1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die - #103. Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia - Call Of The Valley (1967)

Shivkumar Sharma, Brijbushan Kabra and Hariprasad Chaurasia - Call Of The Valley (1967)

Label – EMI Hemisphere
Producer – G.N. Joshi
Art Direction – Uncredited
Nationality –India
Running Time – 39:06

Track Listing (standout tracks listed in bold)

1. Ahir Bhairav/Nat Bhairav
2. Rag Piloo
3. Bhoop
4. Rag Des
5. Rag Pahadi

Here we have an interesting record, one of Indian music by artists Shivkumar Sharma, guitarist Brijbhushan Kabra, and flutist Hariprasad Chaurasia titled “Call of the Valley”. In 1967, the concept behind this album was as revolutionary as much as it was traditional. It is conceived as a suite, and they used their instruments to tell the story of a day in the life of a shepherd in Kashmir using Indian ragas associated with various times of the day to advance the story. The use of acoustic guitar alongside the Indian instruments was considered a breakthrough and made it appeal to more people at the time. Name dropping of the record by George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Crosby and Roger McGuinn at the time didn’t hurt either!! It has been stated, if the newcomer buys only one Indian music recording, it should be “Call of the Valley.”
I’ve never been a huge Indian music fan – but have heard my share of it thanks to Mr Harrison – especially from Ravi Shankar. This doesn’t seem to be to different from his works, and while not an earth shattering piece of music, it was very pleasant and I did enjoy listening to it. And never once thought – man I wish this would end!! I found it quite accessible and beautifully performed. Recommended.

You Tube has disabled embedding on this one by request of the artists. It can be viewed here.
You can purchase the CD here.