LORD SITAR - Lord Sitar. 1968. Capitol

• Produced & arranged by John Hawkins.
• 11 track album.
• 4 track 7" single.

Heavily rumoured to be the one & only Big Jim Sullivan & it stands to reason, for the similarity with this album & his own amazingly enticing Sitar Beat is all too uncanny. Whereas his own named album is a combination of originals & covers, the Lord Sitar collection are all cover versions of artists such as The Beatles, The Monkees, The Who, Zero Mostel, Los Bravos & even the Australian group The Seekers with their ode to the wizard of Oz via Sydney Emerald City. It's definitely a cool experience, probably not as excitingly frantic as some of Ananda Shankars' gems, but musically its yer classic easy psych Brit style. It's the fact that they are all covers that make it both interesting & also dissapointing. Indian music, especially the sitar, was all the rage in the 60's, specifically with George Harrison's interest in the instrument & its country of origin.

Seems to go for between $70 & $120AUS on eBay. Probably due to the 'Beatles' member's supposed connection or because it's a pretty accomplished album for its, um, er very specific genre.

Issued in 1999 on CD in the UK by EMI.

• ZIP FILE: LORD SITAR - Lord Sitar 75MBs