Continuing our survey of Indian music, we now move to Western musicians who were inspired by it. Or liked it so much they ripped it off. Whichever.
In the late Sixties, there were a number of musicians who became fascinated by spiritual pursuits beyond what they presumably perceived as mainstream religion. Probably most famous is the Beatles’ flirtation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. George Harrison had a deep fascination with both Indian music and religion. He toyed with sitar on “Norwegian Wood” and went further with “Love You To.” Then, with “Within You Without You,” he embraced classical Indian music fully.
Here is the instrumental version of the song, taken from the Anthology 2 collection. Most of these players are anonymous Indian musicians who were brought in for the session. While most of the late Sixties’ flirtation with Indian music sound pretty stupid today, this is still a great song.
Led Zeppelin were fellow countrymen also fascinated with absorbing sounds from former British colonies. In March of 1972, while playing some overseas dates, they stopped off at EMI’s studios in Bombay (now Mumbai) and re-did a couple Zep tracks with the Bombay Symphony Orchestra. Here is a remake of the song “Friends,” from the Led Zeppelin III album. The tracks were never released; I think they’re in the mold of Zep’s other songs, but sounding a little fuller.
Lots of musician faked the sound of Indian music, but these are real Indian musicians on these tracks and I think that’s why these songs hold up today.
The Beatles – Within You, Without You (Instrumental) — BUY
Led Zeppelin & The Bombay Symphony Orchestra – Friends