SPB: A Musical History - Part 16: Dominance in Kannada

 

(You can read the earlier parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 , Part 7, Part 8, Part 9,  Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14 & Part 15)

Attribution: Most of the non-Raja songs in this post are courtesy my friend A R Venkatesh, a great music lover of Kannada and Tamil film music. ( @arvenky on Twitter). My knowledge of SPB songs in Kannada is limited mainly to Raja songs and to some well known hits of Rajan Nagendra (which were also remade in Telugu). I have Venky to thank for this post. I have also included his comment on SPB's dominance of Kannada film music.

In Telugu film music, we saw that it was a struggle for SPB to be accepted after Gantasala's passing away. In case of Tamil film music, the emergence of Raja helped SPB a lot. In case of Kannada film music, SPB's entry was natural. Before SPB came into the picture, the most popular Kannada male singer was P.B.Srinivas. He was known for his melodious and soft voice. Unlike in Telugu and Tamil, where Gantasala and T M soundarrajan's voice were quite different in tone compared to SPB, PBS's tone quality and SPB's tone were not too different. SPB's voice was also soft and melodious. So it was easy for his voice to be accepted by Kannada listeners. (SPB's versatility, though, was much more than that of P.B.Srinivas)

Many Kannada film music directors understood the potential of SPB. Of course, Sathyam, who was SPB's good friend, was a music director in both Telugu and Kannada film worlds. So he definitely knew what SPB was capable of. P B Srinivas was still the main singer in Kannada in 1970s when SPB started making his mark. Later SPB slowly took over. The industry had only two singers mainly, when it came to male voices. Rajkumar, who sang for himself and SPB who sang for all other heroes. The domination continued throughout the 80s.

Initially the heroes of the 70s and 80s, other than Rajkumar, like Vishnuvardhan, Ambareesh, Anant Nag and Shankar Nag preferred SPB as their voice. The latter day heroes like Shivrajkumar and Upendra too chose SPB as their voice. This is what my friend Venky has to say about SPB's stint in the Kannada film industry:

"SPB started dominating Kannada music scene from 70s. He sang many albums for Rajan Nagendra in 70s.His dominance continued for nearly 2+ decades. In 1980s he was unstoppabe with Hamsalekha emerging in a big way and both teamed to give many memorable run away hits like, Sangliyana (Shankar Nag), Premaloka, Anjagandhu, Yuddha Kanda, Yuga Purusha, Ramachari (to name few of Ravichandran's run away hits for music itself) Ranaranga (Shivarajkumar), Indrajith, Nammoora Hameera (Ambareesh), Muthina Haara and almost all movies of Vishnu who was very particular on Balu singing for him, S Narayan's Chaitrada Premanjali, K V Raju's Belli Kaalungura, Kumar Bangarappa's Navatare, Ksheera Sagara, S V Rajendra Singh Babu's Bannada Gejje (all these were musical hits)"

According to Wiki this is the first song of SPB in Kannada. From the film 'Nakkare Ade Swarga'. This is from 1967. Music by M.Ranga Rao.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9hcspj9kAA

He voice sounds like a combination of Gantasala and P.B.Srinivas. You cannot hear the SPB you know. This is consistent with how he sang in Telugu during that time. (This was probably the second movie song of his career. I am not sure though)

From the movie, 'Namma Samsara', the song, 'namma samsara ananda sagara'. SPB sings along with P.B.Srinivas and P Susheela. Music by M.Ranga Rao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mau6widw--4

PBS is still the dominant singer in this song. SPB has a secondary role to play in this song. His voice is still not 'THE' SPB voice.

'Nagarahavu', starring Vishnuvardhan. It was released in 1972. Music by Vijaya Bhaskar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKmE7D_bx2M

In this you can hear the SPB of the 70s. Now his voice has the originality and is on the way to maturity. He puts in e effort to sound masculine. 

This is from the 1975 movie, 'Shubamangala', 'snehada kadalalli'. Music by Vijaybhaskar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a6Z4QwTvqE

In this song I still hear the influence of P.B.Srinivas. The style is a mix of PBS and SPB. 

By 1977, SPB had become SPB, shedding any external influence. Here he is with 'kanasalu neene manasalu neene' from 'Bayaludari'. Music was Rajan Nagendra. The Telugu version of this song, which was also sung by SPB, was a major hit as well. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ntRcP_et4

You hear a far more confident SPB here. As I said, this is the SPB we know. The voice quality and his style have formed fully. His voice is melodious and he knows what the song needs and delivers accordingly.

