During the last one year a few music producers have been cutting new Long Play gramophone records reviving the golden days when gramophones/record payers/radios were the only/trusted means of listening to music for the lovers of music. Companies like T Series and Gramophone Company of India have come out with records of Hindi films like ' Dilwale Dulhania Ley jayaengi', 'Tees Mar Khan', 'Dil to Pagal Hai', '1942 A Love Story', and Mohabatten etc. Though these releases have not been able to create significant ripples in the listening world in general, lovers of gramophone music have been going after these LPs being brought out in limited quantities in the market. Lack of sufficient publicity and the rather high price being charged(though the quality is good) are standing in the way of these LPs becoming popular even among the enthusiasts.
In one of my earlier posts I had talked about the difficulty in collecting Malayalam LP records. http://jaysworldofmusic.blogspot.com/2010/04/gramophone-records-malayalam-lps.html Several readers were also expressing similar sentiment
s. Well, there is good news for those who want to listen to Malayalam film songs on gramophone records. M/s. Satyam Audios, Cochin, seeing the renewed interest for gramophone records among listeners, have entered the field of producing LP records. They have released their first album titled 'Timeless Melodies-Yesudas' in July 2011. The album contains 8 beautiful, but not so old film melodies of Yesudas, three of them duets with Chitra. Side one has ' Pachapanam thathe' and the Ravindran hit 'Etho nidrathan' by Yesudas. Side two begins with the immortal Girish Puthencheri-Vidyasagar melody 'Pinneyum pinneyum etho kinavinte' by yesudas. Besides, the melodious 'Manasse padoo nee' by yesudas from film Paranju theeratha visheshangal and the duet 'Parayathe ariyathe' from film Udayananu Tharam are on side two.
Apart from the richness of the selected songs what makes the album outstanding is the high quality of the recording. Played on a turntable(Techinics) with
magnetic cartridge and stylus and a Techinics amplifier with matching speakers it gave near digital playback pleasure. The album comes in an aesthetically designed jacket with a painted profile of the singer Yesudas. The title of the album is in projected letters. The two-fold jacket also offers, on the inside layout, a thumb nail bio data of Yesudas.The usual round label at the centre of the discis refreshing. Altogether it is an outstanding effort and a 'must buy'record for gramophone lovers. The only deterrent is the price (Rs.650/-) which, of course, is matched by the quality. I understand that Sathyam Audios is coming out with more Malayalam LPs and one can hope that they will pass on the advantages of the future large scale production and sales to the customers
This album took my mind back to one of the earliest and much sought after
Jesudas albums released by Gramophone Company of India in the year 1968.It was titled 'The Best Film Songs of K.J.Jesudas'.This album, in those days, used to adorn the music shelf of all Malayalee households having record players!The album contained some of the best ever Malayalam film songs like,'Nee Madhu Pakaroo', 'Shanku Pushpam kannezhuthumbol','Manikkya Veenayumayen', Oru Pushpam Mathramen' etc. The paper jacket of the album also has a picture of a young Jesudas sans the beard! Yes, a must possess record for collectors.
It is nice to see that Sathyam Audios have made a good beginning by releasing a good collection of songs by Yesudas and Chitra.
