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Raga rock

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Raga rock
Stylistic originsRock and roll, rāga and other Indian forms of music
Cultural origins1960s, United States and United Kingdom
Typical instrumentsElectric guitar - Bass guitar - Drums - Sitar - Theremin
Derivative formsPsychedelic rock - Acid rock
Other topics
Indian rock

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 Indian 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 classic 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

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 ten 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. 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.[1][2] 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.[3]

Particularly The Beatles, with especially George Harrison's interest in Indian music, popularized the genre in the mid-1960s with songs such as Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (from 1965's Rubber Soul), Love You To (Revolver, 1966), and Within You Without You (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967).

In the 1970s guitarist John McLaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra introduced a virtuoso version of raga rock, playing to packed houses and releasing instrumental albums that entered the main Billboard charts. McLaughlin has since played with Indian musicians in the instrumental groups Shakti and Remember Shakti.

In the 1990s the British rock group Kula Shaker had a multiplatinum album entitled simply K, which featured Top Ten 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".

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." [4] 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. ^ Bellman, Jonathan. (1997). The Exotic In Western Music. Northeastern Publishing. p. 351. ISBN 1-555-53319-1.
  2. ^ 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 1-90600-215-0.
  3. ^ Lavezzoli, Peter. (2007). The Dawn of Indian music in the West. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 158. ISBN 0-826-42819-3.
  4. ^ 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)
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