Exact LP repro, 180 gram vinyl.
Originally released in 1970. The covers of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' and 'Light My Fire' (the latter of which itself had borrowed liberally from Eastern motifs in its original hit version) were the most obvious attempts to reach out to the rock audience. It could even be said that hints of Tommy James's massive late-'60s hit 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' could be heard rattling around one of the Shankar-Lewinson collaborations, 'Mamata,' and the bittersweet 'Snow Flower' was perhaps the most psychedelically-inclined of the originals, overlaid with buzzing and fluttering electronics. Yet arguably the best performances on Ananda Shankar were those that emphasized the Indian side of the equation, like the blissed-out 'Metamorphosis' (which managed to fit in some funky drum breaks before accelerating into a mini-raveup) and the 13-minute 'Sagar' -- the latter, according to Shankar's notes, the only selection on the LP played in the Indian classical style. --Richie Unterberger |