Sit Properly

As promised a couple of days ago, I’ll be digitally rerecording all of my Classic ISKCON Vinyl. You can read all about that here. The first reselection is Temple Radha Krishna (not to be confused with the original Radha Krishna Temple that came out on Apple Records).

Temple Radha Krishna
Les Productions Parampara
RPI 101

Temple Radha Krishna was released by Les Productions Parapmara. That label released at least two other records. Temple Radha Krishna was the first (#101). Vrindavana (#102) and Goddess of Fortune (#103 – basically a bootleg of a bootleg of Apple’s Radha Krishna Temple) followed.

My thought is that Temple Radha Krishna was purposely named such to confuse people into thinking that this was the George Harrison produced record. Basically, if people think this is that, we can move more copies.

The cover image was also used for the Brahma-samita book. The cover itself is pretty cheaply made. The rear cover is in French but features a picture of George Harrison (along with Malati and Shymasundar prabhus – who both appeared on the Apple Records album). Acyutananda Swami is also pictured.

Acyutananda Swami is featured on four cuts. Bhagavan dasa has three. Yogesvara dasa has one, as does Srila Prabhupada.

Here’s a rundown and review of the songs.

Face 1 (apparently they’re called “faces” not “sides” in France)
1. Gaurangera Dutipada 6:32 – The first song is by Srila Prabhupada. The quality is clearly different than the rest of the record, so more than likely they just threw this on, taking it from another recording. I’m not sure if this specific recording is also on one of the Vintage Series CDs, but I wasn’t familiar with it before hearing it here.

2. Gaya Gora Madhur Svare 5:10 – Acyutananda Swami gives us our second cut with a sitar-driven rendition. There are also kartals very haphazardly played. However, his voice is really great in this. The production pushes the vocals, while the instruments are fairly lost in the back.

3. Gopinatha 4:05 – Things are slowed down here, with Acyutananda Swami at the helm once again. This was clearly from the same session as Gaya Gora Madhur Svare, above.

4. Radha-Madhava 5:02 – Bhagavan dasa takes over for the last cut on side one. This one is a soft, yet rocking kirtana style rendition of this daily-sung song. It’s got a harmonium, a mrdanga and a few kartals. Quite a fun track. It’s one that really makes this album great.

Face 2
5. Japa (Meditation) 1:05 – By “Les bhaktas assembles.” The second side starts us off with about a minute of japa as chanted in the temple by devotees. No one voice is featured. I wish they would have done a whole album of this. That would be fun.

6. Kesava Kali Mala 5:21 – And Acyutananda Swami is back for what is my favorite song on this album. It’s upbeat and fun. Also from the same session as the first two Acyutananda Swami tracks. Have a listen. It’s fun.

7. Radhe 5:21 – It’s time to slow things down a bit with another one of my favorite songs. Acyutananda Swami is on vocals again (his last song on this album). It features a droning sitar, kartals (played pretty well) and a mrdanga. The temp picks up towards the end.

8. Bhaja Bakata 1:50 – Sung by Bhagavan dasa, this is a quick clip of Gaura-arati played on the harmonium from the same session as track four. For some reason it slides right into the next track:

9. Hare Krsna 3:20 – A kirtana led by Yogesvara dasa. I’m not sure why they did the slide, but I have both songs (tracks 8 and 9) on one file so that the transition from one song to the next could be preserved. This is a too short, but fun kirtana with a cute female voice in the background yelling “Hare Hare!” Yogesvara dasa’s voice is great. I wish there were kirtanas of his floating around.

10. Hare Krsna 2:22 – This is weird and almost trance-like. Bhagavan dasa’s voice is soft and slow, followed by a harmonium. The kartals and the mrdanga are playing a much faster beat, in double-time. There’s also there are a few conchs blowing in the back ground. A great way to end this great album.

I’m really happy to be doing this. I hope it brings a smile to the devotees’ faces. I hope that someone out there remembers these albums. And if no one does, well maybe if you’re hearing them for the first time, you’ll play them again and again.

This album is available as high quality mp3s and as “lossless” FLAC files. For most of you, the MP3 at 320kbps will be more than sufficient.

Click here to download the entire album in one big zip file! (88 MB)

Download the FLAC files here.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LP from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6