Description
180-gram vinyl. A lost classic: Ravi Shankar and George Harrison's Shankar Family & Friends
Weds Eastern and Western music! Sourced from the original master tape
1/4" / 15 ips analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe
Limited to 3,000 numbered copies
Produced by George Harrison, Shankar Family & Friends is an almost-forgotten masterwork — an emotional and sonic pact on which two like-minded souls unite musical styles, cultures, and sounds in wondrous fashion. It's also the second album Harrison's Dark Horse Records released, setting the tone for the label and precedent for a friendship that lasted the remainder of Harrison's life.
Sourced from the original analog tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180-gram LP presents the album in restored sound that illustrates the beauty of the playing, compositions, and chemistry. Yet it does so much more in the transparent way it showcases the textures, spiritualism, and breadth of compositions primarily recorded by Harrison, Shankar, and an array of distinguished guests at A&M Studios. The inviting aura, generous spaciousness, and well-defined tonalities on this pressing combine to take the music to transcendent heights. Then there's the brilliant playing itself.
Memorable contributions from an A-list of American and English musicians — Ringo Starr (drums), David Bromberg (electric guitar), Billy Preston (organ), Nicky Hopkins (piano), Jim Keltner (drums), Klaus Voorman (bass), Robert Margouleff (Moog), Malcolm Cecil (Moog), Tom Scott (saxophone) included — add to the richness of a set that melds Eastern and Western traditions. These "names" mesh with a host of Indian virtuosos — Alla Rakha, Ashish Khan, Kamala Chakravarty, Hariprasad Chaurasia included — who turn Shankar Family & Friends into a journey laced with percussive, string, and vocal components that aren't soon forgotten.
Throughout, Shankar Family & Friends remains true to its title — a mesmerizing record named to reflect the group participation approach of its creators. The idea started when Shankar told Harrison about a ballet he wrote. The Beatle, who first met Shankar in June 1966 — roughly a year after Harrison became interested in Indian music after overhearing it in a restaurant while filming Help! — immediately was convinced they needed to record it. Harrison's staunch admiration of Shankar and serious approach to Eastern styles are reflected throughout the album.
