The Rise and Fall of the Electric Sitar

You are probably aware of the instrument that is the foundation of much Indian music--the sitar. It's unique sound dominates the music that those of us in the West think of when we consider music from India.

Because of the large Indian population in London, the British were the first to become aware of this instrument. It was often heard on the soundtrack of films from England. The average pop music fan was introduced to the instrument by the Beatles when George Harrison played it on Norwegian Wood. It's distinctive sound blended nicely with John Lennon's acoustic guitar to make a dynamite single.

George used it on two other songs, Love You To and Within You Without You. These were not pop songs, per se, but were Harrison's interpretation of Indian music. It also appeared on Across the Universe and Tomorrow Never Knows.

Following the trend-setting mop-tops, many pop bands of the 60s included the sitar on a song or two. The most prominent was The Rolling Stone's song Paint It Black, where it was played by Brian Jones (the picture at left is of Ron Wood playing the sitar part for the Stones sometime more recently).

But then someone invented the electric sitar. As best as I can tell, there were two versions, one with extra drone strings and one tuned like a guitar (see the pictures below). Now you didn't have to sit on a rug to balance the huge instrument.

After quite a bit of use in the 60s and early 70s, the instrument seemingly disappeared from pop music (although it pops up once in a while, like in Tom Petty's Don't Come Around Here No More). But for a while, it provided a fun texture.

I am compiling a list of 60's/70's songs that used the sitar or electric sitar. Here is what I've come up with so far:

Box Tops--Cry Like a Baby
B.J. Thomas--Hooked on a Feeling
Stevie Wonder--Signed Sealed Delivered
The Animals--Monterey
Frieda Payne--Band of Gold
The Spiners--It's a Shame
The Lemon Pipers--My Green Tambourine
Scott McKenzie--San Francisco
John Fried--Judy in Disguise with Glasses
Steely Dan--Do It Again
The Cyrkle--Turn Down Day

There were plenty of songs on albums that were not hits that used the sitar, but I'm interested in the hits. Can you think of any more for my list?