The Muscicians of my youth- Nihal D Amarasekera

The Musicians of my youth

Nihal D Amarasekera 

I cannot sing to save my life, hence I’ve become an inveterate fan of the magical music produced by so many talented musicians. The sheer talent and the variety of music available out there is simply staggering. 

I spent my early childhood in a large family house in Nugegoda owned by my grandparents. Several of my uncles, aunts and many cousins we all lived together which was a wonderful start to life. Music then was ever-present on the radio, in church or at school. In the evenings my aunt played the guitar and we were encouraged to sing and we did. I remember singing several old arias including “Santa Lucia” into the stillness of the night. 

During our Teenage years, music had a very special appeal. 1955 saw the emergence of Rock 'N Roll music. The first rock 'n' roll record to achieve national popularity was "Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. I queued for hours in the heat of the day to see the film at the Savoy. Bill Haley succeeded in creating a music that appealed to youth because of its exciting backbeat, its urgent call to dance, and the action of its lyrics. The booming base and the twang of electric guitars produced a foot-tapping sound. Haley abruptly ended the ascendancy of the bland and sentimental ballads of the crooners popular in the 1940s and early 50s. I was then in the boarding, singing, clicking my fingers and gyrating to the music coming through the Rediffusion set in the common room of the school boarding house. The music of Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard and the Shadows was all-consuming to us teenagers. The Colgate Hit-parade on Tuesdays was as good as watching cricket on a Saturday.

The music fashions changed when we were in the Medical faculty. Music of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and others became popular.  Dancing caught on and the beat music was ideal for swinging and jiving. 

The music scene is so very different now. Compact disks took over from vinyls. The new amplifiers and speakers provided music much closer to a live performance. Now there are more musicians producing good music. The distribution of the music with streaming and YouTube is much better and faster. Hence the turnaround is so much quicker. Many of the songs are here today and gone tomorrow. With the pieces being so evanescent I wonder if the songs of today will have the same lasting impact like the music of our era. 

I still remember most fondly the singers and the songs that appealed to me in my youth and made me see the world in such vivid technicolour. 

Elvis Presley (1935-77)

He was our cultural icon growing up and was the King of Rock and Roll. Elvis energised the songs he sang and his performances had a certain sexual content which appealed to the youth of the day. Much of his music fizzes with life and passion. His films like “Love me tender” became box office hits. Elvis conquered the charts well into the 1970s. Despite his hell-raising image and fast living and equally fast music, the song that I love and remember most of all is the tenderness and emotion with which he sang “Are you lonesome tonight”.

Fame and fortune brought into his life ‘drugs’ which compromised his health. He led a colourful life in the spotlight. Elvis’ untimely death brought great sadness to many of his fans. His house and estate called ‘Graceland’ is a mausoleum, monument and a museum to a legend fondly remembered by many.

When my mood takes me, I still listen to some of his songs. They do remind me of places and people who were in my life all those years ago. 

Pandith W.D Amaradeva (1927-2016)

Often referred to as the maestro, he was a well-known Sinhala vocalist, violinist and composer. He had his early training in India and he has included South Indian and Tamil music into his compositions. His work invoked what could be called traditional folk music including into them many outside influences making the compositions unique and well-liked by many. Amaradeva was a regular and found steady work at the Radio Ceylon. He has composed music for ballet, TV and films and has won many national and international awards. There was a calming Zen air and a mystique about his songs and his music. Wherever he performed WD Amaradeva received a rapturous reception and he enjoyed critical and popular acclaim.

He composed the music for the Maldivian National Anthem.

Out of the many beautiful songs he has sung in his life time my special favourite is “Sasara Wasana Thuru”. It is intriguing that the year it was composed and the name of the composer and lyricist remains unknown. The way it is sung by W.D Amaradeva shows how much he has mastered his craft. The song conveys a deeply philosophical message. The expressive way it is sung, the poignant lyrics and the soulfulness of the melody enhances this message and transports the listener into a different realm. 

