Down Memory Lane: G N Joshi
Have you heard the ‘Marwa’ of Ustad Amir Khan, ‘Om Tat Sat’ of Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, raag Shri of D.V. Paluskar and ‘Chandranandan’ of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan? If you have enjoyed these masterpieces, you need to thank a person called G.N.Joshi, who, as a recording executive of HMV, brought to us these everlasting treasures. G.N. Joshi wrote a book called ‘Down Melody Lane’ in which he details his interaction with legendary and not to so legendary musicians and his trials and tribulations to get recording done by these artists. In modern times, where the artists understand the need for publicity, getting them to record is not an issue. We are talking a different era here, an era where many musicians weren’t too keen to record. Many felt they were doing a favor to the company by recording their music. They did not understand the potential of the EP/LP records for being good publicity material. The also did not realize that these records would become archival material inspiring