Today, the sound of Eastern-style music combined with more traditional rock of the West is nothing new.  But back in 1965, it was a completely fresh and exciting sound to Western ears, and we ate it up.  Most fans would point to The Beatles as being the catalyst for this musical shift, and they certainly deserve credit for bringing this style to the masses.  Were they the first? No, not really.

 

The Kinks “See My Friends” is often cited as one of the earliest Western rock songs to incorporate an Indian musical influence. Interestingly, no traditional s were used in the recording, but with droning guitars, chant-like vocals and a rhythmic groove that created a hypnotic feel, it has all the elements of the quintessential “Indian” sound.  As strong as the track is, it was soon overshadowed a few months later when The Beatles released “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” featuring a genuine Indian instrument—something that captured widespread attention. The sound was brought to the band by George Harrison, who’s rudimentary, yet effective sitar playing immediately ushered in a “new” style that others would quickly latch onto.  Of course, Indian music is something Harrison would dabble in for the rest of his life.

 

Within a year of that one recording, you can count dozens of bands that hopped on the sitar-inspired bandwagon.  The Stones’ “Paint It Black”, Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman”, Traffic’s “Hole in My Shoe”, Joe South’s “Games People Play.”  The list goes on and on.  For an interesting listen, check out the original version of The Yardbird’s “Heart Full of Soul” (1966).  Jeff Beck’s stinging lead guitar is the centerpiece of the song but, originally, they recorded it with a sitar taking that lead line.  Let’s just say they made a good production choice switching it to guitar.

 

The influence of Indian styles extended beyond copping a sitar sound here and there.  It started becoming trendy, particularly with West coast bands who would incorporate this “Indian style” into their guitar solos.  Check out John Cipollina from Quicksilver Messenger Service on their track “Who Do You Love” from 1969.

 

But while most bands dabbled with Indian styles here and there on a few tracks, one band went all-in.  Shanti hailed from San Francisco, with two distinct set of musicians: the “Western/rock” artists – vocalist/guitarist Steve Haehl, lead guitarist Neil Seidel, bassist Steve Leach and drummer Frank Lupica joining forces with the “Eastern” musicians — classically trained Indian artist Zakir Hussain (tabla), Pranesh Khan (tabla) and Aashish Khan (Sarod).  Drummer Lupica and vocalist Haehl had formerly spent time in the one-album-wonder band The Travel Agency, while Seidel had toured extensively with Gary Lewis and the Playboys.