{"id":4416,"date":"2018-07-21T21:16:05","date_gmt":"2018-07-21T15:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=4416"},"modified":"2018-12-30T17:32:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T12:02:02","slug":"musically-yours-songs-of-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/musically-yours-songs-of-1963\/","title":{"rendered":"Musically Yours, 1963"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1971, Shaily Shailendra, the son of lyricist Shailendra, wrote Jab hum honge saathh saal ke aur tum hogi pachpan ki, bolo preet nibhaaogi na tab bhi apne bachpan ki<\/em>, for the multi-generational Kapoor starrer, Kal, Aaj aur Kal<\/em>. And, while that movie and song are not yet 60, the movies of 1963 are “pachpan<\/em>” (55) this year.<\/p>\n

As I turn 55 with them, I look back to nibhao preet<\/em> with the songs of my childhood and their effect on me through the last 55 years.<\/p>\n

I wish I could share 55 songs in honor of that year and its music – tope ki pachpan salaamiyaan<\/em> to 1963!<\/p>\n

Arrey, arrey<\/em>, I was just joking! Let’s limit ourselves to 12 topon ki salaami,<\/em> one for each month of the year!<\/p>\n

Did I just hear some sighs of relief? Now this is a serious compromise, please understand, given that as many as 22 music directors gave quality music that lives on 55 years after it was created.<\/p>\n

This is my personal tribute to 12 music directors who created note-worthy compositions in the year I was born and have definitely had a hand in keeping me music-crazy for the past 55 years. The list is in no particular order. On any given day, the weather, my mood, world news, personal relationships, all these factors and more may influence to make one composer get a slight edge over another, or at least, one composition over another.<\/p>\n

\"hindi<\/p>\n

The World in 1963<\/h2>\n

Since art and history have a close connection. Let’s take a look at what was happening in our world historically in 1963.\u00a0 By and large, it was a year like any other, with the world going through changes in its evolution, with some firsts, and some endings. 1963 saw the first ever flight of the Boeing 727 jet, the opening of the first discotheque in Los Angeles, called Whiskey-a-go-go; the first US female world figure skating champ, Tenley Albright making a splash in sports, while James Whittaker, the first American conquered Mt. Everest, and Valentina Tersehkova a Russian astronaut became the first ever woman in space aboard the Vostok 6.<\/p>\n

Yugoslavia was proclaimed a Soviet Republic; Senegal adopted a new constitution, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran was arrested and the Federation of Malaysia was formed. Hurricane Flora killed 6,000 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, even as a cyclone hit Chittagong and killed approximately 22,000 and racial bomb attacks killed people in Alabama.<\/p>\n

Amid the many happenings in the world, a few events made it to our history books. Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech at Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC and 12 days later 20 black students entered public schools in Alabama for the first time.<\/p>\n

Robert F Kennedy was assassinated approximately three months after establishing the first ever hotline between Washington DC and Moscow and two months after proposing a joint US-Soviet voyage to the moon.<\/p>\n

But what about the music world?<\/strong> <\/em>It was a year that quite changed music forever. While 6-year old Donny Osmond made his singing debut, Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park premiered at New York and The Rolling Stones went on their first tour, it was the Beatles that shook the world, much like the assassination of America’s favorite President, John F Kennedy, shook the western hemisphere. The Beatles released their first album Please Please Me, <\/em>also their first silver disc, and within six months had taken the world by storm, enough to warrant the coinage of the term ‘Beatlemania’.<\/p>\n

To say that the Beatles changed the history of music in an unprecedented way would be to state the obvious. But that they themselves were also, during their career span, inspired by Indian music, composers, instruments, yoga, meditation and spiritual gurus is also well-documented. Of course there was western influence in Hindi film music before the Beatles. Yet, the 60s saw the world opening up and cross-cultural influences become more popular in daily life.<\/p>\n

Hindi Film Music in 1963<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Roshan,

The Music Makers of the Golden Era \u2013 Roshan, Anil Biswas, Hemant Kumar, Mohd. Shafi, Naushad, Jaikishan, C. Ramchandra and Madan Mohan<\/p><\/div>\n

