While this certainly wasn’t the most popular record to come from the Classic ISKCON era, it was the first and was the reason for all of the other records.

Neither the devotees nor Srila Prabhupada sought out a record deal or seemed to give much thought to recording. But around Christmas time in 1966, a record producer, Alan Kallman, read an article in the East Village Other about the devotees.

Kallman isn’t someone who I can trace. He owned Ribbon Records in the late 50’s and early 60’s. They didn’t really have any hits. By the mid 60’s, according to a letter from Srila Prabhupada to a “Mr. Fulton,” Alan Kallman owned Pixi Records.

He decided to drop by 26 2nd Ave in New York City (the first Hare Krishna temple) to see for himself.

Back to Godhead Magazine did a great write up on the recording of this in a 1981 issue. It was later used in the Lila-mrta. Here are some clips of that.

Alan phoned Prabhupada to propose that he make a record of the chanting. But it was Brahmananda who answered the phone, and he gave Alan an appointment with the Swami that evening. So again Alan and his wife went down to the East Village, which to them was the neighborhood where things were happening. If you wanted to have some excitement, you went down to the East Village.

When they entered the Swami’s room, he was seated at his typewriter, working. As soon as Alan mentioned his idea about making a record, Prabhupäda was interested. “Yes,” he said, “we must record. If it will help us distribute the chanting of Hare Krsna, then it is our duty.” They scheduled the recording for two weeks later, in December, at the Adelphi Recording Studio near Times Square. Alan’s wife was impressed by how enthusiastically the Swami had gotten to the point of making the record: “He had so much energy and ambition in his plans.”

From Hare Krishna Explosion by Hayagriva das:

The night before the recording session, a guest appears at Matchless Gifts with a wooden drum resembling a mridanga—a two-headed Bengali clay drum used in Vaishnava kirtans and reportedly designed by Lord Chaitanya Himself. Swamiji spots it from the dais. Quickly the drum is in his lap, and he is playing it expertly. Everyone looks up, surprised. For us, the sounds seem to come from faraway Bengal, or, perhaps, from other planets, so strange are the rhythms and sweet the echoes.

“We must have this drum for tomorrow’s recording,” Swamiji says, and Brahmananda convinces the owner to lend us the drum for the recording session.

Brahmananda: Swamiji began to play, and his hands were just dancing on the drum. Everyone was stunned that Swamiji knew how to do this. All we had seen was the bongo drum, so I thought it was the proper Indian drum. But when this two-headed drum came out of nowhere and Swamiji started playing it like a master musician, it created an ecstasy a hundred times more than the bongo drum had. (From SPL)

It was a cold December night. The Swami, dressed in his usual saffron dhoti, a tweed overcoat, and a pair of gray shoes (which had long since replaced his original white, pointy rubber ones), got into Rupanuga’s VW van with about fifteen of his followers and their instruments and started for the recording studio.

They recorded at Adelphi Recording Studio in Times Square. Hayagriva’s book gives a short paragraph about the recording. Satsvarupa’s book gives us a bit more detail. There were about fifteen devotees with various instruments including a harmonium loaned to them by Allen Ginsberg.

Prabhupada sat on a mat in the center of the studio, while the engineers arranged the microphones and assigned each devotee a place to sit according to his particular instrument. They asked for only two pairs of karatalas and they approved of the pairs of rhythm sticks, but they wanted several devotees clapping their hands. Rupanuga’s usual instrument was a pair of brass Indian bells with the tongues removed, and when the engineer saw them, he came over and said, “Let me hear that.” Rupanuga played them, and they passed. Since Ravindra Svarupa would be playing the drone on the harmonium, he sat apart with his own microphone, and Kirtanananda also had a microphone for the tamboura. (From SPL)

Srila Prabhupada and the devotees seem to have performed live in the studio for this one. On subsequent records, they seem to have recorded in tracks. There’s a video of some devotees explaining to Srila Prabhupada (almost treating him like he’s a child – which never really sat well with me) that they can do multi-track recording. The idea was new to him – the only other time he recorded was live in the studio.

The first take didn’t go so well because Brahmananda was clapping too loudly. But on the second take, it all came together.

After a few rounds of the mantra, the devotees began to feel relaxed, as though they were back in the temple, and they were able to forget about making mistakes on the record. They just chanted, and the beat steadied into a slightly faster pace. The word hare would come sometimes with a little shout in it, but there were no emotional theatrics in the chorus, just the straight response to the Swami’s melody. Ten minutes went by. The chanting went faster, louder and faster-Swamiji doing more fancy things on the drum, until suddenly… everything stopped, with the droning note of the harmonium lingering.

