Q: "His music lives on with ever increasing popularity. I wonder why?" A: Because it's very good! His rendition of Miserlou, in particular, is a revelation.
Korla Pandit wasn't a fraud. He was a showman. A brilliant artist who created a persona that didn't allow American racial prejudice to keep he from what he wanted to do--perform music. This deception hurt no one, but it enabled him to become a TV and music video pioneer. We all reinvent ourselves as necessary.
Pandit was a genius. He devised a brilliant way to escape prejudice for his mixed parentage in a time when he would have been treated like an outcast. Instead he did he most "American" thing ever and reinvented himself into something the world was prepared to love. This man achieved greatness in a world that was hell bent on hating him. He was a brilliant musician, consummate showman and he deserves to be admired for his creativity, not derided as a "fraud".
Well, we have another original American invention now "Puddles Pity Party." The man dresses up like a sad clown and sings with the voice of a musical genius.
He was INCREDIBLE. Technique that was both unique and strong. He was incredibly musical - melody first, never got lost in jamming, he played for the song. Experimental - creating many new sounds with a limited organ palette. Cool - nice vibe, great to talk to, you could never STOP him talking! Wonderful entertainer in all ways. Get a clue!
A lot of show people have stage names, and a embellished bio point being he was masterful with his instrument and that is a fact. It's like Lady Gaga had to put on all those weird costumes and makeup so people could hear her real talent, except He did it he did it wth creative writing and costumes to support his theme. It worked...for Gaga and him...
I'm just learning of Korla Pandit and I must say I am INTRIGUED! After an Ambien haze induced search on Bing- after watching Song of India with Sabu- I came across this WONDERPHILE known as Korla. I am a modern, stylish man who wears hand wrapped turbans, peacock feathers, and other ornamentea. Entranced by music and mood, I feel a kindred relationship to this ICON! Unfortunately, the musical component was lost during reincarnation. LOL ;-) LONG LIVE KORLA
continued from below....he was trying to make a comeback--originally he couldn't get work because of bigotry--but as an stage Indian he could get work.Why should he change his act for you--it's a fantasy! He made--and makes--a lot of people happy. And most importantly--he's a good organ player!
loved his looks and his music was wonderful..first time I saw him w as 1952 in San Diego, CA...what a pleasure it is to find him again..regardless of what he did or didn't do he was really good.
No one would hire him as a black man in California so he up with the idea as being from the far East which was more marketable. He was a very talented musician and showman.
You're conflating the man with the music. The man adopted a stage identity, as performers do from time to time. It's a form of deception, but is quite harmless. His music is another matter altogether, and it is remarkable, entertaining, and virtuosic at times. I'm in for Korla Pandit!
This man is very very impressive I see him playing door keep records he’s the first want to do it at one the first litter on the organ player on the doors just played your keyboards and lava rock bands did the same thing in the late 60s even today
I think it's cool that he was able to reinvent himself. After all, show biz has always been smoke and mirrors. Francis Gumm becomes Judy Garland. Robert Zimmerman becomes Bob Dylan. He gets good clean sounds out of the organ, and looks great. What a face! Think about this as well... In the segregated America of the forties and fifties, it was nigh impossible for an African-American entertainer to have a TV show. The great Nat Cole couldn't even do it. I say hats off to Korla!
I think he's to be admired. He took lemons and made way more than lemomade. He evaluated the racial mood of the time and overcame it, thereby entertaining the world with his musical abilities. Would that I could contribute that much!
I agree 100% Without the "deceptions," he never would have amounted to anything. He was a product of his times. I used to listen to him on the TV as a kid. His music brought a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people. That's what counts the most.
We moved from Tampa Florida to Houston Texas in 1950 when I was 6 years old and got the very first TV we had ever seen, and this guy was on it every day, along with Florian Zabach and a host of other performers on 15-minute music videos. My mother adored Pandit. Those were wonderful, wonderful years. His real name was John Roland REDD, not Reed.
What he achieved in his career was no less than what a rebranded Hollywood legendary star did. He did it with such grace, charisma, gentleness of spirit and super talent so I see no harm or foul in the man himself. People adored him.
