Identify Yester Year Musicians

suma · Post by **suma** » 23 May 2009, 05:59

I came across this video. I could identify some, but I am sure there are many more that I could not identify. Could not identify the violinists also. Please identify/name the artists:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i84AIrnhiDg

Semmangudi
Maharajapuram Santhanam
PSN
Kunnakudi
MS Amma
GNB
Umayalpuram
D.K. Jayaram

rain_of_nectar · Post by **rain_of_nectar** » 23 May 2009, 11:42

GNB??!!! Of course not, he passed away in 1965 and AFAIK, there is no video recording of GNB, except the movies he acted in. This video has Semmangudi, Santhanam, Madurai Somu, DKJ, Dr. S. Ramanathan, MSS, Brindamma, Rajeswari Padmanabhan, PSN, Kunnakudi, N Ramani, Vegavahini (Brindamma's daughter), etc. singing. If you watch the related videos you will also spot ppl like B Rajam Iyer, Madurai Krishnan, Tiruvengad Jayaraman. Violin: T Rukmini, TS Veeraraghavan, V Thyagarajan, etc. Mridangam: UKS, TVG, Raja Rao(?), KV Prasad. The woman strumming the tambura behind MSS is Gowri Ramnarayan. This video is from the mid 80s, probably 85 or 86 (Dr. SR passed away in '88 and Somu in '89, so...)

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 23 May 2009, 11:48

rain_of_nectar · Post by **rain_of_nectar** » 23 May 2009, 11:52

Ah yes, the one in which he gets the President's award?

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 23 May 2009, 11:59

also present in the video are the sikkil sisters, trichur ramachandran, K V Prasad, Vegavahini Vijayaraghavan, S Rajeswari, V Nagarajan, Mrs YGP(?), MDR(?)...

rain_of_nectar · Post by **rain_of_nectar** » 23 May 2009, 12:02

No MDR... this is certainly after 1984.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 23 May 2009, 15:58

rain_of_nectar wrote:GNB??!!! Of course not, he passed away in 1965 and AFAIK, there is no video recording of GNB, except the movies he acted in.

You can see GNB in a concert, singing "Vinayaka Ninnu..." accompanied by Lalgudi and Raghu starting at 9:12 in this amateur video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ4NiMWAWzc

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 24 May 2009, 00:08

Artistes for this video and related videos:
Lalitha Sivakumar next to T Rukmini, Mrs YGP (yes Bharath!), Sikkil Neela and Kunjumani, Dr Ganesh (Student of Maharajapuram Santhanam), guruvAyur durai, Maharajapuram Srinivasan, Violinist Sridharan next to thirupArkaDal vIrarAghavan (father of Cricketer Sridharan Sriram), Sukanya Shankararaman (daughter of DKJ behind him here), Dr S Balachander, V Nagarajan (Khanjira), tiruvananthapuram r s maNiayyar (right behind SSI), Savithri Sathyamurthy (on Violin behind our guru Dr SR) and many more super-duper stars yesteryears.

Smt MS becomes so full throated in the varALi kRti. Unfortunately this is the only recording of her singing this song. All the other 4 ratnas have been featured in concerts.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 27 May 2009, 17:23

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 28 May 2009, 02:25

Thanks, the photos are great.

sns · Post by **sns** » 30 May 2009, 07:49

In the original video referred to in the first post, there are also Shri V.R.Krishnan on Shri PSN's left, and Shri Vaigal Gnanaskandan on Kunnakudi's left.

sivachinta1965 · Post by **sivachinta1965** » 30 May 2009, 10:47

dear Coolkarni sab,

I am not able to view the photos!, Can you kindly enlighten me on opening these photos? ( which application???)

Sivaprasad

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 30 May 2009, 11:42

sivachinta1965 · Post by **sivachinta1965** » 30 May 2009, 12:25

dear coolkarni sab

Power point is unable to recognise the format of ppt(x?). any other way?

Sivaprasad

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 31 May 2009, 19:51

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 31 May 2009, 21:21

And the person performing Abhishekam and Aarathi to Thyagaraja Swami is the Late R K Venkatrama Sastry, violin vidwan and accompanist of MS , brother of Sri R K Srikantan and grand father of R K Shriram Kumar.

His centenary function was held at Raga Sudha Hall in Nov 2007.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 01 Jun 2009, 19:13

Cool,

That is an invaluable collection of photos. Thanks so much. I hope the net does not cheapen the value of such wonderful collections.

How do you find time for all of this? Are we watching the unfolding of one of the greatest musical bhaktas and archivists? I am curious to see how this Cool phenomenon unfolds over the next decade.

Some comments:

#13: Note how Allauddin Khan (the god of instrumental music) has fashioned a left-handed sarod. I wonder if he did the same with Sitar/Surbahar.

#14: Seems like Khan sahebÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s using a vina-like instrument as a tanpura while daughter Annapurna Devi plays the surbahar.

#16: Amir Khan Sahab: Dear Carnatic musicians, please note the mike for the Tanpura. ThatÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s normal behavior for people who really care about shruti and aesthetics.

#26: ARI-LGJ-UKS. Note the young TH Vinayakaram on ghatam and shri Madurai Krishnan on the tampura.

#27: Identical to the previous set but not same concert. Notice addition of shri B Rajam Iyer in tampura and Madurai Krishnan being shifted to the right of ARI.

#35: Shri Balgandharv strikes a Vivekananda pose.

#36: Shri S Balachander - notice the fancy and unusual beradais (tuning keys)

#39: Accompanists for BMI - MC on violin, UKS on mridangam and shri gurumurthy on ghatam. Wonder who the lady on the tampura is.

#47: superb picture of bhimsen

#56: Ha! A youthful chaurasia. Never seen that.

