Sit Properly

In the collection that is Classic ISKCON Records, there have been a lot of strange practices that went into making these records. From incredibly shoddy recording to bizarre disorganization, it’s been very difficult to figure out not only what was released, but who released it and when.

The Mayapur LP covers all of these bases. And though it’s far from the most disorganized release, this one has me absolutely confused.

By all looks, this is an album that contains a live recording of a Hare Krishna Festival. That festival probably took place in Mayapur. The word “Mayapur” is on the front cover, and on the back there’s a blurb in four different languages that talks about the Mayapur festival. It explains that nobody in this recording was a professional musician.

The label of the record itself gives us a little more information, stating: “Live recordings of a Hare Krishna Festival.” Side one is simply entitled “Part I,” while side two is labeled as “Part II.”

So it seems pretty straight forward. Someone took a microphone and a tape recorder to the Mayapur festival, made some field recordings, maybe touched them up a bit, and then cut a record.

But that’s not actually what’s on the record. The recordings are three tracks of Srila Prabhupada. Two are definitely from the studio, while the last one could be live (or it could simply be in a bigger studio with more devotees).

Getting back to the confusion, I have no absolute idea which record label released this. The record definitely comes from Germany, and in Germany there were two ISKCON-based record labels. One was called Hare Krsna Records, which mostly released recordings made by Hansadutta das. The other was called Radha Krsna Productions, and it mostly released music by Acyutananda das. That said, both labels were somehow related and released at least one identical record (the Hare Krishna Festival, which I’ll reconvert soon, I promise).

The blurb on the back cover alludes to Hare Krsna Records. The center paper label makes no claim to either organization. However, the etching on the runout groove of the vinyl (called the matrix) is: RKP-1006. If true (and I believe it is – mostly because I have to believe in something), that would make this Radha Krsna Productions’ sixth record – and probably their last.

The Music

Side A
1) Hare Krishna Mantra

Side B
1) Sri-Sri Gurv-astakam
2) Jaya Radha Madhava

The first song, which takes up all of the first side, is the same recording featured on the first Krishna Consciousness record, released by Happening Records in 1966 (which I will get to soon enough). This was the only other time (as far as I can tell) that it appeared on vinyl. The second side contains two songs, the first of which is a fairly famous version of “Sri Sri Guru-astaka.” Both of these songs appear on the Hare Krishna Classics & Originals CD released in the 90s.

The last song is “Jaya Radha Madhava,” but it’s no version I’ve heard anywhere before. It’s not any of the BBT CDs, nor on any of the “Vintage Series” CDs. It’s also not been released on any other vinyl records as far as I can tell. This is a very sweet version with a full congregation of devotees chanting along.

You can listen to samples below:

Wild Speculation
As with most of the Classic ISKCON Records, we’re left with zero details about the recording, pressing and distribution of this release. In actuality, none of it makes any sense. Here’s both a record cover and label that appear to contain recordings of the Mayapur Festival. Yet, when you drop the needle, you’re blessed with Srila Prabhupada instead. How this came about is anyone’s guess.

My speculation is this: The devotees, perhaps in 1976 or so, decided that it would be nice to release a record of field recordings from the Mayapur Festival. Thinking that nothing could possibly go wrong, they threw together an album cover, got a bunch of labels printed and then went to record the festival. Along the way, somehow something went horribly wrong. Maybe the devotee tasked with pushing the [REC] button spaced out. Maybe it was recorded, but somebody misplaced the tapes (ie, “spaced them out”). Maybe the sound quality was so horrible that it was rendered unlistenable. Whatever the reason, the music they wanted to appear on this record wasn’t available.

So rather than trash a thousand (or more? less? who knows!) covers and labels, they decided to fill it with Srila Prabhupada. Listening to it, I can tell that they must have had the master tapes (or a good copy thereof) in their possession. The first song sounds great, especially considering it’s the oldest of the bunch. The second and third sound even better. With these in hand, they then sent thirty-three minutes of mono music to the pressing plant. And what we have now is a Srila Prabhupada album, half of which had been already released, in a record cover claiming that it was a stereo recordings of the Mayapur Festival. Surprise!

The Archival Process
This was one of the easier records to work on. My copy of it is VG+ on the Goldmine Scale, and while it’s got its fair share of pops and clicks, it sounds pretty good. You’ve got to understand that I’m archiving, not restoring. The difference is that while I am doing my best to fix the many, many tiny pops and clicks, it’s simply not possible to fix them all. While I can assure you that this particular record has never sounded better, I also have to remind you that it has been sourced from a 35 year old chunk of vinyl that has gone through the hands of who knows how many people (apparently including someone named Werner Wilde who thought it a good idea to put address stickers on his records). You will still hear some pops and clicks. The only way to really avoid that is to acquire the master tapes and do a full restoration.

I have archived this record in both lossless FLAC (level 8) and as high quality MP3s (320kbps). For most, the MP3s will do just fine.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:

Media Used:
Vinyl LP from my personal collection.

