Sitar, Sanskrit and Baul music: How Mick Jagger played to India's tune

As Jagger rolls into his 80s, India's influence on his music remains subtle but significant

If you were a fan of the British band scene in the 1960s and ’70s, then you were constantly torn between the “squeaky clean” boys next door (The Beatles) and the downright rowdy rebels (The Rolling Stones). And steering the Stones through one public outrage after another was a man known for his strategically planned provocations. From relieving himself in public to snorting a dead man’s ashes, the group was raising storms every day, and Mick Jagger was the captain of the good times. He turns 80 today.

With the Stones, he has given the world unforgettable hits like “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” “Paint it, Black” and “Sympathy for the Devil”. On his own, he won hearts with “Just Another Night” and “God Gave Me Everything”. He has collaborated with Michael Jackson, David Bowie, and Carly Simon, not to mention AR Rahman. He has worked in films, made headlines for multiple simultaneous affairs and has defined an era of street fashion.

But you knew that. What you might not have guessed, however, is that Sir Michael Philip Jagger also has an India connection. Few know that Mick Jagger produced an Indian album in 1973 called Jai Bangla — the Bauls of Bengal. And a couple of years prior to that, Jagger performed with sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar and popular Bengali Baul singer Purna Das. This was when the king of pop, rock and blues was first introduced to Baul music.

This was the era when Indian music had captured the Western world’s attention like never before. Bauls like Purna Das were sought out by Beatnik poet Allen Ginsberg and American folk music entrepreneur Albert Grossman, and even featured in Bob Dylan's 1967 album.

In ’71, Jagger had invited them to stay at his home in Nice, France, and record at the Rolling Stones’ studio there. Which they did.

Jagger and Keith Jones were deeply influenced by Baul music and Indian classical instruments. Their iconic song, “Paint it, Black”, took root in Jones and Jagger’s experimentation in Indian orchestration. Jones, in fact, had only recently learned to play the sitar from Harihar Rao, a disciple of Ravi Shankar, and came up with the song’s distinct melody line on the instrument.

In a 1995 interview, commenting on the musical styles found on their album Aftermath, Jagger pointed out that the introductory sitar passage in “Paint It, Black” is played in an Indian fashion, while also imbibing West Asian tonalities.

Despite their love for several genres of Indian music, including Baul, classical and Rajasthani folk, the Rolling Stones did not have their first India concert till March 2003. More than 30,000 fans rocked and swayed at the concert at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru as part of the band's “40 Licks” tour. They also went on to play in the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai a few days later, on April 7.

Jagger returned to India in October 2007 as a surprise visitor to the inaugural Rajasthan International Folk Festival held at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur. While at the festival, he attended jam sessions and performances by local Indian bands and folk musicians. He even jammed briefly with the rock bank Indian Ocean. “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I’m definitely an enthusiast for Indian music,” he told the media, adding that he is a big fan of the “mosaic” of musical traditions that Indian musical compositions often are.

Jagger’s most famous Indian connection so far came in 2011 with the announcement of the musical supergroup, SuperHeavy. English singer, songwriter and producer Dave Stewart had urged Jagger to fuse their sound with that of Indian orchestras. Stewart and Jagger had a mutual admiration for Indian orchestrations and thus, AR Rahman was added to the supergroup, which also had Joss Stone and Damien Marley.

Jagger would lend his vocals to the second single of the group, “Satyameva Jayate”, crooning snatches of the dominantly Hindi song’s Sanskrit and Hindi lyrics, while intermittently adding his characteristic twangs in English.

Besides the collaborations, the visits and the appreciation of Indian music, Jagger and the Rolling Stones still hold sway over a large, albeit aging, section of music lovers in India.

Ramesh Walia, the owner of a rare music shop in Delhi’s Shahdara, had flown 7,700 miles to California in 2016 to catch what was dubbed “Woodstock 2016”, a massive concert that brought together the remaining fragments of bands like The Beatles and Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and others. His shop now possesses original and licensed recordings of live performances from these concerts as well as original vinyls of Jagger and the Stones’ earliest albums.

“It’s a collector’s item now,” Walia says. “Most of my loyal customers are above 50. But I do get the occasional music nerd who would like nothing more than to listen quietly to ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ here at the shop.”