Earliest records of Pt. Ravi Shankar

These, though not heard frequently now, are perfect little gems from the early part of his career. They were issued presumably on 78 rpm shellac records prevalent in those days, playing for about 3 minutes on each side. They were later reissued on four 45 rpm extended play (EP) records, each carrying two ragas on each side.

The 16 ragas are, Marwa, Hemant, Yamani Bilaval, Prach, Sindhu Bhairavi, Tilak Shyam, Nat Bhairav, Puriya Kalyan, Bhatiyar, Hameer, Kirawani, Rasiya, Ahir Lalit, Panchami se Gara, Yamani Manj & Bengali Kirtan. Subsequently, several of these pieces were issued in LP & CD format also.

Apart from these, 4 EPs were issued, playing 6 minutes each side, containing ragas Kaushi Bhairav, Khamach, Todi, Manj Khamach (last two with Ali Akbar Khan), Megh, Nand, Janasammohini & Mishra Gara.

In addition, during Bangladesh war of 1971, a special EP was issued with Panditji himself singing two Bengali songs on one side & a duet with Ali Akbar Khan featuring Raga Mishra Jhinjoti on the other.

All these ragas, though of limited duration, perfectly showcase Panditji's genius in compressing the essence of the ragas in a brief time & are unmissable by connoisseurs.