Sitar in popular music
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Beginning in the 1960s, various pop artists began experimenting with the using the sitar in their music.
[edit] Early use of the sitar
Its first known use in a western pop song was in 1965, when The Yardbirds hired a sitar player to provide the main riff of their "Heart Full Of Soul" single. That version and the band's original take of "Shapes Of Things" also featuring the sitar, were however not released at the time.
The Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones used the sitar in "Paint It Black", and "Mother's Little Helper"; he also played the Tambura on "Street Fighting Man". The sitar was used by The Beatles in "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)", "Love You To", "Within You Without You", "The Inner Light", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "Across the Universe" (with Ravi Shankar). Prior to this however, the sitar did appear on the American release of Help!, on an instrumental track called "Another Hard Day's Night" (a medley of "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "I Should Have Known Better"). This track has not been included on modern releases of the album. George Harrison was introduced to the sitar by The Byrds, though this group never featured the instrument on records; guitarist Roger McGuinn used a retuned 12-string guitar to recreate the harmonies of Ravi Shankar (as did Brian Jones on some occasions). Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers used the sitar in their single "Don't Come Around Here No More". A fad for sitars in pop songs soon developed. The late 1960s saw the release of The Monkees' "This Just Doesn't Seem To Be My Day", The Box Tops' "Cry Like A Baby" (electric sitar), The Lemon Pipers' "Green Tambourine" (electric sitar), Traffic's "Paper Sun" and The Kinks' "Fancy". And even Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66 with “Chove Chuva”. Though the craze had died down by 1970, the sound of the sitar had become an indelible part of pop music.
The Dutch band Shocking Blue used the sitar in many of their songs, most prominently in "Love Buzz," "Acka Raga," "Water Boy," "Hot Sand," and "I'm A Woman."
Eric Burdon and the Animals had a Sitar in the songs "Winds of Change" and "Monterey"
Strawberry Alarm Clock would use a sitar in their songs such as "An Angry Young Man" and "Sit with the Guru".
Art-Rock bands such as The Moody Blues used the sitar on a few albums, particularly on the album "In Search of the Lost Chord." The Pretty Things "Defecting Grey" also had a sitar. So did Procol Harum's epic Song "In Held 'Twas In I" on the segment "Glimpses of Nirvana". Even Donovan's hit song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" used a Sitar ([Tamboura])
Other hits with prominent sitar parts include B.J. Thomas "Hooked On a Feeling" and Steve Wonder "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours"
[edit] Use of the sitar by contemporary bands
More recently, the sitar has started to regain some of its prominence in western mainstream music. The late sixties Indian inflected jazz funk track "Mathar" by the Dave Pike Set featuring sitarist Volker Kriegel latterly became a massive club hit when rediscovered in the early 90's. The metal band Metallica used the sitar on "Wherever I May Roam" as well as rival band Megadeth on the song "Secret Place" fromm the album the "Cryptic Writings". Also the Christian hard rock band Blindside on their song Shekina. The Scottish band Belle & Sebastian uses the sitar most notably in their song "Legal Man." Cornershop's album When I Was Born for the 7th Time uses it extensively. The avant-garde rock band Polvo, psychedelic rock bands Kula Shaker, The High Dials, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, and the electronica group Morcheeba all use the sitar in many of their songs. Oasis has used an electric sitar on the song "Who Feels Love?" on the album Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, Incubus used a sitar on the bridge of "Nowhere Fast" on the album Make Yourself. Sitar has also been featured in No Doubt's hit album Tragic Kingdom, and Green Day has also used the instrument on the song "Extraordinary Girl" on American Idiot. System of a Down has also been noted for sometimes using the sitar in their songs, as well as the band Dream Theater in the song "Home" on Scenes from A Memory, however, only as a synthesizer effect. Nightwish has made use of the sitar in The Siren, Creek Mary's Blood and Ghost Love Score, where it is played by Sami Yli-Sirniö, as on albums by Tiamat, Grip Inc., Samael and Waltari. A sitar is prominently featured in Thievery Corporation's "Lebanese Blonde". The band Ra uses the sitar in some if their songs. Jack's Mannequin used a sitar in the choruses and outtro of their song 'Kill The Messenger.' Also, metal band Disturbed uses a sitar in songs such as "Stupify" and "Ten Thousand Fists". The nu-metal pioneers, KoRn, have also used a sitar in the song "Cameltosis", off of their 3rd album, "Follow the Leader". On the new album 'The Hardest Walk', the band The Soledad Brothers use the sitar in their song 'True to Zou Zou'. The last track on Pearl Jam's self-titled album, has a hidden track that appears just 4 seconds after the end of Inside Job, it is Eddie Vedder playing a melody on a sitar. The sitar features prominently in the song "Petrol and Chlorine" by Silverchair. The Cat Empire have also used a sitar in their song "Cities"
Sitarist Anoushka Shankar, daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, composes music in a worldbeat vein.
Also, on a smaller scale, it is also used as a backing synth in "Right Here, Right Now", by Fatboy Slim.
Ricky Martin had a Sitar in his song "She's all I ever had"
The industrial super-group Pigface also uses the sitar on a few songs.
The Japanese band Spitz used the electric sitar on their song "Kimi ga Omoede ni Naru".
The sitar is used extensively by American multi-instrumentalist and singer, Gabby La La. Her solo release, an album called Be Careful What You Wish For..., features her playing the sitar along with several other instruments including the toy piano and the theremin. She has collaborated with well known funk-rock bass player, Les Claypool of Primus, on his solo album Of Whales and Woe as well as on Be Careful What You Wish For.... In the summer of 2006, Gabby La La played sitar for Les Claypool's Fancy Band at numerous jam band music festivals including Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival and Bonnaroo Music Festival. Gabby La La is signed to Les Claypool's record label, Prawn Song.
South African band Firefly makes prominent and unusual use of sitar in the song Falling Rain. The sitar is played by Rex van der Spuy, a student of Ustad Irshad Khan, in a style the band dubs "Country and Eastern". The band takes a completely different approach with the song How? where sitar is used in a psychedelic rock style. "How?" was written by Firefly's lead singer, Zaria, for her siamese cat, Tashijru. Firefly also uses sitar in a similar eclectic vein in their songs "I Want to Know" and "Someday."