#76: GNB-Chowdiah-Pazhani: Notice the young S Kalyanaraman on the tampura.

#77: GNB - notice the young Trichur Ramachandran behind and equally young palghat sundaram on ghatam.

#82: Who is the violinist ? Tiruvalangadu Sundaresa Iyer ?

#105: This is priceless. Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer !!! The mrdangam player is clearly dakshinamurthy pillai but who is the khanjira player ? Maamundiya ? Azhaganambi ?

#118: Mridangam players UKS and TKM.

#144: MDR: LGJ and UKS on violin and mrdangam respectively. WhoÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s on the ghatam? Is it E M Panchapakesan the mrdangam player and brother of ghatam player E M Subramaniam?

#145: MDR-MSG-UKS. Aha ! Look at the vibhuti pattais on their foreheads - three Shiva pazhams on stage. Interesting variant for MDR for usually he wears a U-shaped chandanam with kukumam on his forehead. DonÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t miss the old man on the floor gawking at them? I donÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t blame him. I would have too!

#150: Madurai Mani Iyer. Clearly TVG is on the mridangam and Alangudi Ramachandran on the ghatam. But who is the violinist ?

#156: MS and Radha. Note Pandit NehruÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s face sticking in !

#175: Who is with Papanasam Sivan ? Morarji Desai ?

#191: Ramnad Krishan: with V Tyagarajan, Palghat Raghu and V Nagarajan.

#192: Ramrathnam Mahadevappa and PMI. Rare picture. Never seen that one.

#195: R K Srikantan: Palghat Mani Iyer is on the mridangam. WhoÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s on the violin? V Sethuramiah ?

#196: R K Srikantan"¦TNK and UKS.

#210: Semmangudi! No matter how grainy the picture, thereÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s no mistaking the identity of TNK and PSP.

#218: SRJ: It is hard to determine if heÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s singing and impeccable Muhkari or explaining something in impeccable English. Perhaps both !

#224: Thirukodikaval Krishna Iyer! One of the greatest Carnatic musicians of all time, uncle to SSI. Never seen that picture before.

#235: Voleti. Note the picture of Ariyakudi and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on the wall behind. I presume this is from VoletiÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s house, indicating his musical goals.

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 01 Jun 2009, 20:17

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 01 Jun 2009, 21:41

WOW! Kji what a story!!

Sreeni Rajarao · Post by **Sreeni Rajarao** » 01 Jun 2009, 21:51

Kulkarni sir!

Fascinating!
Now, you have already told me the story I was going to ask you to tell me when we meet in person (hopefully in the next 3 or 4 weeks!)!

This zeal for archiving fascinates me!

I am fortunate my Father Veena Raja Rao was very meticulous and detail oriented in preserving items that were precious to him. I have inherited from my Father such a treasure. It includes a beautiful veena, believed to be 200 years or so old!

Another gem is a hand written letter on a letterhead (dated November 29th, 1922) from Sri. Bidaram Krishnappa to my Grandfather Bhairavi Lakshminaranappa.

Yet another precious one is my Father's notes from early 1930s, capturing the moment as
Sri. Vasudevacharya composed and sang srimadAdi tyAgarAja guruvaram (kalyani). It appears my Father was there, right next to Sri. Vasudevacharya at that moment!

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 01 Jun 2009, 22:06

Awesome story Cool. And I thought I knew you.

If Jesus redid the sermon on the mount he might have said "Blessed are the archivists, for they make life worth living"

.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 02 Jun 2009, 03:49

Behind every name there is a face!
And behind every face there is the archivist!
This story should be told to every school child so that they learn to respect and preserve our past treasures.
Coolkarni shall be an object lesson!
And thanks to his dad....

vganesh · Post by **vganesh** » 02 Jun 2009, 11:42

CoolJi. It was a great ppt. Treasure. I say.

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 02 Jun 2009, 12:30

# 81 Has GNB as Udayana?, the mythical king who could charm elephants with his music..(how ironic..?)

#137 is such a lovely shot of MansUr ready for his worship.. the devotion and sincerity he sang in his vacanA-s, we can now see, in his unassuming piety..

#139 Master of many fields..! This photo could win an award

#142 The portrait lives up to it's name and is a ''portrayal' of the guileless melody and the guileless man. The idea of MDR has been captured well.

#145 This picture is again representative of MDR's music.. Look at everyone on stage.. they appear to be in deep meditation..Even the photograph radiates a certain tranquility.. And of course the 'vai-nokki' tAtA in the front row.. I would give a kidney to be in his place..

Hurrah for vijay's wedding, which inspired you to put together this wonderful collection..!

And hats off to your dad..

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 02 Jun 2009, 13:04

Great story Cool

The way your Dad reacted is an example of how to take decisions that strike at the root rather than just cosmetic changes.

inconsequential · Post by **inconsequential** » 02 Jun 2009, 13:23

coolji,
thank you so much for the photos and the story. wonderful.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 02 Jun 2009, 21:48

The first time you met me in person , I dont know if you recollect TV ramprasadh@mudhra , when you took my notebook and wrote rasikas.org , you said I am coolkarni , chief librarian. This is finest of finest librarian works.

sivachinta1965 · Post by **sivachinta1965** » 05 Jun 2009, 14:15

dear C sab

I could download the ppt file . Thanks a lot.

A model deed.

in photo 192, Ramratinam, not discussed in the forum!

who is this gentle man?

Sivaprasad

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 05 Jun 2009, 16:34

Chief Librarian - good description for coolkarni

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 05 Jun 2009, 20:02

I haven't come across many librarians who are dynamic like our Cool...

coolkarni · Post by **coolkarni** » 05 Jun 2009, 20:15