As Venky had mentioned, SPB became the voice of Vishnuvardhan. Here he is singing for Vishnuvardhan for the movie, 'Hombisilu' (1978). Music by Rajen Nagendra

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjYRNaAucg8&feature=youtu.be

By this time SPB was a confident singer, with his own unique mannerism and singing style in Kannada. That is reflected in this song.

From the year, 1979, another Rajan Nagendra hit. This time for Anant Nag. 'akasadintha' from 'Chandanadha Gombe'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTG_yrz9Pkg

Th SPB's mannerisms are present for everyone to hear. 

In 1981, SPB was to sing one of the biggest hit of his Kannada film music career. The song which is almost like a national anthem in Karnataka. 'jotheyali' from the movie 'Geetha', starring Shankar Nag. Music by Illayaraja.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5OXQsTLLHw

The tune, the outstanding orchestration and the singing of SPB and Janaki took this song to an All Time Great level. Observe the casualness that SPB gets into the tune, which gives the song its character. Janaki, as usual, is outstanding, matching SPB at every step. (Or maybe it should be vice versa?)

1983 got him another outstanding melody from Illayaraja, which happens to a favorite of many even today. 'naguva nayana' from 'Pallavi Anupallavi'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dajcwrykmf8

What a song. Touches you deeply with its melody. The starting humming, the bass, the orchestration and a tune to die for. Though it was for a debut movie of an unknown director, Illayaraja gave some amazing melodies for this movie. The director was Maniratnam. SPB and Janaki are their usual self.

Let me put up another Illayaraja song here, which SPB sang for Anant Nag, for the movie, 'Janma Janmada Anubanda'. A 1980 movie. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdnGb3mD3DA

A Madhyamavathi based melody, which is delivered perfectly by that amazing pair of SPB and Janaki.

SPB became the voice of Ambareesh as well. Here he is singing for him in the movie, 'Yelu Suthina Kote'. Music is by the talented L.Vaidyanathan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2odNY40nDU

A Mohanam based melody which sounds even more melodious in the voice of SPB.

Ravichandran became a sensation with the movie, 'Premaloka' which featured Juhi Chawla.  It was Juhi Chawla's first commercial success. Music was by Hamsalekha. The film was a great hit as were the songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbgbLRAUyKw

SPB is his usual self here. He does the mimicry that he is so famous for, singing for various characters. SPB then became the voice of Ravichandran as well.

SPB sang for Raghavendra Rajkumar on his debut. The big hit, 'innu guarantee' from 'Nanjundi Kalyana'. The movie starred the famous Malashri, who was a top heroine those days. A 1989 movie, which was a blockbuster hit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeM0g3n0VQQ

This is the sort of song SPB enjoys a lot. Music of Upendra Kuamar, this fun song, based on Hamsadhwani, is the sort of song which is made for SPB. You can hear SPB enjoying himself with all the 'nakras'. 

SPB was also the voice of Shivrajkumar. From the super hit movie, 'Namoora Mandhara Hoove', the song 'halli lavaniyalli lali'. Music by Illayaraja

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycBQFQfZ8As

This was a 1996 film. You can hear SPB's voice still in fine fettle even after almost three decades of singing. He is good from in this song. All the songs of the movie were raging hits.

Kannada film world also made him sing Hindustani music. An act which fetched him a National Award. The movie was 'Gaana Yogi Panchakshara Gawai'.   'ummad gummad' from the movie. 1999 release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6479NNo7mH8

SPB tries to make his voice a bit more 'bass'y in this song. This is a very filmi classical song. Can't really compare it with the standard khayals sung by the masters. 

I will close this post with a 2010 song. 'mudhalane baari' from 'Nannavanu'. Music by Illayaraja.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vOMZ_YYT-o

It was more than 50 years since his debut when he sang this song. He still retained the freshness in his voice. 

SPB was clear that of all the fans across languages Kannada fans loved him the most. He made that statement in a few TV programs. He had become one of the icons for Kannada film fans. 

Here he is talking about Kannada fans love for him on a Telugu TV channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxHWr_KH9Ck

Here is SPB talking about his Kannada fans and the love he gets from Kannada fans. In Kannada.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dr4SI2AYwI

Here is one more TV program where SPB unambiguously says that the love he receives from his Kannada fans is much more than what he receives from his Tamil and Telugu fans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7VX7vFXoGE

I am sure that I have not done full justice to SPB's oeuvre in Kannada and that is due to my lack of knowledge about his Kannada songs. I hope someone who has followed him closely in Kannada will write about his songs in more detail.

Next week we will see how the music landscape changed in the 1990s and how it impacted SPB.