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A KJY Retrospective
KJY Links

Topic started by TFMPG (@ nscs26p10.remote.umass.edu) on Sun Jan 9 11:41:50 EST 2000.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

There are numerous pages devoted to Yesudas. Many articles and interviews are available on-line. Lets collaborate in bringing all links to one place.

We will compile these discussions and make them part of the K. J. Yesudas information page in TFMP.

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Responses:

• From: GV (@ d229-fx101h1-lond-pdi.attcanada.net) on: Tue Jan 11 00:44:11 EST 2000
  
  For a special article and a brief interview, please click below:
  
  http://movies.indiainfo.com/interviews/south/malayalam/yesudas.html
  
  
• From: sk (@ boo.ucar.edu) on: Tue Jan 11 02:47:43 EST 2000
  
  I have put 12 songs sung by KJY in his early part
  of his TFM career, in the PPP-RA homepage..
  
  http://www.angelfire.com/pa3/ppp/
  
  I don't think KJY sang any other song in the 60's
  in TFM.
  
  
• From: Thenraja, K. (@ ttwf64.doas.state.ga.us) on: Wed Jan 12 14:15:02 EST 2000
  
  SK,
  There is a song sung by Yesudas with TMS and LRE 'Sugam yethile' in 'Parakkum Paavai'
  Thanks
  Thenraja
  
  
• From: Ramki (@ ws122.telsoft.net) on: Wed Jan 12 15:05:50 EST 2000
  
  
  Digression
  
  Thenraja remember we were arguing on who is the MD for 'pullanguzhal mozhi tamizh tamizh ene'-it is Shankar ganesh:)) you win :)))
  
  End of digression
  
  
• From: Thenraja, K. (@ 167.193.64.72) on: Thu Jan 13 07:10:37 EST 2000
  
  Ramki,
  Thanks.
  I had been looking for the video of this movie so I could send a clipping to prove this fact. I would retire from that effort.
  Thenraja
  
  
• From: sk (@ harvest.ucar.edu) on: Thu Jan 13 20:26:08 EST 2000
  
  Thenraja:
  
  You are right. I also forgot vasantha kAlam
  varumO in maRakka mudiyumA.
  
  
• From: GV (@ d58-fx101h2-lond-pdi.attcanada.net) on: Sun Jan 16 11:37:12 EST 2000
  
  For an interesting discussion on KJY's music, click below:
  
  http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Villa/8217/yesudas.html
  
  Other sites for information and music are:
  
  http://www.yesudas.com
  
  http://www.tharangini.com
  
  Bharath.com has sections of KJY songs. For Tamil songs, click below:
  
  http://www.bharath.com/cgi-bin/music.cgi?Mode=List&Code=030B09&a=jj73hd7hns99s84jd988sh488hhsds332
  
  Malayalam:
  
  http://www.bharath.com/cgi-bin/music.cgi?Mode=List&Code=03060B
  
  More to follow.
  
  
• From: GV (@ d110-fx101h2-lond-pdi.attcanada.net) on: Sun Jan 16 16:00:22 EST 2000
  
  Carnatic songs:
  
  http://www.bharath.com/cgi-bin/music.cgi?Mode=List&Code=00000A&a=jj73hd7hhs99s84jd988sh488hhsds332
  (Not the best selections, IMO)
  
  Sanskrit:
  
  http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/eritrea/211/san.html
  
  
• From: paamaran (@ tog-wakko1b.prognet.com) on: Wed Jan 19 15:32:07 EST 2000
  
  Rediff on Yesudas 60
  --------------------
  
  http://www.rediff.co.in/TheRediffMusicShop/content/1801yes.htm
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.22.112) on: Wed Jan 19 17:35:26 EST 2000
  
  I wish to post the content of the rediff here. This is to ensure that even if the link goes non -existent in the future the article is still saved.
  
  rediff columnist:
  -----------------
  
  It has been a long haul for K J Yesudas. From a struggler who rode to Madras from native Cochin with just Rs 16 in his pocket and a load of dreams in his eyes, today he is the only playback singer to have won seven National awards, apart from being the toast of Carnatic music buffs.
  There cannot be another singer who straddles both the classical and popular genres as effortlessly as he does. Considering the difficulties a Christian singing devotional songs would have in tradition-ridden Tamil Nadu and Kerala, his emergence, and dominance, is all the more heartening.
  