The Beatles

In the 1960’s the British rock band from Liverpool took the world by storm. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr each of them were fine musicians in their own right. They oozed talent and charisma. They revolutionised music of the time. The Beatles attained cult status becoming leaders of the youth of the time. They thrilled us with their swagger, confidence and audacity. The fan frenzy was called Beatlemania. Psychedelic drugs entered the music scene at this time. Their music enhanced interest in Indian spirituality like the Hari Krishna movement. Delirious ragas, incense and sitars joined the cult with tantalising fusions of East and West.

I was a medical student during their early years and became mesmerised by their musical culture, fine vocals, superb lyrics and the rich twang of the electric guitars. The very thought of the Beatles brings back nostalgic memories of those youthful years dancing unashamedly to the Harold Seneviratne Combo playing Beatles music at the Colours Night Dances at King George’s Hall. Accompanied by a glamorous partner and up to the eyeballs in amber nectar, those events brought us closer to heaven. Where have all those years gone?? My favourite since all those years remains “A hard days night” made famous in 1964. 

Cliff Richard

He was born Harry Rodger Webb in Lucknow, India to British parents. They moved to England after Indian Independence in 1948. When his talent was recognised, he was on a fast track to fame, fortune. With a huge fan following, he was a teenage heartthrob when we were growing up. I’m certain at least some of us will know the words of the popular Cliff Richard hits like Living Doll, Young Ones and Summer Holiday. In the late 1950’s and early 60’s he dominated the British pop music scene with the backing of the shadows. He had a prosperous film career with the “Young Ones” and “Summer Holiday”. Cliff Richard's popularity was mostly in Britain and the Commonwealth countries. He was less known in the USA. He continued to sing well into the new millennium with much popularity and affection. He was the voice of my generation growing up in Sri Lanka. Despite a battery of important examinations that was indeed a magical time in my life. Still, when I hear his old songs, which I play occasionally, it takes me back to the happy times of my 6^th form years at school when his songs hogged the charts and our lives. 

Nat King Cole (1919-65)

He started his musical life as a classical pianist but soon moved over to jazz. The Nat King Cole Trio where he played the piano and also sang became popular and they began to tour the country. It was in the 1950’s that he launched a successful solo career scoring numerous hits like ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Smile’, ’Rambling Rose’, ‘Pretend’ and ‘Too young’. Sadly, despite his popularity as a singer his life was tormented by racism, a sign of the times.  A life-long smoker he died age 45 of lung cancer. There is no music that brings me closer to my youth than the music of Nat King Cole. There’s a charmingly relaxed quality to his songs. His husky, velvet voice generated a certain magic that reached deep into my soul. I still listen to a lot of his indelible songs on quiet evenings when I’m in a mood for nostalgia. Listening to the best of his tracks, I can quite easily imagine Nat wandering into our lounge. There was an album I owned where the great man sang with his daughter, Natalie Cole. This brilliant collection of duets included a version of unforgettable that will indeed remain what it says on the cover -- “Unforgettable”.

 

C.T Fernando (1921-77)

Cyril Tudor Fernando was a legendary singer and composer and an icon of our time. He had a vast repertory of superb songs which were his own creations and well known to many of our generation. His recordings also featured lyrics by the famous Lalith S. Maithripala, Karunaratna Abeysekara, Sarath Wimalaweera and Wimaladasa Perera. C.T Fernando music was on the radio many times a day and at important functions including weddings. No music or musicians can bring me closer to Sri Lanka of my youth and those halcyon days than C.T Fernando. I grew up singing his songs, badly, enjoying it nevertheless. I had the good fortune to see him perform live on Sunday evenings in a small hall by the sea in Kollupitiya in 1966/67 while I was at the Jeewaka medical hostel. Even now when I hear his music I’m transported back to Ambaruk Sevana, the H.O’s residence in Kurunegala where his songs were played in the evenings and at weekends at our regular booze-ups. Those memories remind me of my friends at the time, H.N Wickramasinghe, Tudor Wickramatchi, A.P Gunetilleke and Derryck De Silva among many others none of whom are alive today. My favourite C.T Fernando classics are “Suwanda Rosa mal” and “Pin Suduwannay” which I try to sing in the shower just hoping no one will hear. His songs will live on.