''Call of the Valley'' is a

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

album, recorded and released in 1968 on the label

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

. Conceived as a suite, the instrumental album follows a day in the life of an Indian shepherd from Kashmir, using

ragas A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as a ...

associated with various times of the day to advance the dramatic narrative. Brij Bhushan Kabra plays slide guitar,

Shivkumar Sharma Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Ha ...

plays the

santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...

, and

Hariprasad Chaurasia Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian music director and classical flautist, who plays the bansuri, in the Hindustani classical tradition. Early life Chaurasia was born in Allahabad (1938) (officially called Prayagraj) in the I ...

plays the flute and bansuri, with

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

played by Manikrao Popatkar. The atmospheric music is traditional, but the innovative use of guitar and flute make the sound more acceptable for Western audiences. Most of the artists were about 30 at the time of recording. ''Call of the Valley'' helped to introduce Indian music to Western ears and became the best selling Indian music album worldwide, becoming a milestone in world music. The artists became well known after the album's release. Beatles

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and George Harrison,

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

members

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...

and

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician. He is best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the Byrds. As a ...

, and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

are fans of the album.DIMERY, Robert. ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

'', Quintet Publishing Limited, London, 2005, page 126.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

reviewer Ken Hunt advises that "If the newcomer buys only one Indian classical recording, it should be "''Call of the Valley''"." It is listed in the book ''

''.

Track listing

# Ahir Bhairav/Nat Bhairav - 12:35 # Rag Piloo - 07:58 # Bhoop - 06:16 # Rag Des - 06:09 # Rag Pahadi - 06:48 The remastered edition on hEMIsphere has three bonus tracks. # Ghara-Dadra (Bonus Track 1) - 07:25 # Dhun-Mishra Kirwani (Bonus Track 2) - 12:58 # Bageshwari (Bonus Track 3) - 10:46

References

External links

*
Call of the Valley
' on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

The Dawn of Indian classical music in the West, page 32-33
{{Authority control 1967 albums EMI Records albums Hariprasad Chaurasia albums Brij Bhushan Kabra albums Shivkumar Sharma albums