  As Yesudas turned 60, rediff.com caught up with the singer in Madras for an exclusive walk down memory lane. His recollections, verbatim -- and tributes by other well-known musicians.
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.22.112) on: Wed Jan 19 17:38:06 EST 2000
  
  Chitra:
  -------
  
  'I am willing to give half my life to him'
  
  I grew up listening to Dasettan's (Yesudas) songs. Yes, I used to goand sit at the back of a hall or a stadium and listen to the programmes of Dasettan and Suju (Sujatha). I went to the concerts only to see him from close quarters.
  
  Then, I got a chance to sing a duet with him. I remember the day very well. I was literally trembling with fear. I have never been so scared in my life. Till then, I had seen and admired Dasettan from far and he was such a great singer that everybody in Kerala simply adored him.
  
  And there I was, standing next to him in the same room and going to sing a duet with him! God, I was really frightened! And when I sang, my voice quivered. Dasettan sensed my nervousness, but he was so considerate that he made me relax.
  
  Sujatha used to sing with Dasettan for all his music programmes. Once when she suddenly fell ill before a show, Dasettan remembered the frightened girl with a trembling voice who sang with him. He asked someone to contact me. That was how I sang with Dasettan for the first time in a concert.
  
  As I went on stage, I felt it was only yesterday that I sat at the back of the halls and listened to Dasettan and Sujatha sing. And it took me some time to come to terms with the fact that I was really singing with him on stage. I still have that programme's cassette with me. It amuses me to listen to my quivering and trembling voice. It is very clear when I hum la la la...
  
  After that, for three years, I sang in all his programmes. It was only because Dasettan asked me to sing in his programmes that the other music directors noticed me and called me to sing. If they had any confidence in me then, it was only because of Dasettan and nobody else. So, I feel he has a major role in me becoming a playback singer.
  
  I feel the other singers have a lot to learn from him. The kind of devotion he has for music is amazing. He lives and breathes music. There is nothing in his mind other than music. Once when I went to his house, I saw him moving around strumming an ekthar. He just wanted to hear the musical sound ekthar produced.
  
  When we travelled, Dasettan would be reading Thyagaraja keerthanas or some other krithis. And, I would be playing video games then! This is the difference between him and other singers. That is why Dasettan is Dasettan.
  
  Dasettan, I think, is Kerala's pride. You just have to travel from Trivandrum to Calicut by road to understand how popular he is even now. You see only his pictures in all the audio shops and you hear only his songs from loud speakers. He is so great that even after nearly four decades, nobody else can come anywhere near him. I don't think Keralites love any other person as much they love Dasettan.
  
  I feel he should not have celebrated his 60th birthday! He is still quite young at heart but when you celebrate your 60th birthday, you may feel old. He shouldn't feel old at all because we need him. I always say, I am willing to give half my life to Dasettan. I will do that only to two or three people and one among them is Dasettan!
  
  
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.22.112) on: Wed Jan 19 17:41:06 EST 2000
  
  S.Janaki:
  --------
  
  'Even now, he is the same'
  
  I started singing in films in 1957, a few years before Yesudas began his career as a playback singer. I think it was M B Srinivasan who first told me about him. He said, 'there is one singer in Kerala who is very impressive, sings very well and has a voice as good as Rafi's.'
  
  Later when I heard him, I too thought, what a splendid voice! He has a very melodious, flexible and powerful voice. His rendering of songs was so captivating that I felt then itself that the boy would achieve great acclaim and appreciation. And, of course he did.
  
  He was very polite and respectful to me when we first met because I was senior to him. And he still has the same regard for me. That is what is commendable about him. Vinayam and vidheyatha are the two good qualities that I found in him then.
  