Audio Equipment Used:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon w/ acrylic platter and Speedbox II
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Red
Preamp: Bellari VP-130 w/ Sovtek 12AX7LPS Vacuum Tube
Soundcard: Roland Edirol UA-1EX USB external soundcard

Software Used:
Audacity 2.0.1 on Linux Mint 14 (recorded at 24bit/96kHz)
Gnome Wave Cleaner 0.21-17 (click/pop removal)
Gnac 0.2.4 (to convert file to 16 bit FLAC level 8 and 320kbps MP3)

Artwork:
Scanned at 300dpi with Epson v500 Scanner
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.8.2

Radha Krishna Temple (Los Angeles) – Gopinatha/Ohe Vaisnava Thakura (7″ Single)
Golden Avatar Productions
GAP-1002

By 1975, ISKCON was in high gear and doing pretty well for itself. However, that didn’t mean they still couldn’t try to milk the 1969 George Harrison-produced Radha Krsna Temple for all it was worth. This single, though it may have the “Radha Krishna Temple” moniker, has nothing at all to do with the Radha Krsna Temple of London, 1969.

Most of the ISKCON records from the 70s came from Europe. Very few were produced in America. Golden Avatar Productions, in conjunction with the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, put out three (that I know of). The Radha Krishna Temple (Los Angeles) single may have been their last vinyl release. Mostly, they focused on cassette tapes.

Unlike a lot of the strange European releases, there isn’t much of a history here. GAP’s founder, Krishnakanti das, produced two songs and then released them. There’s no information on where or why or who played what on which song.

Side One
Gopinatha

Side Two
Ohe Vaisnava Thakura

You could hardly call these songs traditional Indian bhajans. Western instruments and a hippy folky feel dominate both sides. Thankfully, it doesn’t come of as contrived. The fact that the songs aren’t in English helps quite a bit, I’m sure.

The first song starts off like something from an early 70s Pink Floyd album, but with a violin thrown in for good measure. On vocals, we’ve got the amazing Agnidev. His voice is sweet, and pretty well saves the song. I think this song is trying to be a little trippy.

Side Two’s “Ohe Vaisnava Thakura” starts with a pretty Spanish guitar and Mangalananda sings sort of like if Jim Croce were a troubadour. It’s a simple song backed up with the obligatory (and sporatic) kartals and mrdanga drum.

My first copy of this 7″ was so bad that I never bothered posting it. It was just a scratched up record in a paper sleeve. However, along with the Visnujana 7″, came a pristine copy of the “Gopinatha” 7″ complete with picture sleeve. Both came from my friend Alan. Thanks a bunch!

So should you download this? Yes. Why not? You’ve probably never heard the songs before and that’s usually reason enough for me.

If anyone has more information about this release, please let me know. I’m always interested in learning more about these releases.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files here, if you like.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl 7″ from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

It’s been well over a year since the last time I posted anything from my collection Classic ISKCON Vinyl. Since then, I’ve acquired a few items and I will eventually get around to adding the rest of what I have (no promises as to speed, of course).

Visnujana Swami and the Children of the Gurukula
Isavasya Records
RK-108

However, a couple of days ago, I received a package in the mail from my friend Alan. Not knowing what to expect, I opened it and to my ridiculous delight were two Classic ISKCON 7″s. One was from Radha Krishna Temple (Los Angeles), which I already had, though my copy is trashed and this new one was in very good condition, plus it had a picture sleeve! I was delighted, to say the least.

The second one, however, nearly brought me to my knees. I had heard of it before, but figured that I’d never get a chance to listen to it, let alone add it to my collection.

Sometime in the early 70s (I assume), Visnujana Swami recorded two songs with the Dallas gurukula and released a 7″. I remembered that Alan had told me about it, but after I basically wet myself on Facebook, unable to thank him enough, he told me how he received the record.

Side 1
Prayer to Tulasi Devi

Side 2
The Golden Avatar and the Hare Krsna Mantra

One fine spring Saturday afternoon, almost 40 years ago, a Greyhound bus pulled into Riverside Park, a tidy, quiet park near two college campuses in the Bellhaven area of Jackson, Mississippi. It was a Greyhound bus, but no ordinary Greyhound bus–this was a bus from the Radha Damodar Traveling Sankirtan Party. For those too young to remember, the Hare Krishnas converted three Greyhound buses into mobile temples to bring the message of Krsna consciousness to every town and village in the United States and Canada.

I couldn’t believe my eyes, ears and nose as devotees poured out of the bus; a wondrously exotic sight of saffron and white flowing garments, shaved, tilaked heads, the ching-ching-ching sound of kirtals, and a smoky-trail of Spiritual Sky incense billowing out with each devotee as each stepped out of the doors of the bus. The first one out was carrying a sparkling fiberglass (mirdunga) drum, and wasted no time in producing an infectious, exotic, melodious rhythmic beat. Well, up until then, I had seen these other-worldly young men and women, chiefly in my travels to and around New York City. These were the cultish people who approached my dad and I at the Atlanta and New York airports, books and incense in hand for anybody that would stop and give a moment. Taking walks with my Hasidic grandfather in the Lower East Side of the city, we’d often spot a group of these young men wrapped in saffron-colored sheets, surrounding a golden, glowing little elderly Indian man whose feet seemed to glide above the sidewalk. The mass of shaved heads with little pony-tails would stop every so often as the little golden man appeared to be expressing a point, arms and hands waving about–little did I know then, that the little golden man was His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the Hare Krishna Movement.

