Under the spiritual guidance of Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the Beatles took a trip to Rishikesh, India, in 1968 to study Transcendental Meditation and set out on a path of profound enlightenment that would change their music…and the world. a documentary called The Beatles And India tells the story in much more depth. A companion 19-song compilation album — The Beatles And India: Songs Inspired By The Film — features several prominent Indian musicians with their own unique interpretations of Beatles songs.
Kiss Nuka’s vocal layering over that distinct drone slips soon under a steady Tabla (which itself soon slips into the machine-like rhythms of what sounds like a ‘beat box’) on “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Elsewhere, A little-too-childlike vocal from Indian singer/songwriter Mali on “Across The Universe” widens the wake on a song John Lennon apparently wrote after an argument with his first wife.
A plucky “Julia,” delivered by Dhruv Ghanekar, gets an almost whispery U2 treatment, while Anoushka Shankar (daughter of sitar master Ravi Shankar) and Karsh Kale fuse sitar and Tabla, giving forth their unique brightness to “The Inner Light.” A completely fun (maybe even more so than the original) “The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill” comes via the six-piece Indian a capella group Ragga Trippin. The sly low vocal here plops the song to a whole other place.
Things get heaviest with a raucous “Revolution” from growling singer Vishal Dadlani and wailing guitarist Warren Mendonsa. This may be the best Beatles-via-Indian-music nugget on this collection. The Beatles And India: Songs Inspired By The Film features some interesting and sometimes very entertaining versions from inspired musicians, paying tribute to the best-known pop songs ever written and recorded.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