  Even now, he is the same, unaffected by success. I have not found any change in him. I have found the same qualities in all the members in his family too. I had a chance to meet his mother also. Then, I understood why Yesudas is such a good person. He has imbibed all those excellent qualities from his mother. If the mother is good, children also will be good.
  
  He is one person who has immense bhakti for both God and Guru. I think that is the reason why his voice remains the same even now. It may be because of the good deeds that he has done in his previous birth!
  
  I still remember one duet that we sang together -- Akale, akale neelakasam... Both of us were very happy when we got a chance to sing the same song in another film, after 30 years! Yes, after 30 years! We have sung together at many places for several years. I must say, those were the days!
  
  My husband knew astrology. Long back, when all of us were travelling in a plane to Kerala, my husband told him that he would get not one but many sons. They were quite depressed in those days because they didn't have children even after several years of marriage. Then, he got his first child, and two more boys after that. Imagine my happiness when I could sing with his son! I feel it was only yesterday that my husband told him that they would get a son. He got a son and the son grew up and I was singing with him! Amazing!
  
  I felt so happy when I could sing duets with both Das (Yesudas) and his son Vijay, at a function here in Madras. That was two years back, I think. It was a very good programme. The duet I sang with Vijay was a Tamil song I sang with P B Srinivas long ago. The little boy's voice is also as good as Das's.
  
  What is admirable and praiseworthy about Das is that even when he was singing songs in films, he tried to find time to learn and practise classical music. It is laudable that he regularly has kacheris too. Playback singing and classical music are different but the greatness about him is that he is unblemished in both the fields. This, I feel is a very remarkable achievement.
  
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.22.112) on: Wed Jan 19 17:43:02 EST 2000
  
  Jeyachandran:
  -------------
  
  'He has become a legendary figure'
  
  I first met Yesudas when both of us participated in the Kerala State Youth festival way back in 1958. He won the first prize in classical music while I got the first prize in mridangam.
  
  I met him again in 1963 when I came to Madras to meet my elder brother. He was a very good friend of my elder brother who is no more now. During my stay in Madras, we went to movies, sang film songs together and we really had fun. He had just started singing in films then. Those were the carefree, fun-filled days!
  
  I came to Madras from Kerala in search of a job again in 1965. By the time I entered the film industry in 1965, Yesudas had already established himself as a popular singer. I wouldn't say he was like a friend to me. He was more like an elder brother. Till he became very busy, we used to meet regularly in the evenings.
  
  I must say, even today our love for each other continues, still very smooth and without any uneasiness. In fact, he used to take me with him to various studios where he was recording songs.
  
  As years went by, he became very busy and our meetings were confined to the studios where we sang together. He was the person who popularised ganamelas in Kerala. He used to perform not only in Kerala but in Bombay, Delhi and such other places. Even now, whenever we meet, we have a lot to catch up on. Even if we are meeting after several months, there never was any dearth of topics between us, as music is what binds us.
  
  During the '60s, there were only a few Malayalam releases but by '70s and '80s, a lot of films started coming out. I must say that was the golden period of Malayalam films. So, he was there at the right time. When the Malayalam film industry grew, he also grew. In those days, all the film songs were such huge hits.
  
  I think it was in the late '60s that he started concentrating on Carnatic music and became a disciple of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar. And, he could achieve a name in that field too.
  
  The greatness of his voice is that he sang for the late Satyan and Prem Nazir in the '60 and they are dead and gone. Then he sang for Mammootty and Mohanlal and now he sings for Kunchako Boban who is only 20 or 22! Just think this boy was born two decades after Yesudas started singing!
  
  I don't find any difference in the Yesudas whom I saw in 1958 and the one I see today. He still cracks jokes, teases you and is very unassuming. Just because he is a famous singer, he does not act sober or ascetic at all. Some singers are so obsessed with music that they talk only music. But he is not like them. He likes to talk on all subjects as his interests are varied.
  
  Now that he is 60, I feel I should look at him as my guru and not as an elder brother. It is the fortune of Malayalam film industry that it has somebody like him. There are not many legends in Kerala but he has become one, a legendary figure.
  
  
  

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