As the Hare Krishnas left the bus, the mirdungas and kirtalas multiplied to produce a sound that seemed oddly familiar, not to my ears, but to my soul. Immediately, a group of people were drawn in, mostly college students, some hippies, and myself, a young, soon-to-be Bar Mitzvah boy. We joined in a circle of exuberant, uninhibited dancing and chanting lead by the devotees. This was my first kirtan.

A day or two later, the local FM radio station (which introduced the London Temple Album to Jackson), announced that the Hare Krishnas were giving a lecture and meditation discourse at an apartment near Millsaps College. My mom, very liberal and open-minded, took me, after all, she was a big fan of ISKCON’s Spritual Sky incense (she bought from some devotees in New Orleans earlier that year), and hoped to replenish her supply. I don’t remember much about the discourse, other than chanting the Mahamantra that was printed on little cards given out to everyone present. “Please chant: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Chant these words and your life will become sublime.” I didn’t realize it at the time, but the lecture was given by the mystical Vishnujana Swami Maharaja, as several years later confirmed to me by senior devotees at Mississippi’s New Talavana Farm Community.

Vishnujana was very kind to everyone, constantly smiling and patiently answering everyone’s questions. I remember tasting prasadam for the first time, thinking it was the most amazing food I have ever put in my mouth. Before leaving, Vishnujana made sure to thank everyone who attended personally, and gave my mom a KRSNA BOOK to which my mom gave a nice donation. Vishnujana Swami warmly thanked my mom, asked us to wait a moment, and briefly left the room. He returned with a 45 rpm record. My mom asked if it was a record of Indian music, to which Vishnujana laughed. I don’t remember his exact words but he explained it was a recording of a ‘bunch of ecstatic children screaming their love for God.’ We left that glorious evening, happily humming the mantra, KRSNA BOOK, Vishnujana record, and, oh yeah, Spritual Sky Patchouli Incense, in hand.

This record has given me and many friends years of listening pleasure. All thanks and praises to Eric, who painstakingly cleared out many scratches and clicks; now, this gem can be shared with so many others as it makes it debut into cyberspace.

All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Jaya Vishnujana Swami Maharaja Ki !!!!

Hare Krishna!

Aspiring to serve,
Alan

And now, Visnujana Swami and the Children of Gurukula…

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files here, if you like.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl 7″ from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

This album was requested some time ago and I’ve been meaning to get around to it. It wasn’t the easiest to clean up, but now that it’s finished, it really does sound great! I hope you enjoy it. Happy downloading. Haribol!

The Vrindavana LP, released by Parampara Productions, is tied for my favorite Classic ISKCON record with Temple Radha Krsna, also released by Parampara. It’s got almost everything you could want, including an amazing rendition of “Kesava Kali Mala” by Acyutananda Swami.

Sure, if you wanted to, you could see this as the poor-man’s Radha Krishna Temple (the George Harrison-produced LP that everyone has). Vrindavana seems to be trying mimic Radha Krishna Temple to a large degree. Most of the instruments are traditional, save a bass guitar and an often haphazardly played flute.

To me, however, the Radha Krishna Temple LP has always seemed over-produced. It’s too slick in many places and while a beautiful album, it doesn’t capture what you’d hear in the temple. Vrindavana pretty well fills that gap. It’s fairly well produced, but keeps enough of the temple spirit to satisfy my uselessly picky tastes.

Unlike many of the other records, there’s nothing weird or overly mysterious about this release. I have two copies of it and it’s obvious that they’re different pressings, but nothing too wacky.

The pressing from Holland has a purple stripe around the cover image. The French one has a blue stripe. Holland’s back cover gives a bit more information about the songs and places captions on the pictures (albeit, in Dutch). The Holland release came with an insert containing lyrics and purports (again in Dutch), while the French release (at least my copy of it) didn’t.

If I could find one odd thing about this release it’s that each country’s release is a completely different pressing. The French vinyl is of higher quality and much thicker. Holland’s label is the same as the French label, except they printed some copyright and “Made in Holland” info around the outer edge (probably for legal reasons specific to Holland).

The mixes are the same on each release, though the French release has two songs (the last songs on each side) that were mixed a bit too high, clipping a good deal of the vocals. Luckily, I was able to lift those two songs from the Dutch release. My copy of the French release was in much better shape than my copy of the release from Holland, which is why I chose one over the other.

There’s also a Spanish release from 1978 on the Producciones Govinda label. I don’t have that one though.

As interesting as I’m sure this is, let’s get to the songs themselves.

Kant A / Face A
1. Sri Rupa Manjari (6′30″) par Kausalya dasi
A beautiful flute and sitar accompany the beautiful voice of Kausalya dasi. I’ve never heard of her before, but she’s a great singer. This is a pretty mellow piece and a fine way to start a great album.

