Remembering HMV days—Rajeev Goenka

Told by Sri Rajeev Goenka
Obtained by Prof Sanjoy Bandopadhyay

Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Date 27th September, 2016
Place Ashoka Road,Alipore,Kolkata -700027
About the speaker Rajeev Goenka is a noted connoisseur of Indian Classical Music and is a passionate music collector. He is the founder and protector of The Rajeev Goenka Music Academy at Dundlod, Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.  He is closely attached to Kolkata’s music scenario.
Tags HMV,Gramaphone,  Evening Raga,Casset , Godhuli, Morning Raaga, 1990-92, Darbari,Yaman, Bageshree, Long Playing Records, Kishori Amankar, Roshanara Begum, Records, Shyam Ganguly, Rasoolan Bai, Sidhweswari Devi, Bismillah Khan, Extended Play Record,  EP,  Ravishankar, Ali Akbar, Nikhil Banerjee, Indian Classical Music
Language English

Sri  Rajeev Goenka  Speaks :

A small video clip

Text Version:

 

I was associated with the gramophone company. They took me as an adviser of classical music, so I gave them various concepts, like I asked them to take evening Ragas and we titled the cassette, at that time there were cassettes, there were four cassettes in one box, so I titled the compilation ‘Godhuli’, and on the box we wrote the details, that what is ‘Godhuli’ and what are the Ragas of Godhuli, then I made a cassette called morning Ragas, then I made the cassette of evening Ragas.

 

The approximate time frame if you could also mention of the release of these cassettes of ‘Godhuli’ and the morning ragas and others?

Yes, ‘Godhuli’ is the evening time.

No when did you produce it? The publishing year? Approximately?

It would be 1991-92, then I took the major Ragas, like Darbari, Yaman, Bageshree, in which I gave all old long playing records, because when I took over, long playing records were off, and cassettes had come, and H.M.V have not published the LPs  into cassettes. So the conversion also took place, and the artists of 1940’S, and 50’S, came on the cassettes, so like when I did Bageshree, I gave the Kishori Amankar’s LP in that cassette, I gave Roshanara Begum’s Bageshree in that cassette, so like that the four cassettes pack would have eight pieces, a two cassettes pack would have four pieces, then I made, I mean in my personal collection, I had those Eps, those extended play records, which played for seven minutes each side, so those extended play records,

I took  my own records to H.M.V and transferred them to tape, so like Shyam Ganguly of Kolkata, Rasoolan Bai, Sidhweswari Devi these extended records were not on the roster of H.M.V, so they got those seven minutes recordings, Bismillah Khan Sahab, Ravishankar ji, Ali Akbar they had also made, Nikhil Banerjee they had also made these seven minutes records, which were not there in the market, in the publicity domain, I mean the old connoisseurs who had these records but that by then those record players were been extinct. So therefore those records were not available, so I brought it in cassette so my library also became up to date, and preservation of those extended play and 78rpm records came to good use and revival of classical music happened.

Verbatim: Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

Picture Courtesy: Google

 https://www.google.co.in/search?q=extended+play+record+label+indian+classical+music&tbm=isch&tbs=rimg:CRxyyeN35ArFIjgHe6QKybl6ALNtph9niTltJlS-CbtmFl1RHWtmjVxvxlqgPSE0mDATH4xGTyINiXeYKZ5bjoUciSoSCQd7pArJuXoAEZqlZWxYucr-KhIJs22mH2eJOW0RHDJEaRZoLZwqEgkmVL4Ju2YWXRF1eVjdBdlpLioSCVEda2aNXG_1GEeZQltTaiM-HKhIJWqA9ITSYMBMRAgiWA07D6hMqEgkfjEZPIg2JdxGjeaJfieJ24CoSCZgpnluOhRyJEatrAooVQzcl&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjMqOnQ3fbaAhXJKY8KHb5tBQIQ9C96BAgBEBs&biw=1440&bih=826&dpr=1#imgrc=B3ukCsm5egARyM:

https://www.google.co.in/search?biw=1440&bih=781&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=MO3xWqjaJYnkvgSxhaoo&q=cassettes+of+Ravishankar+hmv&oq=cassettes+of+Ravishankar+hmv&gs_l=img.3…69972.80682.0.81656.28.26.1.0.0.0.349.4319.0j20j2j1.23.0….0…1c.1.64.img..8.0.0….0.yTQs_Nbbyos#imgrc=56a8WY7rNbvhrM:

Edited & Designed: Ms. Rajeswary Ganguly Banerjee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data processed at SAP-DRS Lab, Department of Instrumental Music, Rabindra Bharati University.