Our Hindi film industry saw many noteworthy musical scores release in 1963. Some never-to-be-forgotten movies. Some giant composers in the evening of their musical journeys, like Hemant Kumar, Husnlal Bhagatram, Madan Mohan, C Ramchandra, and N Datta; while, for some, the sun had just risen on their careers, like Laxmikant Pyarelal. Yet others were enjoying the benevolence of the sun full force by then. Some of these were OP Nayyar, Kalyanji Anandji and Shankar Jaikishan.<\/p>\n

Yet others, like SD Burman, Roshan and Ravi were on a high that year, giving one hit after another. While Roshan won the only Filmfare Award of his career for Taj Mahal<\/em>, and SD Burman gave as many as three completely spectacular and diverse hit albums, perhaps no one else was quite as busy as Ravi was, having 12 releases in that one year!<\/p>\n

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s start, as they say, at the very beginning.
\nThe beginning of the year, 1963.<\/p>\n

C Ramchandra<\/h2>\n
\"Kavi

Kavi Pradeep, Lata Mangeshkar and C Ramchandra (Pic: Google Image Search)<\/p><\/div>\n

On 27th<\/sup> January, 1963, in an unprecedented, never-before, never-after, Live event at the National Stadium in New Delhi, Lata Mangeshkar sang in front of the President and Prime Minister of India. The song was written by Kavi Pradeep, and composed by that maverick, C Ramchandra<\/strong>.\u00a0A day after Republic Day, two months after the end of the Sino-Indian war of 1962, the event had been organized as a fundraiser for the Army Welfare Fund. No one expected this one non-film song to become the rage that it did, except perhaps the lyricist, Kavi Pradeep. In this lyrics-rich nationalist address, the music does what it needs to do, perfectly. It becomes a scaffold, providing a structure in which these emotions may reach their culmination and elicit the required response from listeners.<\/p>\n

At once saluting the jawaans who gave their lives for the safety of their country, invoking feelings of being one under the umbrella called ‘Hindustan’ and claiming her as a collective mother, the song’s lyrics and composition endeared one and all by its inclusivity. 55 years later, one can’t help being moved by this loving tribute to our soldiers and our Motherland.<\/p>\n

Written as a story, with a beginning, Tum bhool na jao unko, issliye suno<\/strong> ye kahaani, <\/em>and end – tum bhool na jao unn ko, issliye kahi<\/strong> ye kahaani, <\/em>the middle of this story was graphic enough to make ordinary civilians appreciate the Armed Forces and their sacrifices.<\/p>\n

\"Lata

Lata Mangeshkar singing Aye mere watan ke logon<\/em> in 1963, as actor Manoj Kumar looks on (Pic: YouTube)<\/p><\/div>\n

Jab ghayal hua Himalay, khatre mein padi azaadi<\/em>
\nJab tak thi saans lade vo, phir apni laash biccha di\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Koi Sikh koi Jaat-Maratha, koi Gurkha, koi Madrasi<\/em>
\nSarhad par marnewaala, har veer tha Bharat-vaasi<\/em>
\nJo khoon gira parbat par, vo khoon tha Hindustani, <\/em>
\nJo shaheed huye hain\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Jab ant-samay aaya to, keh gaye ke ab marte hain<\/em>
\nKhush rehna desh ke pyaaron\u2026ab hum to safar karte hain<\/em>
\nKya log the vo deewane, kya log the vo abhimaani<\/em>
\nJo shaheed huye hain unki zara yaad karo qurbaani\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Ending with an emotionally charged, spectacular salute to Jai Hind, Jai Hind ki sena!<\/em> Even as the music first revs up and then slows down, fading away to a whisper.<\/p>\n

Aye mere vatan ke logon<\/em><\/strong> – <\/em>(at the National Stadium, New Delhi, 27 Jan, 1963) C Ramchandra \/ Kavi Pradeep \/ Lata Mangeshkar\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n