2. Manasa deha geha (5′) par Manibandha das
The first of two “Manasa deha geha”s. This is slow, but kind of funky too. There’s definitely a bit of swank going on here. Especially with the bass guitar and the what is probably an autoharp. The flute adds to the swankiness, especially during the flute-freak-out towards the end.

3. Bhaja hunre mana (5′) par Achyutananda Swami
It’s Achyutananda Swami! There’s some pretty steady sitar work going on here. This is very Indian. Even more so than Achyutananda Swami’s bhajans usually are. This is practically a song ripped straight from a Bollywood movie. You can almost picture some chubby and sweaty Indian guy patting his chest and doing a well-choriographed dance while inexplicably kicking piles of colored dust.

4. Gopinatha (4′30″) par Manibandha das
Very slow and mellow. There’s a great rolling rhythm to this. Something very bassie about it. Maybe it’s just the bass guitar. There’s a lot going on here. The kartalas seem to be playing in a 3/4 meter (like “Damodarastakam”) while the rest of the music is in 4/4. Not totally sure about this, but it works.

Kant B / Face B
1. Srita kamala (4′30″) par Kausaya dasi
Back with Kausaya dasi! A very sweet voice, twice overdubbed. It’s quite nice.

2. Kesava kali mala (3′20″) par Achyutananda Swami
Hey now! This is just funky! Totally worth the price of admission right here. Again, nearly Bollywood in its swankiness. Is that a bongo drum I hear? No idea, but it’s great. Check out the kartalas! And yet again with the funky flute. Please listen to this. There are maracas!

3. Manasa deha geha (7′30″) par Kausalya dasi
Kausalya dasi gives “Manasa deha geha” a try. This is a very mellow, yet menacing take on this classic. It works, even with the oddly placed bass guitar.

4. Hare Krsna kirtana (4′30″) les bhaktas assembles
Let’s all get together and chant Hare Krishna! Kausalya dasi leads and everyone follows. This is the same melody that’s used on the Radha Krishna Temple.

As I said before, my copy of the French album was in pretty ok shape – better than my copy of the Dutch album. Still, this was a tough one to clean up. Some of the pops were probably from the source tapes as they didn’t sound like vinyl pops. I fixed what I could and I think you’ll really enjoy this one.

The Vrindavana LP is my friend Rati’s favorite and I’m really happy that I can offer it to her in a much better quality than it was before. Vaisnavas should always leave a record cleaner than they found it! Hopefully they’ll play it for their beautiful deities, Nitai-gauracandra.

I’m unaware that any of these songs were ever officially rereleased by ISKCON (or anybody else for that matter). The album itself isn’t too difficult to track down. Some copies are selling for $100ish, but I see others for less than $10. This is definitely one you’d want to pick up.

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

Fairly high-quality scans of the album covers, records and insert are included as well (and as usual).

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files, if you like: Part One, Part Two

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

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

Let’s move back to some Srila Prabhupada bhajans, shall we? Next in the series of high quality rips of Classic ISKCON records is a double LP (in a gatefold sleeve!) of nothing but Srila Prabhupada. Enjoy!

Krsna Meditation
Radha Krsna Productions
RKP 1003 (also covers RKP 1005)

There aren’t many Krishna-related double LPs out there. And only one that is fully Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna Meditation was released by the Radha Krsna Productions label. That label’s first release was Acyutananda Swami’s India LP. Their third was this double LP of Srila Prabhupada, Krsna Meditation ( I still don’t know what their second release was).

Though it’s a very long record, it contains only six songs, the first five seemingly recorded at the same session. Those five tracks feature Srila Prabhupada (here called A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Prabhupada) on vocals and harmonium and Hansadutta dasa Adhikari on mrdanga drum (and not vocals). A tampura and a couple of kartalas are in the mix as well.

Unlike the Acyutananda Swami release, there’s nothing really mysterious about this one. No odd cross-record label antics, no strange cut-out markings, no bootleg quality recordings. This is a very straight forward Srila Prabhupada record. That is, until the last song rolls around. More on that in a bit.

One of the cool things about double LPs is that they often have gatefold covers. Krsna Meditation is no exception. The inside of this gatefold sports a huge picture taken during the recording session of Srila Prabhupada in the studio with Hamsadutta, Haimavati and, I assume, Cakravarti or Purijit das brahmacari (the latter three played kartalas on this record).

A paragraph appears on the lower left corner of the gatefold. It reads:

The singing of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Prabhupada is pure devotional music in praise of Krsna – Meditation, Srila Prabhupada explains, is not inactive, impersonal or void. Meditation is the awakening of the soul’s eternal relationship with the Supreme Person, Krsna. One who has experienced such an awakening cannot stop meditating on Krsna even for a moment, just as a young boy who has fallen in love with a young girl cannot stop thinking of her at any time. One can sing for Krsna, dance for Krsna, cook for Krsna, think for Krsna, work for Krsna or even fight for Krsna. In this way doing everything for Krsna, in the end one returns to Krsna.

By Hearing the spiritual sound vibrations of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Gosvami Prabhupada, the listener is immediately elevated to the platform of Krsna meditation which brings supreme peace and bliss within the heart.

