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The Sitar in Classic Rock

Author: lucyinthesky

The Sitar in Classic Rock

My previous lesson was about the early use of the sitar in jazz and Beatles music. But the influence of Indian music didn't stop just there - it made its way into all sorts of songs. Check out these classic rock songs (and one soul song by the one and only Stevie Wonder!). See if you can hear the sitar playing in the songs.

These songs use either the traditional sitar (a classical Indian instrument) or an electric version of it, called the electric sitar - seen above.

Classic Rock

The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
Arguably one of the Rolling Stones' most popular songs, "Paint it Black" includes the band's guitarist Brian Jones playing the sitar. Watch the video below to see the band play (doesn't Mick look young?)!

The Monkees - This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day (1966)
The Monkees were a pop singing quartet who even had their own TV show. This song features the sitar and is played in one of their episodes.

Shocking Blue - Love Buzz (1969)
Shocking Blue was a Dutch rock band in the 1960s. Nirvana actually has a cover of this 60s psychedelic song on their album "Bleach", which you can watch here.

BJ Thomas - Hooked on a Feeling (1969)
This famous song includes an electric sitar. If you watch the video, you can see that its round shape and long neck resembles that of an actual sitar.

Soul Music

Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours (1970)
What's this, you ask? This song isn't part of classic rock - it's part of classic soul! I must have heard this song a hundred times, but I've never actually realized that there's an electric sitar (or at the very least, an electric guitar employing sitar-like sounds) playing the background throughout the whole song. You can hear it especially well at the beginning. It definitely adds a unique touch to Stevie's awesome song.