I hope the creators of this video correct his last name. It was Redd not Reed. FYI John's brother Ernest Redd was quite an accomplished Jazz musician as well.
Why are you so bothered by this??? Quite amazing at making sounds with the organ with his hands hitting the lower keyboard like it's percussive for example. Better than any entertainment I see on daily television in 2015. So he lied. Most performers have fake names etc. Its ok, enjoy the mystique. It's super cool.
DJ BEEKEENI There is a new feature length documentary about him called Korla. I have not seen it yet but am meeting one of the directors over coffee soon.
I can remember watching him back in the 50s. He seemed really exotic back then. It's true that if would have tried to be on TV as a black man, he's have to like Nat King Cole and head to Canada.
I just read about this musician. I must admit, your take seems a bit unfairly negative. TV was a new medium when Pandit was on the air, and I think many shows relied on the content, rather than fancy editing, nowadays there is just no comparison to using a limited number of cameras and more or less allowing the performer work the camera like this. People had very very different expectations of the medium back in the day I think. Also, Pandit's back-story is fairly complicated. Putting it down to some deception is a judgemental. The music is certainly corny, but he seems to have been a very proficient player. Actually, by the 1960s the organ makes a comeback in rock music. By the mid-1960s something called psychedelia will employ the same runs, trills and modes. Indeed, Indian music will be one fairly common style employed during the psychedelic 1960s. So this exotic orientalist stuff was a precursor for pop that's for sure. I wonder what people will think of the music we listen to now in 50 years or so.
Gramrphone: You're taking my good friend, the late Korla Pandit way too seriously. Why spew all the negative stuff (you're obviously drawing it from RJ Smith and other killjoy writers who were out to "out" Korla!) I've heard all what you said before (and knew it all when I first met him). Why spread it your venom? I produced a recording for him (his last) and introduced him to Los Angeles audiences when I put on a concert him for him at the Ambassador Auditorium in 1987.
I read that African Americans were not permitted in the musician's union in California, so his wife suggested the Indian persona. She felt 1940's Americans knew nothing about India, so it would be hard to call bulls***t. I don't know if that's true. It probably helped his TV show go national not to be African American (heavy sigh). I heard Marcels were broken up by their label in 1961 because an integrated act wouldn't play down south, and Pandit went on the air in 1949 so it was definitely a factor regardless of CA . God bless him. Ahead of his time in every way. Let's see a Hollywood movie about his life!
Korla Pundit, more awesome than my childhood recollections. My brothers and I would stare at the TV mesmerized by this mysterious turbine wearing man playing the organ. Long live Korla's memory.
What a beautiful tribute! Saw him on TV back in the 50's; he would hypnotize you as he played; never forgot it, and had not seen him until I saw the film Ed Wood recently. He was billed as "Indian Musician" (he played at a film's wrap party).
It suffices to say for now, that he was a complicated man for reasons maybe that he himself, I feel, did not fully understood, if I can say that. And he is certainly not at all what most people would expect.
Certainly.Now I think of it I wrote the introduction and liner notes for the Korla Pandit CD I produced. While they're not informational, but more reflective and personal, they also serve as a forum for my scathing criticism of the non-analytical "Space Age Bachelor Pad" pop movement that was prominent at that time that framed Korla as a "yucks for laughs" kooky novelty. For raw data on Korla, his cousin has a 5 -mile long scroll of solid text online some where. I'll try to find you the link.
Mekon: I've always planned on writing a piece on Korla, as I have so many stories to tell about my relationship with him.The format here does not allow the space he deserves. I'm encouraged by the interest in him I see to finally lay it all out, so maybe I'll do that and alert you when I have something to present. .
you are so negative against Korla. you seem to want to want to completely overlook his amazing talent,and the beauty of his interpretation of the exotic melodies and rhythms he delighted his audience and my ears with. he was amazing! he took what was a negative in those days on t.v. and created a completely new image so he would be able to showcase his talent without having to suffer the prejudice and discrimination that was so prevalent in those days. his music was dream music that even today can transport you to other times and places! bless his soul ,wherever he is!
I have to salute Korla! He developed and maintained (albeit secretly) a gig, through which he was able make a living, and survive and thrive as a black man, during such an oppressive time in America!