This mixing on this album is interesting. Srila Prabhupada’s vocals are up front and in both channels, as you’d expect. The kartalas are in both as well. The tampura is lurking somewhere in the right channel while the mrdanga’s small, higher head pops up in the left channel as the larger, bass head hangs out in the center – an fun idea that works nicely.

Here’s the track listing…

Krsna Meditation Part I
Side A
1) Prayers to the Six Gosvamis

Side B
1) Gaura Prahun
2) Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu

Krsna Meditation Part II
Side A
1) Jaya Radhe Jaya Krsna

Side B
1) Yasomati-nandana
2) Cintamani

My copy of this album is in very near mint condition. The cleaning up process that I do was amazingly easy. The few stray pops and clicks that I had to deal with were no problem at all (except for the beginning of track two). The first three and a half sides of this double LP were a relative breeze to complete. That leaves “Cintamani,” with oodles of pops, clicks, weird flutters and lower volume as a bit of an anomaly.

But it was no mystery. Acyutananda Swami’s India LP was the same way. The record was in near mint condition, yet the whole thing was full of pops, clicks and general noisiness. And so just like the India LP, “Cintamani,” the last song on Krsna Meditation is a recording recorded directly off another record. The pops and clicks don’t come from my copy, but from someone else’s dusty, dirty copy of some other record that apparently featured Srila Prabhupada singing “Cintamani.”

While the rest of the album has cleaned up very well, there are still quite a few blemishes within “Cintamani.” I did what I could and it’s not at all hard on the ears. It features Srila Prabhupada on vocals and harmonium with a devotee or two on kartalas and a very buried mrdanga. No tampura here. This comes from a completely different recording session.

Two releases later, Radha Krsna Productions took Part I – Side A and Part II – Side B of this record and released it as Krsna Meditations (RKP-1005). Same title, same exact front album cover and nearlyidentical back cover, but half the music. Even the matrix etching reads: RKP-1003-A for the first side and RKP-1003-D for the second, just like RKP-1003, the subject of this post, indicating that RKP’s fifth release used the same plates to press the vinyl as their third release (which means that the shoddy sound quality of “Cintamani” is still there).

Sometime later, a record label calling itself Radha Govinda Productions threw together a hodge podge of recordings from other records and used a ten minute edit of “Prayers to the Six Gosvamis” from Krsna Meditation. That was mysteriously punctuated “Prayers to the Six: Gosvamisos.”

Krsna Meditations is one of the few records that was ever (partially) made available on cassette and CD under (basically) the same name. It was released by Bhaktivedanta Book Trust as Krishna Meditations in the late 80s as Timeless Meditations And then later, in the mid-90s as Krishna Meditations, part of the “Gold Series.” Both rereleases, however, lops off the last song (the noisy “Cintamani”) and seem to have edited “Prayers to the Six Gosvamis” (the first song) down to less than eight minutes (it’s original is just under 18 minutes). Also, the song titles on the newer release are changed to their more “proper” titles. “Prayers to the Six Gosvamis” becomes “Sri Sri Sad-gosvamy-astaka,” while “Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu” becomes “Savarana-Sri-Gaura-pada-padme.” This edited down CD is still available.

As for “Cintamani,” I’ve searched through the Srila Prabhupada Vintage Series recordings and found no trace of this version of “Cintamani” (which is usually renamed “Brahma-samita”). Where this came from and where it’s gone is beyond me and seems to be only available on this album (and it’s smaller re-release – #1005).

So, why settle of rehashes and edits when you can get the whole thing right here!

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

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files, if you like: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

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

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

Here we are at the third (and final?) 7″ release by Hare Krsna Records out of Germany. This one tacks on “Amsterdam” behind the usual “Hare Krsna Festival.” There is, of course, no explanation as to why it’s called “Amsterdam.”

Hare Krsna Festival Amsterdam
Hare Krsna Records
HKR-2003

Both of the songs on this release are sung by Hansadutta das Adhikary. One thing to take note of on all of these records is who is attributed to writing the song. The writing credits are usually listed in parentheses under the song titles. In this case, since a “traditional” song is being sung, the writing credit would read “(Traditional).” However, for some reason “Hans Kary” is credited as writer. Hans Kary is the legal name of Hansadutta. Hansadutta didn’t write either the Hare Krishna mantra or the lyrics to “Vande Ham,” he arranged the song. The writing credits should have read “(Traditional – arr. by Hans Kary).”

It’s a trifling matter, but also a bit telling at the same time.

Side A gives us Hansadutta’s take on “Vande Ham.” This was also on the last 7″ that I posted (HKR-2002). Though this version is pretty nice and mellow. It’s a good version, though not as pleasing to the ear as Avinas Chandra’s version on the last release. Recording it again seems almost unnecessary. “Vande Ham” was recorded on many of these records by many different people (including several versions by Srila Prabhupada). You almost never hear it these days.