Alan came out of the studio: “It was great, Swami. Great. Would you like to just go right ahead and read the address now? Or are you too tired?” With polite concern, pale, befreckled Alan Kallman peered through his thick glasses at the Swami. Swamiji appeared tired, but he replied, “No, I am not tired.” Then the devotees sat back in the studio to watch and listen as Prabhupada read his prepared statement. (From SPL)

After reading it, the producer tells Srila Prabhupada that they have about ten more minutes on side two to fill. He asks Srila Prabhupada if he is tired. Prabhupada says that he isn’t and they start to chant again. This time he sang what was titled on the album as “Chant to the Mercy of the Spiritual Master.” We know it as “The Samsara Prayers.”

After the song, which was done in one take, Srila Prabhupada said, “Now we are tired.” The night was over. However, as the studio engineer replayed the take, Srila Prabhupada stood up and started to dance to the song the devotees and he had just recorded.

“Now you have made your best record,” Swamiji told Mr. Kallman as he left the studio for the freezing Manhattan evening. Swamiji got into the front seat of the Volkswagen bus while “The Hare Krsna Chanters” climbed into the back with their instruments, and Rupanuga drove them back home, back to the Lower East Side. (From SPL)

I’m not sure when the record was formally released. I’m also not sure why it was released on Happening Records (maybe Alan owned them for a time?).

After its release, the record somehow found its way into the hands of George Harrison and John Lennon.

By the time the Hare Krsna movement first came to England in 1969, John and I had already gotten ahold of Prabhupada’s first album, Krsna Consciousness. We had played it a lot and liked it. That was the first time I’d ever heard the chanting of the maha-mantra. – George Harrison

It was because of this album that Harrison produced the Radha Krsna Temple album. And it was because of that album that all of the other records were made. So had it not been for Alan Kallman approaching Srila Prabhupada in 1966, things would have been very different.

Its release was obviously a huge benediction for the newly established Krishna consciousness movement. But it wasn’t until nearly ten years later (March of 1976 in New Dehli, India) that Srila Prabhupada saw any direct royalties from it.

An unexpected visitor turned up in the afternoon: Mr. Alan Kallman from New York. He produced Prabhupada’s first Hare Krsna record in 1966. He arrived with a lady friend, and at long last gave Prabhupada his royalties from the record’s sales. They amounted to about 170,000 rupees, to which he added a personal donation of $2,000. Although not a devotee, it was obvious that he has great admiration and respect for Srila Prabhupada.

And Srila Prabhupada, in turn, was very happy to see him, greeting him as an old friend. He had his guests sit while we fed them sumptuous prasadam. As they ate, Prabhupada chatted very amicably with them and would not let them go until they had eaten everything. He smiled brightly all the while, clearly delighting his guests. He is expert at entertaining and encouraging people to increase their devotional service to the Supreme Lord. (From Hari Sari’s Diary)

At that time (and maybe even now), Kallman still owned the rights to this album. I’m not sure why that mattered, the devotees have bootlegged the George Harrison produced album like crazy. But maybe at this time (1975ish), the devotees had not yet taken to that (though that’s doubtful).

It was because of Kallman owning the rights to this record that Golden Avatar Studios was founded and the devotees started to record themselves.

He [Krsna Kanti dasa, founder of Golden Avatar] also offered to record Srila Prabhupada when he visits Los Angeles this summer. He especially wants to make a recording of Prabhupada chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, since the only other record of him doing this is still owned by Alan Kallman. (from HS)

A few months later Kallman, now back in New York, visited Srila Prabhupada again and gave him a $3000 donation.

-
This record wasn’t the easiest to track town. I don’t know much about how many copies were made or how widely it was distributed, but here it is, in my hands.

Please download it and enjoy.
Haribol!

Download entire album here.

It’s been awhile since I posted a classic ISKCON record. And though Janmastami is a busy time, I thought I’d post it today.

So if you have time, you can download it and play it while you and your family lovingly hang the Janmastami ornaments upon the gentle branches of the Janmastami tree. Let these songs be the Janmastami songs you sing as you bundle up to go Janmastami caroling throughout your neighborhood. And at the end of the day, long after you’ve opened the Janmastami presents, you and yours can burn the annual Janmastami log while the kids gather round the hearth to hear stories of the ghosts of Janmastami past, present and, of course, Janmastami yet to come.

However, I thankfully digress.