"Ironical" isn't a real word. That said, some of his tunes are boring, and others are magical and entrancing. His best artwork, though, was his life. What a splendid thing to take the reins of reputation and refuse to live in the box given to you by society. Bravo, Pandit.
This is pretty cool, I tracked this guy back from Martin Denny & Misirlou I just found "Exotica" a few months ago. Interesting genre to say the least. I tried listening to some on LSD.......tried, went to Blade Runner instead LOL
You are the only person here who is hoodwinking anyone. It was not that unusual for people of other origins in the 50's to be reinvented to appease the American public. In fact Korla was taken off the air because he was accused of hypnotizing housewives and was replaced by Liberace. He was classically trained and is revered as the Godfather of Exotic trance music. His music transcends your critique. To quote Korla "Music may not save your soul, but it will cause your soul to be worth saving".
You must not live in marginalized skin. People who can pass as my black do so because it is an easier life. Why submit to our apartheid caste system if you don't have to?
***** The entire Pizza & Pipes chain (six or so in CA, three in WA) is defunct. Daly City, which had a 15-rank organ, closed in 1994. Thanks for the information!
If you mean the opening track it is The Breeze & I and taken from Fantasy LP 3288. LP title is Tropical Magic. Hope this helps. Copies of this and his other recordings often appear on E.Bay.
***** Thank you...I remember this song back in the late 50's and early 60's...but, I couldn't remember it....it seems that this song went with a motion picture...but, I'm not sure
Will Mike In fact the correct title is Andalucia' and was originally written in 1930 by Ernesto Lecuona as part of his 'Spanish Suite' ... so my guess is that it would have appeared in any numb er of films. Can't find a specific film to associate it with though..
It bums me out to find out he wasn't from the Mid-East. Like a lot of the commenters here my brothers and I grew up watching the strange and mysterious 'old man' ( I was around 8 years old at the time ) playing a large organ. I liked that childhood memory. Calling him a fraud after his death doesn't. He created a cult following which I'm proud to say includes me.
There was a piece in Los Angeles Magazine by a writer named R.J. Smith which I feel was deplorable and full of errors and done by a stranger to Korla. I was misquoted in the piece as well, and said so in a response letter to the magazine. His piece was lengthy and it seemed the whole point was to "out" Korla the man as African American. He replied to me with venom in the editorial to me and propagated two more untruths while doing it!
you wonder why,cause people would rather have the dog and pony show then the truth.Art tatum or jimmy smith didn't need gimmicks,or to put the "Reptillian stare" on people
This man has one of the most gorgeous faces I have EVER seen! Dear Lord! Those eyes.............!!!
Q: "His music lives on with ever increasing popularity. I wonder why?"
A: Because it's very good!
His rendition of Miserlou, in particular, is a revelation.
Korla Pandit wasn't a fraud. He was a showman. A brilliant artist who created a persona that didn't allow American racial prejudice to keep he from what he wanted to do--perform music. This deception hurt no one, but it enabled him to become a TV and music video pioneer. We all reinvent ourselves as necessary.
correcto mundo...sim sim salabim!!
100% same as Elton John or Marilyn Monroe - they created a person who was more exciting and interesting. They became THAT person, and it worked.
Pandit was a genius. He devised a brilliant way to escape prejudice for his mixed parentage in a time when he would have been treated like an outcast. Instead he did he most "American" thing ever and reinvented himself into something the world was prepared to love. This man achieved greatness in a world that was hell bent on hating him. He was a brilliant musician, consummate showman and he deserves to be admired for his creativity, not derided as a "fraud".
Hear, hear!
He had me fooled. Back in the day, Korla Pandit and Liberace were some of most popular programs in the 50's.
agree!
Well, we have another original American invention now "Puddles Pity Party." The man dresses up like a sad clown and sings with the voice of a musical genius.
@@SmoothCinnamonX OMG!!!! Those eyes!!!!!!
I love the idea of how he marketed himself. That is what being an entertainer is all about.
He was amazing
He was INCREDIBLE. Technique that was both unique and strong. He was incredibly musical - melody first, never got lost in jamming, he played for the song. Experimental - creating many new sounds with a limited organ palette. Cool - nice vibe, great to talk to, you could never STOP him talking! Wonderful entertainer in all ways. Get a clue!