“Jaya Radha, Jaya Krsna” is our B-side. It’s a really sweet song, no matter who is at the helm. Hamsadutta hogs it a bit, but not enough to really ruin it. A female devotee’s voice (Krsna Premi’s?) floats in and out of this recording and that adds quite a bit to it. I really like her vocals. This time, the main vocals start in the center, but after about a minute, they slide to the left channel, leaving the reverb in the right channel with the the responses. It’s an interesting touch. I love this song. There are better versions of it out there, but this will do in a pinch. It’ll be in my head all day.

Side A
Vande Ham

Side B
Jaya Radha, Jaya Krsna

For the first side of this 7″, everything went along smoothly. The record is clean and relatively click/pop-free. But the second side was complete chaos. First, the source recording’s vocal track is clipping. It’s not really bad enough that the casual listener would notice it, but trying to de-click/pop this, it made for a rough morning.

On top of that, somehow the record got a skip in it. This is bad. Very bad. And it’s my fault. Click and pops I can usually take care of. Skips, on the other hand, I can’t. It literally skips over one whole rotation of the record. Nearly a second of music was gone.

My first thought was to dig up my old recording of this and just patch it up. But when I listened to that old recording, I found it to be completely unusable. It didn’t even sound like the same record.

So what I did was sort of like a skin graft. I lifted a very very similar part of the song and grafted it over the skip. It took about an hour to get the timing right, but it matches up almost perfectly. You will not notice it. I just thought I’d mention this, in the spirit of geeky full disclosure.

This 7″ is available as high quality mp3s and as “lossless” FLAC files. For most of you, the MP3 at 320kbps will be more than sufficient.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files here.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl 7″ from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

Two records in three days! Maybe I’ll throw Hare Krsna Records’s third 7″ up tomorrow. Maybe…. maybe Friday….

Hare Krsna Festival
Hare Krsna Records
HKR-2002

The second 7″ released by Hare Krsna Records features two songs, both by male devotees.

“Vande Ham” kicks off the record. A devotee named Avinas Chandra sings this slow and stirring rendition of a classic. There’s a mrdanga in the left channel as kartals and a harmonium fill both. The vocals are mostly on the right. This is a really a very beautiful version.

Hansadutta dasa (who was largely responsible for the vast majority of the 70s ISKCON records) sings at us on the b-side. “Hare Krsna Kirtana” is, to me, a little off-putting. Hansadutta’s voice is nice, but he’s loud and when the assembled devotees are responding, he’s often singing “Haribol!” and “Chant the Holy Name!” over them. He does this throughout.

Side A
Vande Ham

Side B
Hare Krsna Kirtana

The copy that I own is in pretty OK shape. Side B took a while to clean up and a lot of the pops were very bassy, so it was hard to get rid of them without damaging the music. Most are completely gone, but a few remain. Again, the source recordings for both sides leave a bit to be desired. But also like the last Hare Krsna Records 7″, this one is very listenable. Especially Side A.

This 7″ is available as high quality mp3s and as “lossless” FLAC files. For most of you, the MP3 at 320kbps will be more than sufficient.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files here.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl 7″ from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

I’ve been very incredibly lax with posting new re-rips of the old ISKCON records that I have. Mostly this is due to computer issues that I’ve finally ironed out (you know, sort of). I thought that it would be best to start small, since I’m using a bit of a new set up – everything is now going to be recorded, edited, etc on my laptop (rather than desktop) running LinuxMint 7.

So here we go, with a small offering…

Hare Krsna Festival
Hare Krsna Records
HKR-2001

A good chunk of the ISKCON records released in the 70s were titled “Hare Krsna Festival.” This makes telling one apart from the next fairly difficult. Most of those records were released by Hare Krsna Records out of Germany. This label appears to have been run by Hamsadutta dasa.

Hare Krsna Records released at least four full-length LPs and three 7″s (known as “45s” to some folk). Hare Krsna Festival (HKR-2001) appears to be the first.

This release contains two songs. Both of the songs are sung by a mataji named Krsna Premi.

“Tulasi Prayers,” on the first side, is sweet and fully traditional (with addition of a harmonium). It starts slow and is steady throughout, leaving out the “yani kani ca papani…” at the end. It’s a great little song anyway.

“Hare Krsna Kirtan,” on the flip side, is sung by this same mataji and is a bit more upbeat. There are kartals, a mrdanga and harmonium. The song builds, faster and faster until its fade out. A splendid little record, this!

Side A
Tulasi Prayer

Side B
Hare Krsna Kirtan

My copy of this 7″ was in very good condition. There wasn’t much to clean up. That said, a few pops and clicks remain. Most of the issues with the audio come from the source recording. There’s a bit of wavering between right and left channels and even a strange cut out/fuzz near the beginning of “Hare Krsna Kirtan.” This 7″ is still very listenable and I’m betting you’ll enjoy it.

This 7″ is available as high quality mp3s and as “lossless” FLAC files. For most of you, the MP3 at 320kbps will be more than sufficient. For those who like FLAC files, leave a comment and I’ll get them to you.

Samples of the songs are available in the comments.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Download the FLAC files here.

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl 7″ from my personal collection.

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

So soon after the India LP I deliver unto you Srila Prabhupada’s Govinda! This is a fun project, thanks for the kind words. Haribol! Enjoy the download!