Way back in December I found one of the missing links in my collection of Classic ISKCON Records. It was the third release by Radha Krsna Productions, a label that released both Acyutananda Swami AND Hamsadutta Swami records. Maybe they were trying to keep the peace? Or maybe it was just a way to repackage previously released material.

Such was the case with their fourth release, Hare Krsna Festival, a full LP of Hamsadutta’s moaning. And such is sort of the case with their third release, Krsna Meditation. I say “sort of” because I’m mostly assuming it is.

See, I can’t find out what their second release was. No idea. However, their fifth release was a reissue of some of the material from this LP. They even used the same name and same album cover. Lazy, folks!

The fifth release (RKP #1005) took Side One, Disc One along with Side Two, Disc Two of the third release (RKP #1003). Was Side Two, Disc One and Side One, Disc Two of the third release originally released as RKP #1002. No idea, but it would make sense.

Anyway, enough mental speculation.

I love records. I love how huge the artwork is, compared to CDs. And what I love most of all about records are gatefold sleeves. And Radha Krsna Productions’s third release, Krsna Meditations, is a gatefold, double LP set! If my kali-yuga memory serves me well enough, it’s the only gatefold, double LP that was released by devotees.

Radha Krsna Temple (released by Apple Records) was a beautiful gatefold, but only a single LP. This one, well, this one is double. And my copy of it is in unplayed condition.

The center picture is of Srila Prabhupada in the studio with Hamsadutta, Haimavati and, I assume, Cakravarti or Purijit das brahmacari. It makes sense that it would have been taken during this recording session.

Thankfully, Srila Prabhupada sings on all of the tracks. And these are long, beautiful renditions of the tunes. It’s all music, without purport.

Here’s the track list:

Disc One – Side One
1) Prayers to the Six Goswamis

Disc One – Side Two
1) Gaura Pranam
2) Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu

Disc Two – Side One
1) Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna

Disc Two – Side Two
1) Yasomati-nandana
2) Cintamani

And if you like, you can download it here! Happy Janmastami!

Right before moving out of my tiny little apartment in Lewisburg, I stopped posting what I had of the Classic ISKCON Records. It wasn’t because I ran out of records. Nope. I’ve got two more. One that I haven’t listened to yet (no turntable).

But now where I’m set up, I’ve got a turntable and I just purchased an Edirol UA-1EX. This little contraption allows you to hook up a turntable (or anything with RCA cables) up to your computer via a USB port.

But next Ekadasi, I’ll be posting a Srila Prabhupada double LP that I’ll be recording soon enough.

And then one more LP and we’re finished. That is, until I can find one LP that I’m sure exists, but have never been able to track down.

There’s also a 7″ (45rpm) of Visnujana Swami and the Dallas Gurukula that I’ve heard rumors of, but have never seen anywhere.

You can check out my Classic ISKCON Music site and let me know if I’m missing anything. I’m sure I am and really hope to find it someday. If devotees have any vinyl that I don’t have (Oh, and the two weird Hansadutta LPs don’t count, ok?), I’d be interested in hearing about it. Drop me a line.

Today is Ekadasi. It’s also Saturday. On Saturdays, I usually post a Classic ISKCON Tape, but since Ekadasi trumps Saturday, the tape will be posted tomorrow.

Today, we’ve got a record simply entitled Radhagovinda Productions. For those who have been following my Classic ISKCON Vinyl series, you have probably heard most of these songs before. It’s kind of a rehash of songs from three different LPs. There’s not much information on this one. So here it is…

Side One
1) Prayers to the Six Gosvamiso 10:00 – Ah yes, the Six Gosvamisos! This is sung by Srila Prabhupada. This is a shortened version of a cut from Krsna Meditation (Radha Krsna Productions #1005). It would later appear on the Krishna Meditations Tape & CD released by BBT.

2) Van De Haim 16:22 – Fifteen or so minutes of a nice kirtan lead by Hamsadutta. Harmonium, mrdanga and kartals. The assembled devotees and Hamsadutta’s own improvisation accompany him (This originally appeared on Hare Krishna Festival LP HKR #1003).

Side 2
1) Jaya Radha 6:24 – Led by Hamsadutta. This is the same exact recording that was on the Hare Krsna Festival 7″ HKR #2003 (and Hare Krishna Festival LP HKR #1003).

2) Vande Haim 5:25 – Led by Hamsadutta. And this is the same exact recording that was on the Hare Krsna Festival 7″ HKR #2002 (and Hare Krishna Festival LP HKR #1003).

