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Mehendi Ni Mehendi
EMI, CD Rs. 199; cassette Rs. 65
REMEMBER THE wedding song from the film Monsoon Wedding? That pleasant scene in which Honey Irani and Lilette Dubey cool their heels as the rest of the women let their hair down to pulsating dholki. A remarkable example of cultural continuity that makes a strong case for the resilience of the rich oral traditions of the country. There are hundreds of such wedding songs that are part of the country's rich folk tradition and are often used in Hindi films. But at a time when the music industry is flooded with Punjabi singers who are blending the age-old folk motif with trendy electronic beats to create Punjabi pop and Punjabi rap, an album like Mehndi Ni Mehendi is of great cultural importance. It is an album that traces a tradition back to where it came from while also commenting on what is left of it.
The songs are by Musarrat Nazir, a popular Pakistani actress and a much sought after folk singer of her times. It is Musarrat who has sung the famous "Mera Laung Gawacha", often heard on the radio and in films. In this album, she sings a variety of songs that used to be part of the traditional wedding ceremony. While some of them recreate that typical wedding ambience (at least that which the films have familiarised us with), singing with a big chorus, most others are solo numbers. Musarrat's melodious voice takes you through many numbers, but it gets monotonous after a couple of songs. The elaborate orchestration in most songs even robs it off its authenticity. The sleeve notes are so inadequate that for a non-Punjabi listener, the text makes no sense. One has to listen to it for sheer musical value, which is not so great in this case.
D.G.
Wilson Pickett: The Best Of Wilson Pickett
Atlantic, CD, Rs. 525
LIKE OTIS Redding, Wilson Pickett was another pillar of the early Sixties Atlantic/Stax soul sound, though he projected a more wicked and macho image than Redding's more romantic one. He was born in Prattville, Alabama on March 18, 1941, making him almost an exact contemporary of Redding.
His family relocated from Prattville to Detroit in 1955, and he soon formed a gospel group known as The Violinaires, which worked in the local church circuit. Subsequently, he moved to the Detroit-based Falcons vocal outfit, and following their split, signed onto the Double L record label. Two early entries on the R&B charts in 1963 resulted in If You Need Me and It's Too Late. He switched labels in 1964, and Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler oversaw his relocation to Memphis and subsequent teaming up with the Atlantic/Stax studio band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The resulting track "In the Midnight Hour" (co-written with Steve Cropper, the band's guitarist) yielded Pickett's first big national hit, and features on the CD under review. More hits followed over the next decade with Atlantic, including a cover of the Beatles's "Hey Jude" which charted in both the U.S. and U.K. in 1969.
In 1973 Pickett signed with RCA and did a few sides for his own newly launched Wicked recording label. He continued to perform live, and 1987 saw the release of American Soul Man by Motown Records, a label he had recently signed on to. The next decade was a lean one, and only a couple of retrospective compilations appeared in the early Nineties. His first album of fresh material, entitled It's Harder Now, appeared in 1999. Meanwhile, the film Blues Brothers 2000 showcased his talents and introduced him to a new generation.
Pickett chartbusters on offer here include "In the Midnight Hour", "Funky Broadway", "634-5789", "Land of 1,000 Dances" and "Mustang Sally". If you saw the (first) Blues Brothers movie and grooved to John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd's dramatic auditorium entry with "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love", you might want to hear Pickett's version (also live) of this timeless Solomon Burke classic. And if "Land of 1,000 Dances" doesn't have you hitting the floor and shaking a leg, you need to check your pulse — you may be dead.
VISHWAMBHAR PATI
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