His eyes have me hypnotized.
A lot of show people have stage names, and a embellished bio point being he was masterful with his instrument and that is a fact. It's like Lady Gaga had to put on all those weird costumes and makeup so people could hear her real talent, except He did it he did it wth creative writing and costumes to support his theme. It worked...for Gaga and him...
I'm just learning of Korla Pandit and I must say I am INTRIGUED! After an Ambien haze induced search on Bing- after watching Song of India with Sabu- I came across this WONDERPHILE known as Korla. I am a modern, stylish man who wears hand wrapped turbans, peacock feathers, and other ornamentea. Entranced by music and mood, I feel a kindred relationship to this ICON! Unfortunately, the musical component was lost during reincarnation. LOL ;-)
LONG LIVE KORLA
"hard to believe that this is what passed for daily tv consumption"? Yes, how far we have fallen!
continued from below....he was trying to make a comeback--originally he couldn't get work because of bigotry--but as an stage Indian he could get work.Why should he change his act for you--it's a fantasy! He made--and makes--a lot of people happy. And most importantly--he's a good organ player!
loved his looks and his music was wonderful..first time I saw him w as 1952 in
San Diego, CA...what a pleasure it is to find him again..regardless of what he did
or didn't do he was really good.
No one would hire him as a black man in California so he up with the idea as being from the far East which was more marketable. He was a very talented musician and showman.
You're conflating the man with the music. The man adopted a stage identity, as performers do from time to time. It's a form of deception, but is quite harmless. His music is another matter altogether, and it is remarkable, entertaining, and virtuosic at times. I'm in for Korla Pandit!
This man is very very impressive I see him playing door keep records he’s the first want to do it at one the first litter on the organ player on the doors just played your keyboards and lava rock bands did the same thing in the late 60s even today
I have The Grand Moghul Suite 10" LP and its a treasure to hear him in this prime recording from the height of his career.
I think it's cool that he was able to reinvent himself. After all, show biz has always been smoke and mirrors. Francis Gumm becomes Judy Garland. Robert Zimmerman becomes Bob Dylan. He gets good clean sounds out of the organ, and looks great. What a face! Think about this as well... In the segregated America of the forties and fifties, it was nigh impossible for an African-American entertainer to have a TV show. The great Nat Cole couldn't even do it. I say hats off to Korla!
I think he's to be admired. He took lemons and made way more than lemomade. He evaluated the racial mood of the time and overcame it, thereby entertaining the world with his musical abilities. Would that I could contribute that much!
I agree 100% Without the "deceptions," he never would have amounted to anything. He was a product of his times. I used to listen to him on the TV as a kid. His music brought a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people. That's what counts the most.
We moved from Tampa Florida to Houston Texas in 1950 when I was 6 years old and got the very first TV we had ever seen, and this guy was on it every day, along with Florian Zabach and a host of other performers on 15-minute music videos. My mother adored Pandit. Those were wonderful, wonderful years. His real name was John Roland REDD, not Reed.
Why so angry, gramrfone? Anyway, thanks for putting this excellent music up.
A master of the Wurlitzer Grand Pipe Organ! And a wonderful friend I truly loved.
no need for explaination. just listen with thy heart
i want to see a netflix movie on his life !!
What he achieved in his career was no less than what a rebranded Hollywood legendary star did. He did it with such grace, charisma, gentleness of spirit and super talent so I see no harm or foul in the man himself. People adored him.
I hope the creators of this video correct his last name. It was Redd not Reed. FYI John's brother Ernest Redd was quite an accomplished Jazz musician as well.
I was the dancer in the Video Sonic Concert Korla did in Seattle around 1988. I can't seem to find it on the internet anywhere.
Thank you that was really interesting. I remember him well.
Is his birthplace really that important? Certainly not for me!
He was a most colourful and interesting musician - that's all I need to know!
Why are you so bothered by this???
Quite amazing at making sounds with the organ with his hands hitting the lower keyboard like it's percussive for example. Better than any entertainment I see on daily television in 2015.
So he lied. Most performers have fake names etc.
Its ok, enjoy the mystique. It's super cool.