The remainder of these songs were from the Temple Radha Krishna LP.
3) Radha-Madhava 5:02 – Bhagavan dasa leads this soft, yet rocking kirtana style rendition of this daily-sung song. It’s got a harmonium, a mrdanga and a few kartals. Quite a fun track. It’s one that really makes this album great.

4) Kesava Kali Mala 5:21 – And Acyutananda Swami is back for what is my favorite song on this album. It’s upbeat and fun. Also from the same session as the first two Acyutananda Swami tracks. Have a listen. It’s fun.

5) Bhaja Bakata 1:50 – Sung by Bhagavan dasa, this is a quick clip of Gaura-arati played on the harmonium from the same session as track four. For some reason it slides right into the next track:

6) Hare Krsna 3:20 – A kirtana led by Yogesvara dasa. I’m not sure why the did the slide. This is a too short, but fun kirtana with a cute female voice in the background yelling “Hare Hare!” Yogesvara dasa’s voice is great. I wish there were kirtanas of his floating around.

7) Hare Krsna 2:22 – This is weird and almost trance-like. Bhagavan dasa’s voice is soft and slow, followed by a harmonium. The kartals and the mrdanga are playing a much faster beat, in double-time. There’s also there are a few conchs blowing in the back ground. A great way to end another great album.

Click to download. 83MB
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*Note – I have preserved the spelling of the songs as it appeared on the label. Yes, “Vande Haim” and “Van De Haim” were both spelled like that. As was “Gosvamiso.” Pretty exciting, huh?

Hello, Ekadasi. Didn’t see ya standin’ there.

And boy howdy do I have a treat for you! We’ve got TWO records today! And a slew of All-Stars as well!

Both releases were by the American Golden Avatar Productions label. I have a feeling that there were more releases than the three that I own, but this is what I’ve got.

For starters, there’s a 7″ (45rpm). It was released in 1975 and produced by Krishnakanti das Adhikary and performed by the “Radha Krishna Temple (Los Angeles)”. The catalog number was GAP 1002. GAP 1001 was the Every Town & Village LP I reviewed a couple of months ago.

Side A – Gopinatha 3:00
The first cut has Agnidev dasa Adhikary on vocals. This may be the earliest Agnidev recording. And it’s really well produced. It’s much higher quality than the European stuff. There’s a guitar, mrdanga, flute, possibly a violin, it’s pretty impressive! The scratchiness at the beginning of the song is from my copy of the record. There’s a huge chunk taken out of it. Go figure.

Side B - Ohe Vaisnava Thakura 3:45
Mangalananda dasa Adhikary takes over vocals for this folk rendition of an ISKCON favorite. It’s mostly vocals and guitar, with faint mrdanga and kartals in the background if you listen carefully.

Not much more to say about it, but it’s certainly a treat.

Let’s move onto the LP…

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that pretty much every devotee has heard this one.

The LP, entitled simply “Govinda,” was also released by Golden Avatar Production. First in 1973 and then (seemingly) rereleased in 1975. I’ve managed to find both of them (lucky me!). The catalog number for both releases was GOPI-108. Because of the obvious “one-offness” of the catalog number, I assumed this was Golden Avatar Productions first release, however, I think Every Town & Village was released before this. So basically, I have no idea.

Srila Prabhupada provides vocals, harmonium and kartalas on all of the songs. It was recorded at Annex Studios in Hollywood, California. Krsnakanti dasa also produced it. The cover of the 1975 version was painted by Pariksit dasa.

Side A
1) Prayers to the Six Gosvamis 13:05
The opening notes have accented many devotee projects, DVDs and videotapes. You’ll recognize it right away. I’ve heard this many times before, but I can’t figure out which CD it’s been released on recently. In addition to Srila Prabhupada’s contribution, this first song features George Ruckert on sarod and Ann Ruckert on Tampoura. They were both from the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music.

2) Gour and Nitai 7:01
On the 1975 release, this song is retitled “Lalsamayi.” This is simply Srila Prabhupada with a harmonium. Again, I can’t figure out which CD this has been released on. Maybe it wasn’t.

Side B
1)Chintamani 9:11
The 1975 release spells it “Cintamani”. Again, it’s Srila Prabhupada on vocals and karatalas. Ann Ruckert plays tampoura as well. This is a really sweet recording, you’d think that the BBT would have released this on one of their CDs, but I can’t find it.

