Post by pledm on Dec 22, 2009 5:42:20 GMT -5
Ravi Shankar Resented the Beatles for Making Him a Pop Star
The world-renowned composer–labeled the "Godfather of World Music" by George Harrison – said he resented the attention from people who were too stoned to appreciate his music.
In an interview with an Indian television channel, Shankar, now frail at 89, said he enjoyed their company at first but quickly tired of everything associated with the Sixties music scene.
"All four came. All of them were very sweet but George was so special. He would corner me and ask me about the relation between spirituality and music, religion and music," he said. "He met me a few times and then I started teaching him. And that news spread all over. That did help me. When people say that George Harrison made me famous, that is true in a way."
"Then what happened was that I became a pop star all of a sudden. All young people, bearded, long hair, wearing beads and not normal. They would behave like Naga sanyasis [cannabis-smoking holy men] if they were permitted. And I was not happy at all. I would tell George, 'What have you done?'," he added.
Shankar taught Harrison to play the sitar shortly after they met in 1966 and went on to influenced other bands including the Byrds and the Rolling Stones. Although he has talked of his disapproval of the 1960s culture before, his latest comments reveal his resentment for acts like The Who and Jimi Hendrix, who smashed-up their instruments, and the role of the Beatles in fueling the drugs culture.
He refused to follow The Who on stage at the Montreal Pop Festival. "I saw them kicking the instruments, burning the guitars and doing obscene things," he said. "It was all drugs and nobody normal there – the audience or the people on stage. I said I was cancelling my programme."
He also described his shock when he arrived at the Woodstock during the first "Summer of Love" to find thousands of fans "stoned" and rolling in the mud. "It was raining, there was mud all over. And who was listening to music? They were all stoned. Completely stoned. And they were enjoying it," he said.
"What I was not happy about was that though they gave me all the adoration and I was like a pop star. They all would sit down and say, 'Tell us guru'. And I said, I am not your guru."
"You know it was a strange situation, at that time I found such talent but there were those dumb ones too. But they all were into drugs and that is what I objected to." But while he resented the fame and adulation, he said he could not resist the "free love". His tangled personal life includes two official marriages and other relationships from which he has three children including the Grammy-winning country-blues star Norah Jones.
Despite his rejection of the Western-style celebrity his connection with the Beatles brought him, he remained close friends with George Harrison and Paul McCartney, he said.
The world-renowned composer–labeled the "Godfather of World Music" by George Harrison – said he resented the attention from people who were too stoned to appreciate his music.
In an interview with an Indian television channel, Shankar, now frail at 89, said he enjoyed their company at first but quickly tired of everything associated with the Sixties music scene.
"All four came. All of them were very sweet but George was so special. He would corner me and ask me about the relation between spirituality and music, religion and music," he said. "He met me a few times and then I started teaching him. And that news spread all over. That did help me. When people say that George Harrison made me famous, that is true in a way."
"Then what happened was that I became a pop star all of a sudden. All young people, bearded, long hair, wearing beads and not normal. They would behave like Naga sanyasis [cannabis-smoking holy men] if they were permitted. And I was not happy at all. I would tell George, 'What have you done?'," he added.
Shankar taught Harrison to play the sitar shortly after they met in 1966 and went on to influenced other bands including the Byrds and the Rolling Stones. Although he has talked of his disapproval of the 1960s culture before, his latest comments reveal his resentment for acts like The Who and Jimi Hendrix, who smashed-up their instruments, and the role of the Beatles in fueling the drugs culture.
He refused to follow The Who on stage at the Montreal Pop Festival. "I saw them kicking the instruments, burning the guitars and doing obscene things," he said. "It was all drugs and nobody normal there – the audience or the people on stage. I said I was cancelling my programme."
He also described his shock when he arrived at the Woodstock during the first "Summer of Love" to find thousands of fans "stoned" and rolling in the mud. "It was raining, there was mud all over. And who was listening to music? They were all stoned. Completely stoned. And they were enjoying it," he said.
"What I was not happy about was that though they gave me all the adoration and I was like a pop star. They all would sit down and say, 'Tell us guru'. And I said, I am not your guru."
"You know it was a strange situation, at that time I found such talent but there were those dumb ones too. But they all were into drugs and that is what I objected to." But while he resented the fame and adulation, he said he could not resist the "free love". His tangled personal life includes two official marriages and other relationships from which he has three children including the Grammy-winning country-blues star Norah Jones.
Despite his rejection of the Western-style celebrity his connection with the Beatles brought him, he remained close friends with George Harrison and Paul McCartney, he said.