing British rock music from the 1960s and 1970s that utilizes South Asian musical materials and instruments and Western ideas of South Asia.

The term as commonly used does not refer to a specific genre of music, but rather as a general descriptor for any sort of rock significantly influenced by Indian classical music. Since Indian influences are primarily limited to 1960s rock, the term is most frequently used to refer to certain sounds from that decade, although heavily Indian-derived sounds are found in some post-1960s rock.

Development

The Byrds at a "raga rock" press conference in March 1966.

Ragas are specific melodic modes used in classical music of South Asia. Thus, any rock songs with obvious Indian influences may be deemed "raga-rock" although the term is frequently used to refer to much more explicitly Indian musical outings. The advent of raga rock is often traced to the July 1965 release of "See My Friends", a Top 10 single for The Kinks in the UK, although The Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul", released the previous month, featured a sitar-like riff by guitarist Jeff Beck.[1][2] The Byrds' March 1966 single "Eight Miles High" and its B-side "Why" were also influential in originating the musical subgenre. Indeed, the term "raga rock" was coined by The Byrds' publicist in the press releases for the single and was first used in print by journalist Sally Kempton in her review of "Eight Miles High" for The Village Voice.[3][4] However, in his 1968 Pop Chronicles interview, Byrds member Roger McGuinn denied that "Eight Miles High" was in fact raga rock.[5] The Paul Butterfield Blues Band further elevated the concept of Indian influenced rock music with a 13 minute instrumental titled "East-West", which became the title track of their 1966 album, East-West.[6]

The Beatles' song "Norwegian Wood", which first appeared on the band's 1965 album Rubber Soul, was the first western pop song to actually incorporate the sitar (played by lead guitarist George Harrison).[2][7] Harrison's interest in Indian music, popularized the genre in the mid-1960s with songs such as "Love You To" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" (Revolver, 1966),[8][9] "Within You Without You" (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)[10] and "The Inner Light" (released in 1968 as the B-side of the "Lady Madonna" single).[11]

In the early 1970s, the British progressive rock band Quintessence began to mix elements of Indian classical music with rock and jazz.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] The album, which fused Indian music with rock, funk, hip hop and country music, featured the UK #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.[14][15] In 1996, the British rock group Kula Shaker released the multiplatinum album K, which featured Top 10 raga rock hits including "Tattva" and "Govinda", both of which included Sanskrit lyrics. Kula Shaker reformed in 2005 after a hiatus of some years, and have since been touring in Britain, Europe and Japan, introducing new material including the raga rock "Song of Love/Narayana".[16]

Orientalism

Some scholars approach raga rock and other uses of non-Western musical materials in Western popular music from sociological perspectives, especially as a manifestation of Orientalism. Common themes include drug use, sexual exploration, and spirituality. Jonathan Bellman writes that "the Kinks use of eastern musical influences to allude to personal and sexual matters is directly in keeping with historical uses of exoticism as signifier for forbidden sexuality." [17] Bellman and other scholars suggest that the Orient once again becomes a Western fantasy land, mediated to mass culture audiences of the mid and late twentieth century through Rock and Roll.

A list of examples

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Miller, Andy. (2003). The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (33⅓ series). Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 3. ISBN 0-8264-1498-2.
  2. ^ a b Bellman, Jonathan. (1997). The Exotic in Western Music. Northeastern. p. 297. ISBN 1-55553-319-1.
  3. ^ Bellman, Jonathan. (1997). The Exotic in Western Music. Northeastern Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 1-55553-319-1.
  4. ^ Hjort, Christopher. (2008). So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star: The Byrds Day-By-Day (1965-1973). Jawbone Press. p. 88. ISBN 1-906002-15-0.
  5. ^ "Pop Chronicles: Show 35 - The Rubberization of Soul: The Great Pop Music Renaissance". University of North Texas. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  6. ^ Lavezzoli, Peter. (2007). The Dawn of Indian music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 158. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3.
  7. ^ Lewisohn, Mark. (1989). The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. The Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 63. ISBN 0-600-55784-7.
  8. ^ Lavezzoli, Peter. (2007). The Dawn of Indian music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 293. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3.
  9. ^ Lavezzoli, Peter. (2007). The Dawn of Indian music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 0-8264-2819-3.
  10. ^ Hyder, Rehan. (2004). Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene. Ashgate Publishing Limited. p. 59. ISBN 0-7546-4064-7.
  11. ^ Pedler, Dominic (2003). The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. London: Omnibus Press. p. 524. ISBN 978-0-7119-8167-6.
  12. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Quintessence Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  13. ^ Huey, Steve. "John McLaughlin Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  14. ^ a b Hyder, Rehan. (2004). Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene. Ashgate Publishing Limited. p. 7. ISBN 0-7546-4064-7.
  15. ^ Gopinath, Gayatri. (2005). Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures. Duke University Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-8223-3513-1.
  16. ^ Hyder, Rehan. (2004). Brimful of Asia: Negotiating Ethnicity on the UK Music Scene. Ashgate Publishing Limited. p. 62. ISBN 0-7546-4064-7.
  17. ^ Bellman, Jonathan (15:1 1997). "Indian Resonances in the British Invasion 1965-1968". Journal of Musicology: 116–136. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Williams, Paul. (2002). The Crawdaddy! Book: Writings (and Images) From the Magazine of Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 101. ISBN 0-634-02958-4.

External links

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