JAZZ ON SUNDAY: SHAKTI - NEW YORK 1974
November 20, 2022 – 5:10 am
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SHAKTI
New York 1974 [no label, 1CD]
Studio Demos. New York, NY; 1974. Very good soundboard (?).
Thanks to jswetch for sharing the tracks at Dime.
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jswetch noted:
Pretty sure this has been upped here before this. I can’t honestly recall where I got it, and whether it was here or through a cd-r trade. In any case, many thanks to whoever made it available to me. I’m seeding this now in response to requests from the Turiyananda Sangit-Early Shakti show from NYC in March, 1975 that I recently upped.
My guess is that the ensemble would’ve done these demos under the Turiyananda Sangit name in 1974 because the 1975 show was under that name. I’m also not sure about Zakir Hussain’s participation here since he wasn’t on that March, 75 gig. It does however sound to me like there are two percussionists, and my scant knowledge of Indian percussion instruments generally seems to indicate that the mridangam has a somewhat deeper sound than tablas.
Very uncertain too as to any reaction this may have elicited at Columbia/CBS. They obviously did release three Shakti albums, but I Will Follow Him never made it on to any of them. I know there’s been lots of talk and speculation about what from John this record company may have, and why it wasn’t released, and whether it ever will be.
That would include what became the Mahavishnu boot Wild Strings, this, the vocal ensemble pieces (with John playing that were supposed to be part of a two-record set with Visions of the Emerald Beyond), and the remainder of the Southampton College show from Long Island that provided the material for the first Shakti album.
With John now being a pretty robust 80-year-old, and the rest of any participants near to that (not to mention those of us lucky enough to hear them and see shows when they were current), these boots and shares might be the best we’ll ever get.
This is the final Johnny Mac Acoustic installment from me. This is one more than I’d intended, and it’s been fun. Please support all of the musicians you admire by paying to see them perform, and by purchasing their commercially released material.
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Lineage:
studio recordings > unknown dubbing equipment > possible cd-r trade or file share to disc > EAC disc extraction > TLH for torrent creation>
Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (320 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
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Kindly email us if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files. Also email us if you have any rarities you’d like to share with our readers.
Track 01. I Will Follow Him Who Follows Me Into Eternity 10:14
Track 02. What Need Have I For This, What Need Have I For That, I Am Dancing at the Feet of My Lord All is Bliss, All is Bliss 18:22
29 mins
Probable lineup:
John McLaughlin - guitar
L Shankar - violin
Zakir Hussain - tabla
R Raghavan - mridangam
Click here to order John McLaughlin releases.
6 Responses to “JAZZ ON SUNDAY: SHAKTI - NEW YORK 1974”
Thank you Bigo. Big John is and has always been king of the jazz guitar.
By Muso on Nov 20, 2022
When you say Big John what do you mean, exactly?
By Leonard on Nov 20, 2022
I just shakti’d in my pants again. Feels good, mmmm……
By HHH on Nov 20, 2022
have started getting a “unsupported protocol” denial of access with the Shakti show..:( So now neither google chrome or firefox support. Double
By drbabyhead on Nov 21, 2022
Great upload! I love this early Shakti music ! If only it was longer than just 29 minutes.
By Theo on Nov 24, 2022
Trolls don’t have much to say on this. Too heavy for them I guess.
By Theo on Nov 24, 2022