washerman's dog: Sunil Ganguly

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Unknown Celebrity: Sunil Ganguly

From the opening glassy tingles of Om Shanti Om, ace Indian electric guitarist, Sunil Ganguly, lets his listeners know that he has come for one thing only. To swing.

The course was pretty much pre-determined by the record label: Bollywood hits only thank you. Nothing adventurous, please, we are the Titans of Indian Industry.

Within that straight jacket however, Sri Ganguly from Tripura and latterly, Calcutta, manages to demonstrate his skills as guitarist and arranger. His tone is always crystal clear and his fingers never fearful of pushing out the vibrato so vital to Hawaiian electric guitar. With the tabla he mixes gentle string quartets and on the more up-tempo numbers, like the opener, tosses in electric organ and horns to make everything as cool as a plate of faluda on a July’s morning. On Hari Om Hari Sunil seems to be truly playing from outerspace with all sorts of weird mechanical squeals bubbling through the ether.

His selection of Swinging Hits is top notch too. The rocking Laila O Laila (Qurbani) one of Indian cinema’s early disco megahits. Two plaintive Kishore Kumar (a fellow Ganguly) hits Choo Kar Mere Man ko (Yaarana) and Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna soar to new heights of melancholy and longing.

Sadly, people like Ganguly remained largely anonymous to the public. Their music was everywhere: cinemas, skating rinks, swanky restaurants and airline departure lounges. But the man himself was known by name only to those in the elite circle of musicians in Bombay and Calcutta. You don’t make a living from pop music in India. You are wealthy and then pursue your passion, which in a very Hindu way also meant (in that age of quaint innocence) eschewing unseemly attributes of celebrity like screaming teens and fan clubs.

Enjoy!

Track Listing:

01 Om Shanti Om

02 Hamen Tumse Pyar Kitna

03 Shisha Ho Ya Dil Ho

04 Choo Kar Mere Man Ko

05 Salamat Rahe Dostana

06 Hari Om Hari

07 John Jani Janardhan

08 Yaad Aa Rahi Hai

09 Maar Gai Mujhe Teri Judai

10 Laila O Laila

11 Bhor Bhaye Panchh

12 Yamma Yamma

here

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Intermission at Picture Palace: Sunil Ganguly

Every Saturday morning between the age of 10 and 17, during the school year, my friends and I would hike down through the bazar of Mussoorie, (Queen of Hills, as the Indian Tourism Promotion Board used to refer to this once grand Raj hill station) and see a movie. An old American or English action picture at Rialto. The latest Rajesh Khanna melodrama at Picture Palace.

Waiting for the film to start

As we waited for the film to start and at intermission the cinema’s management would put on a record of some pop music, more often than not the same record played over and over for several months at a time. Cliff Richards was popular as was, in the early 70s, The Ballad of John and Yoko.

Another sound that caressed our ears was a sweet Hawaiian guitar that sounded both foreign and Indian, contemporary and timeless. Cool and slightly weird. I never knew who this was, and at the time, who cared? It was just music holding our attention until the lights dimmed and John Wayne or Richard Burton or Dev Anand lit up the screen.

As Fate would have it that strange, alluring ‘Intermission’ sound has come back to me by way of a record I picked up recently from a new old friend in Allahabad. The music was that of the electric guitarist Sunil Ganguly, another unsung hero of Indian pop music.

Born (1940) in the far-eastern Indian State of Tripura, Ganguly, studied singing and classical music with various Pandits before settling on his instrument of choice, the electrified Hawaiian guitar. At a time when such instruments were exotic and hardly mainstream, Ganguly, developed a style of playing the instrument that was highly influential. Many Indian guitarists, including Brijbhusan Kabra, Van Shipley and others credit Ganguly with being a huge influence. And indeed, if you are familiar at all with Indian guitar playing prior to the cassette-led music revolution of the early 1980s you’ll agree that Ganguly’s modus has come to define the genre.

As with all popular music artists he had to play covers and interpretations of popular Hindi film songs but Ganguly also brought his foundations in classical Hindustani music to the instrument and made several recordings of Indian classical music.

This record, shared tonight, is a rare treat and has one of the best titles of all time: Sunil Ganguly Plays Reminiscental Melodies of Lata Mangeskhar from Hindi Films.

Ganguly’s music has been followed by a small cult of collectors and music lovers over the years and most recently, he has featured on an excellent compilation by Sublime Frequencies called Bollywood Steel Guitar. However, full original recordings of his are difficult to locate. It is another wonderful star of the glittering Indian universe of popular music. An LP issued in 1975 with, one wonders, what audience in mind? The artwork is appealing. Sunil's name all mod colours and a slightly off kilter photo perspective of what looks like an early Moog Synthesizer. Where is the electric guitar? Apparently, there were more than cinema hall managers who liked this sort of music!

I love it!

So crack open a packet of mango papad, sip on your Fanta, sit back and let the lights dim. Ladies and gentlemen, the unique, sublime guitar musings of Tripura’s Sunil Ganguly.