Govinda Prayers Sung by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Golden Avatar Productions
GOPI-108

You will know this album by the first few notes of the first song, “Prayers to the Six Gosvamis.” The drone of the tampoura and the strikes of the sarod have been heard on countless ISKCON productions. The rest of the album, however, isn’t as well known.

In 1973, before Europe’s Hare Krishna record industry kicked off in high gear, Gold Avatar Productions released a simple, 40 minute recording by Srila Prabhupada entitled Govinda. Three songs and one spoken track are all that make up this album, but it seems to have been the first official recording of Srila Prabhupada’s singing since 1968′s Happenings LP (I’m speculating here, correct me if I’m wrong).

Govinda was re-released in 1975 with a different cover painted by Pariksit dasa. The first release lacked liner notes of any kind aside from the record label itself, which listed the instruments played, but not (with the exception of Srila Prabhupada) who played them. Two years later, all credits appeared on the back cover.

The songs are very minimalistic in contrast to the George Harrison-produced Radha-Krsna Temple. There is no percussion aside from kartals, played by Srila Prabhupada, who also played the harmonium in one song.

Recording took place at Annex Studios on Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood, California. They were Columbia Record’s main west coast studio until the late 60s and recorded the likes of Johnny Mathis and Elvis Presley. Those recordings used professional sound engineers and producers. In 1973, for the Govinda recording sessions, there seems to be only Krsnakanti dasa. A year before, he founded Gold Avatar to release Srila Prabhupada’s lectures. This may have been his first attempt at producing. The quality shows. He seems to have done much better later on (even professionally producing some disco records under the “Golden Age” Studios name (rather than “Golden Avatar”).

George and Ann Ruckert, who appear on the first track and are possibly brother and sister were both students of Ali Akbar Khan. George is now an MIT professor of music while Ann, who attended Julliard at age 15, co-founded the Jazz Foundation and teaches music privately. How they became associated with this recording, however, is still a mystery to me.

The first song, “Prayers to the Six Gosvamis,” features Ann and George Ruckert on tampoura and sarod, respectively. They accompany Srila Prabhupada’s singing and kartals. The tampoura’s drone in the left channel sounds almost like a deep blues harmonica at times, adding a very strange feel to the whole piece (this is a good thing). The sarod meanders around the notes set by Srila Prabhupada’s vocals and the beat kept by the kartals. It is not a complex piece, but an odd one if you really listen for it. This has been most widely available on the CD Hare Krishna Classics & Originals.

“Gour and Nitai” (entitled “Lalasamayi” on the 1975 re-release) finishes out side two. It is loud recording, with Srila Prabhupada belting out the slow tune and grinding slowly away on the harmonium. Nobody else is present on this track. I’m not sure whether it was planned this way, but the entire piece sounds hollow and very low-fi, evidence that producer Krsnakanti was just starting out. This song has been commercially unavailable since this release.

Side two’s only song is “Chintamani” (“Cintamani” on the 1975 re-release). It again feature Srila Prabhupada on vocals on kartals, but also Visnujana Swami on tampoura. The drones of the tampoura add quite a lot to the song, as it doesn’t sound quite as “empty” as “Gour and Nitai.” It’s also interesting to hear a more traditional take on the Brahma-samita prayers. The same prayers were used on “Govinda,” the Radha-Krsna Temple’s single that is still played at every ISKCON center every morning. Aside from this recording, this sweet song has never been released by ISKCON.

The closing track is a twelve minute speech by Srila Prabhupada, simply called “Chintamani – text.” Here, Srila Prabhupada gives a little background as to the meaning of the song “Chintamani” as well as a bit of translation for the verses. This recording, oddly enough, saw the light of day on Volume 16 of the Vintage Series CDs as an explanation for a different recording of “Chintamani.”

The 1975 re-release included not only production credits, but an insert with lyrics and some text.

Side 1
1) Prayers to the Six Goswamis 13:05
2) Gour and Nitai (Lalasamayi) 7:01

Side 2
1) Chintamani 9:11
2) Chintamani – text 12:10

On the back of the 1975 re-release, a short note about Srila Prabhupada reads…

For thousands of years holy men in India have reached the Transcendental Realm of super-consciousness by vibrating sacred hymns. Now His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada brings this consciousness to the West in an ecstatic performance with classical Indian instruments.

This album was fairly easy to clean up, though I still wish my copy of it was in better shape. I used the 1975 release since my copy of the original release is in even worse shape. Again, it’s not perfect, but it’s the best I could do.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Technical Information:
Media Used:
Vinyl LP from my personal collection (I used the 1975 release since it was in better shape).

Artwork Scanned from Original @ 300 dpi with XSane .996
Edited and Restored Using GIMP Image Editor 2.6.6

Acyutananda Swami – India
Radha Krsna Productions
RKP 1001

Acyutananda Swami’s India LP isn’t really all that rare. It’s pretty available on Ebay, Discogs, Gemm.com, etc. It’s comprised of seven studio tracks, all sung by Acyutananda Swami and all recorded in Mayapura. It’s a great album to listen to and you’ll be very happy with it.