DJ BEEKEENI The poster of these videos is only using a fake name, irony.
100% correct. Full marks for spotting that.....but so do 99% of people on You Tube
DJ BEEKEENI There is a new feature length documentary about him called Korla. I have not seen it yet but am meeting one of the directors over coffee soon.
That sounds awesome!!!
Toolman329
Ha! AND Woody Woodpecker!
I can remember watching him back in the 50s. He seemed really exotic back then. It's true that if would have tried to be on TV as a black man, he's have to like Nat King Cole and head to Canada.
I just read about this musician. I must admit, your take seems a bit unfairly negative. TV was a new medium when Pandit was on the air, and I think many shows relied on the content, rather than fancy editing, nowadays there is just no comparison to using a limited number of cameras and more or less allowing the performer work the camera like this. People had very very different expectations of the medium back in the day I think. Also, Pandit's back-story is fairly complicated. Putting it down to some deception is a judgemental. The music is certainly corny, but he seems to have been a very proficient player. Actually, by the 1960s the organ makes a comeback in rock music. By the mid-1960s something called psychedelia will employ the same runs, trills and modes. Indeed, Indian music will be one fairly common style employed during the psychedelic 1960s. So this exotic orientalist stuff was a precursor for pop that's for sure. I wonder what people will think of the music we listen to now in 50 years or so.
Gramrphone: You're taking my good friend, the late Korla Pandit way too seriously. Why spew all the negative stuff (you're obviously drawing it from RJ Smith and other killjoy writers who were out to "out" Korla!) I've heard all what you said before (and knew it all when I first met him). Why spread it your venom? I produced a recording for him (his last) and introduced him to Los Angeles audiences when I put on a concert him for him at the Ambassador Auditorium in 1987.
I was just contacted through a reference by two San Francisco video documentary makers to discuss a possible Korla Pandit documentary.
I read that African Americans were not permitted in the musician's union in California, so his wife suggested the Indian persona. She felt 1940's Americans knew nothing about India, so it would be hard to call bulls***t. I don't know if that's true. It probably helped his TV show go national not to be African American (heavy sigh). I heard Marcels were broken up by their label in 1961 because an integrated act wouldn't play down south, and Pandit went on the air in 1949 so it was definitely a factor regardless of CA . God bless him. Ahead of his time in every way. Let's see a Hollywood movie about his life!
So, the fact that he wasn't really from India makes his music bad?
Korla Pundit, more awesome than my childhood recollections. My brothers and I would stare at the TV mesmerized by this mysterious turbine wearing man playing the organ. Long live Korla's memory.
A master of the Wurlitzer Grand Pipe Organ!
What a beautiful tribute! Saw him on TV back in the 50's; he would hypnotize you as he played; never forgot it, and had not seen him until I saw the film Ed Wood recently. He was billed as "Indian Musician" (he played at a film's wrap party).
performers do schtick to get attention - so what? If the music moves the listeners, the performer did his job, outer stuff is just costuming.
It suffices to say for now, that he was a complicated man for reasons maybe that he himself, I feel, did not fully understood, if I can say that. And he is certainly not at all what most people would expect.
He's amazing!
Typo I guess. At 1:51 the text says his name was John Reed. Actually it was John Redd.
His last name was Redd by the way.
Certainly.Now I think of it I wrote the introduction and liner notes for the Korla Pandit CD I produced. While they're not informational, but more reflective and personal, they also serve as a forum for my scathing criticism of the non-analytical "Space Age Bachelor Pad" pop movement that was prominent at that time that framed Korla as a "yucks for laughs" kooky novelty. For raw data on Korla, his cousin has a 5 -mile long scroll of solid text online some where. I'll try to find you the link.
Mekon: I've always planned on writing a piece on Korla, as I have so many stories to tell about my relationship with him.The format here does not allow the space he deserves. I'm encouraged by the interest in him I see to finally lay it all out, so maybe I'll do that and alert you when I have something to present. .
you are so negative against Korla. you seem to want to want to completely overlook his amazing talent,and the beauty of his interpretation of the exotic melodies and rhythms he delighted his audience and my ears with. he was amazing! he took what was a negative in those days on t.v. and created a completely new image so he would be able to showcase his talent without having to suffer the prejudice and discrimination that was so prevalent in those days. his music was dream music that even today can transport you to other times and places! bless his soul ,wherever he is!