2) Chintamani – text 12:10
Srila Prabhupada nicely explains the purport to the song “Chintamani.” Oddly, this recording showed up on the Vintage Series CDs, Volume 16. The song “Chintamani,” appearing on this LP, however, did not. What gives? I don’t know.

The 1975 release of this LP came with an insert:

And I guess that pretty much does it.

Tune in next Ekadasi for another exciting episode of…
Click here to download them!

Hey baby! I’m a hot link!

It’s true. On Sampradaya Sun, for some reason, my humble (very humble) Classic ISKCON Music site has been linked in their “hot links” section.

I’m not really sure if anyone will visit from there, but it’s pretty nifty.

Speaking of Classic ISKCON Music, I’ve got seven or eight records to go to complete the listing of everything I have. That’s about four months. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it finished by the time I leave for my trip in May.

The tapes will take about ten weeks, so they’ll be finished in less than three months.

And when everything is finally posted, what will I do?

Here’s were I ask you for help.

If you know of other ISKCON records or tapes (excluding the strange Hamsadutta records from the 80’s) that I don’t have listed on my site, please let me know, ok? I know there are more records out there. And I know there are a ton of other tapes out there. So if you know of any, or better yet, have any – please let me know, ok?

Oh, as far as the tapes go, I only have KT-1 though KT-20 – I’m missing anything that comes afterwards. I also have recordings of SB-1 & SB-2.

Please help?

Edit – Here’s a link to the list of records that I have. Anything not on this list is what I need.
Click.

Edit – I had the wrong link. Sorry, sorry. You’ll enjoy this one.

Remember on the Addams Family, how Gomez would be driven mad when Morticia would say something in French? Well that’s how I am with French-devotee produced albums. So far I’ve found two and I love them both.

The first was covered early on. It’s Temple Radha Krishna, one of my favorites ever. This one, released by the same label, Productions Parampara, is nearly as good.

Unlike many of the other records, there’s nothing weird or overly mysterious about this release. I have two copies of it and it’s obvious that they’re different pressings, but nothing too wacky.

The pressing from Holland has a purple stripe around the cover image. The French one has a blue stripe. Holland’s comes with an insert:

While France’s (at least my copy of it) didn’t.

The rear cover of the French pressing is slightly different, leaving off the descriptions of the pictures.

The Holland label is a very pale yellow with “Made in Holland” at the bottom of it. The French label is a bright yellow. I’ll show you both, don’t worry.

The vinyl itself on the Holland pressing is pretty thin. The vinyl on the French is pretty thick. It’s obviously pressed at a different plant.

Again, I really have no clue why Holland and France released their own editions. They both have the same catalog number: RPI 102. Temple Radha Krishna is RPI 101.

Let’s have a run down, shall we?

Kant A / Face A
1) Sri Rupa Manjari (6′30″) par Kausalya dasi
A beautiful flute and sitar accompany the beautiful voice of Kausalya dasi. I’ve never heard of her before, but she’s got a great voice. This is a pretty mellow piece.

2) Manasa deha geha (5′) par Manibandha das
The first of two Manasa deha geha’s. This is slow, but kind of funky too. There’s definitely a bit of swank going on here. Especially with the bass guitar and the chimes. The flute is back and that adds to the swankiness.

3) Baja hunre mana (5′) par Achyutananda Swami
It’s Achyutananda Swami! There’s some pretty steady sitar work going on here. This is very Indian. Even more so than Achyutananda Swami’s bhajans usually are. Good, of course.

4) Gopinatha (4′30″) par Manibandha das
Very slow and mellow. There’s a great rolling rhythm to this. Something very bassie about it. Maybe it’s the bass guitar. There’s a lot going on here. I really dig this.

Kant B / Face B
1) Srita kamala (4′30″) par Kausaya dasi
Back with Kausaya dasi! A very sweet voice, twice overdubbed. It’s quite nice.

2) Kesava kali mala (3′20″) par Achyutananda Swami
Hey now! This is just funky! Totally worth the price of admission right here. It’s nearly Bollywood in its swankiness. Is that a bongo drum I hear? No idea, but it’s great. And yet again with the funky flute. Please listen to this. There are maracas!

3) Manasa deha geha (7′30″) par Kausalya dasi
Kausalya dasi gives Manasa deha geha a try. This is very mellow. Almost menacing with the odd placement of the bass guitar. But it works.

4) Hare Krsna kirtana (4′30″) les bhaktas assembles
Let’s all get together and chant Hare Krishna! Kausalya dasi leads and everyone follows. This is the same melody that’s used on the Radha Krishna Temple.

And if you like, click here to to download.