But just because it’s a solid record doesn’t mean there isn’t mystery behind it. With this recording, there are three main mysteries (aside from when it was actually recorded).

The first is about the record label that released it. My copy was released under the Radha Krsna Productions label. It is the first of five records to be released under that moniker. However, opon closer inspection of the record itself, while the label clearly states that it’s Radha Krsna Productions release, the etching in the center of the vinyl (called the “matrix”) reads: “HKR – 1005 – A” (or “- B” depending on which side).

HKR stands for Hare Krsna Records, Hamsadutta’s label. There were, as far as I can tell, only four LPs released by Hare Krsna Records. They were catalog numbers 1001 – 1004. If this were to be their #1005, it would have been the only LP where Hamsadutta played no role in the production.

To me, that seems reason enough for Hamsadutta to kick it to another label even after Hare Krsna Records pressed it. But what is the real story? Beats me.

Keep in mind, Hare Krsna Records and Radha Krsna Productions shared at least one release: Hare Krsna Festival – HKR #1003/RKP #1004. So why this is the India LP RKP #1001 as well as HKR #1005? I’ve got no idea.

Also, there are other copies of this LP with yellow labels. Their matrix “correctly” reads RKP1001 as one would think it should. At this time, I don’t know more about these copies.

The second mystery is this…

It’s a “cut out” … sort of…

In the recording industry, a cut-out refers to a deeply-discounted or remaindered copy of an LP…. When LPs were the primary medium for distribution or recording, manufacturers would physically cut the corner, punch a hole, or add a notch to the spine of the jacket of unsold records returned from retailers; these “cut-outs” might then be re-sold to record retailers or other sales outlets for sale at a discounted price. A special section of a record store devoted to such items was known as the cut-out bin or bargain bin. – Wikipedia (lazy me)

But the actual mystery is this: The cover that I have is not a cut out. It’s a photograph of a cut out. The photograph used on the cover of this LP was made from a cut out version of the same LP. Why?

What this seems to indicate is that someone wanted to print more covers, but the only covers they had were ones with cut outs. So they photographed a cut out cover and used it. I’ve only personally seen one copy of this LP (though there are tons out there). This is not common to all of them, but most I’ve seen are like this.

Again, I’m wildly speculating, but a guess would be that maybe Hamsadutta actually released this one, made a bunch of copies and then “destroyed” them via the cut out process. But really, who knows (and probably who cares).

The last mystery is more of a “why” than a “what” or “how.” While digitally cleaning this recording up, removing the pops, hisses and clicks (as described here), I made the discovery that the recording heard on this record is actually a recording of an earlier pressing of this record. This pressing wasn’t recorded from its master tapes as it should have been, but from an earlier pressing of the same record.

Basically, the first pressing of the India LP was recorded from the original master tapes. When it came time for a subsequent pressing, the master tapes were not available for some reason. In order to make another pressing, they had to resort to a copy of the first pressing and use that as the source – crackles, pops and all.

You can actually hear the crackles and pops where no dust or scratches can be seen on the record itself. Also, the right channel is pretty muddy and most of the crackles live there. I was able to remove 99% of the crackles (which were very present on both sides of the LP). Some remain, of course, but the cleaning up process (at a rate of taking an hour of work for one minute of music) has done wonders.

Additionally, at first I thought I had recorded this record’s volume too high. I was getting distortion at the louder parts (called “clipping”). But no, my levels were just fine. When this record was recorded from the original pressing, whoever did it didn’t bother to check the levels, so there’s a bit of clipping here and there. I was able to remove much of this.

This is the best job that I could do. There are those who could do better, of course, but this is definitely as good as this LP has sounded since the mid 70s.

To make matters even stranger, the back cover of some copies are in German, while most are in English. The fake cut outs seem to be on both the German and the English copies. I’m not sure if the non-cut out versions are German or English copies.

It’s my speculation that the non-cut out versions are the originals and are of much better sound quality. I do not know this for sure, however.

Okay, so let’s get to the record…

Side I

1) Gaya Gour (5:09)
2) Radha Govinda (4:55)
3) Jasomati Nandana (5:10)
4) Kesava Kali Mala (5:21)

Side II

1) Manasha Deha Geha (6:12)
2) Nama Sankirtana (7:09)
3) Gopinatha (7:55)

On the back cover of the LP there’s a bit of a write up. Here it is…

Acyuthananda Swami is an American sannyasi, who left his homeland at the age of 16 years and has been living in India since the last 10 years studying the spiritual culture and music of India. He is world renowned for his masterful singing of Bengali Vaisnava folk songs and playing on mrdanga (clay drum, unique to Bengal).

The recordings on this LP were taken in Mayapura, India, and we beg the listeners to excuse the obvious shortcomings due to circumstances beyond our control. This record has been produced especially with the idea of helping the needy people of Bengal by sending the profits above the cost of actual production to our international center in Mayapura, India (Bengal), where thousands of people are fed each day from contributions coming through the sale of this record. Give generously.

Whether the needy people of Bengal ever got anything from this is unclear.

Just click on the button and it’ll take you to a page where you can download the zip file. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

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