I agree with you ! He was very talented and I loved his music.
I have to salute Korla! He developed and maintained (albeit secretly) a gig, through which he was able make a living, and survive and thrive as a black man, during such an oppressive time in America!
He's not a fraud. He did what was necessary to overcome racism and prejudice.
"Ironical" isn't a real word. That said, some of his tunes are boring, and others are magical and entrancing. His best artwork, though, was his life. What a splendid thing to take the reins of reputation and refuse to live in the box given to you by society. Bravo, Pandit.
This is pretty cool, I tracked this guy back from Martin Denny & Misirlou
I just found "Exotica" a few months ago. Interesting genre to say the least.
I tried listening to some on LSD.......tried, went to Blade Runner instead LOL
Back in a fairly sane and reasonably calm USA where people could appreciate genuine talent.
You are the only person here who is hoodwinking anyone. It was not that unusual for people of other origins in the 50's to be reinvented to appease the American public. In fact Korla was taken off the air because he was accused of hypnotizing housewives and was replaced by Liberace. He was classically trained and is revered as the Godfather of Exotic trance music. His music transcends your critique. To quote Korla "Music may not save your soul, but it will cause your soul to be worth saving".
You must not live in marginalized skin. People who can pass as my black do so because it is an easier life. Why submit to our apartheid caste system if you don't have to?
Does anybody know which pizza parlor he played in?
I guess organ enthusiasts in the USA would be best to answer this one. Any takers?
*****
I've gotten it: Captain Anchovy's in California was the pizzeria, and sadly they just had an electronic organ, not a theatre pipe organ.
He played at pizza and pipes in Daly city Cal, They have a real pipe organ there.
*****
The entire Pizza & Pipes chain (six or so in CA, three in WA) is defunct. Daly City, which had a 15-rank organ, closed in 1994. Thanks for the information!
I would appreciate that :)
What is the name of this song?
If you mean the opening track it is The Breeze & I and taken from Fantasy LP 3288. LP title is Tropical Magic. Hope this helps. Copies of this and his other recordings often appear on E.Bay.
***** Thank you...I remember this song back in the late 50's and early 60's...but, I couldn't remember it....it seems that this song went with a motion picture...but, I'm not sure
Will Mike In fact the correct title is Andalucia' and was originally written in 1930 by Ernesto Lecuona as part of his 'Spanish Suite' ... so my guess is that it would have appeared in any numb er of films. Can't find a specific film to associate it with though..
***** Thank you again. I appreciate your very positive responses.
Will Mike What originally triggered my interest in this was an article stating how Korla had a contract dispute.and Liberace was hired in his place.
what was korla like?
why not No 1 ?
Art Tatum--who I worship--had his share of parlor tricks he did...just watch the doc on you tube
And I thought this would turn out to be about Dr. Lonnie Smith!
It bums me out to find out he wasn't from the Mid-East. Like a lot of the commenters here my brothers and I grew up watching the strange and mysterious 'old man' ( I was around 8 years old at the time ) playing a large organ. I liked that childhood memory. Calling him a fraud after his death doesn't. He created a cult following which I'm proud to say includes me.
send me a message if you write anything!
There was a piece in Los Angeles Magazine by a writer named R.J. Smith which I feel was deplorable and full of errors and done by a stranger to Korla. I was misquoted in the piece as well, and said so in a response letter to the magazine. His piece was lengthy and it seemed the whole point was to "out" Korla the man as African American. He replied to me with venom in the editorial to me and propagated two more untruths while doing it!
This whole "Godfather of Exotic Trance Music" is just silly recent times commercial jargon of canny repackagers of his work!
It's not uncommon for artists to assume another identity for art sake. Fraudulent, I say not! His music & persona speaks for itself.
sim sim salabim!
no kidding
LMFAHO!
This video is best watched without sound.
you wonder why,cause people would rather have the dog and pony show then the truth.Art tatum or jimmy smith didn't need gimmicks,or to put the "Reptillian stare" on people
nice speech but Korla has no similarity to Art or Jimmy