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All Rounder SPB

Topic started by srikanth (@ 132.minneapolis-07.mn.dial-access.att.net) on Sun Jan 18 21:48:07 EST 1998.
All times in EDT/EST +9:30/10:30 for IST.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Fri Jul 24 08:38:23 EDT 1998
  
  Nobody else cud've troubled him(her)self for the success & effectiveness of a song than Balu.
  
  ex: Maniyosai kEttu ezhundhu (payanangal ...)
  Adikkira kottam (Indiran Chandiran)
  
  
• From: Veera Akkoor (@ 1cust109.tnt2.det1.da.uu.net) on: Sat Jul 25 01:31:01 EDT 1998
  
  SPB, He is a multifaceted person with a lot of god's gift and humaneness. His songs have the stamp in them. Kamal recently mentioned about him that in "ullasa paravaigal", Balu sang a song for Thengai but it was not picturized. He almost broke his voice. Who can forget "Chinna pura ondru" for thesame Thengai. I believe IR and MSV exploited SPB in various ways. In telugu he is a genius craftsman.
  Nanda nee en nila, Vaan nila,Yaar Thoorigai thanda Ooviyam, Thalayai Kuniyum Thamaraiye,Yaar Veetu roja, Naan Paadum Mouna raagam, Seer kondu vaa,Maranthe pochu Romba naal aachu madimel vilayadi ( with LR Easwari).
  The list can go on and on...
  
  He has given performances with all the leading ladies including Jayalalitha. (Iru mangani pol idhaza oram) PS,SJ,Chitra,Swarnalatha,Minmini(Butterfly song),Lata,Asha.....
  
  Though I liked Sigaram (incidently Sigaram was his Music direction). The song in PILU (Vaanam Konda Vennilave) was out of the world. another movie he performed music direction was "Thudikkum karangal" directed by Sridhar.
  
  SPB is a good thread to start. Please feel free to give more artifacts of the "Music Gentleman" who is still making us nostalgic with his every song.
  
  One small bit news.
  
  About the movie Maaveeran SPB did not sing even one song in that movie due to a fight with padmaalaya pictures. Is the fact true? All songs were by Malaysia.
  
  Kamal and SPB's voice is always in superb sync. "Kanne Kattikava " from Vikram (Vanithanmani) or Nadiganin kaathali all songs were in perfect sync.
  
  He is a marvellous man.God give him long life and music.
  
  I want him to perform Carnatic Concerts. He can outshine even in that. He is too humble and modest. That is the key to his success.
  
  Thanks
  
  Veera Akkoor.
  
  
• From: Venkat K. P (@ lpcat102.oardc.ohio-state.edu) on: Mon Jul 27 16:46:13 EDT 1998
  
  Mr. Akkoor: you pretty much surmised correctly about SPB- the one and only. Last year this time I met him in Columbus at a concert and believe me he is not only a great singer but a fantastic entertainer. I went to concerts where others took part but SPB's concerts are always different and a welcome change from others. Even his son, Charan was very obidient and modest. One thing that I noticed among all this is he likes to sing- doesn't care what language but just likes to sing and sing. Wish God gives him long life.
  
  Venkat, Ohio
  
  
• From: badri raghavan (@ 206.103.12.125) on: Tue Jul 28 02:38:02 EDT 1998
  
  hi friends,
  
  i would like to share one of my experiences with the df surfers. about ten years back, i wrote to spb and addressed him as guruji, because for thousands like me he was the manaseega guru the one most of us wanted to be. i did not expect to receive a response and when i did i was flabbergasted. he requested me to call him balu and not by another title and responded to some of my queries in a very gentle manner. i had criticised him for taking up acting and music direction at the expense of his singing and his rejoinder was very pleasant and it was evident that he did not take offence.
  
  i have also heard from my uncle who has interacted with him frequently that balu has a phenomenal memory. he can recollect names at the drop of the hat and even remember minute details of the person enough to mesmerize that individual. let us understand that he does not have to do that for everyone but he does that. he is also a superb mimic and can reproduce the tone and the accent within minutes. perhaps that explains his ability to sync his voice with rajini and kamal as the situation demands.
  
  (an aside: thankfully he did not do this for thengai srinivasan)
  
  i can go on and on! i shall come back
  
  
• From: rsreekkanth (@ 164.100.167.17) on: Mon Aug 3 10:42:10 EDT 1998
  
  Hi friends,
  It is nice to read something about a great singer - bala. He sings very naturally. Recently in one of the forum I came across bala vs hari. I think it is unfair because bala is still going strong which is itself great. Can anybody sing like him for songs like - chitira poo selai sivanda mugathil - song from Puduseruppu kadikkum or another favourite of mine - nee orru raaga maligai (muthuraman movie) - nanda en nila (nanda ennila). Though he has sung a no. of songs with SJ, I prefer his duets with suseela. Their coimbination really gave great songs, especially when tms was the leading singer and tms and suseela pair is considered to be one of the great duet hits. In their combination I like the following songs, 'aval oru pacchai kuzhandai - (nee oru maharani) - kalyana koilil deiveega kalasam - (sathyam - for kamal jayachitra) , who can forget
  'aairam nilave vaa', 'iyarkai ennum ilaya kanni' and then now 'muthumani mala'. Reg.bala's solo songs, I prefer pre IR period songs,. Especially songs like Samsaram enbadu veenai, unnai naan parthadu vennila, thoduvathena thendralo malargalo etc,. ok bye from
  rsreekkanth
  
  
• From: srikanth (@ 206.139.13.154) on: Mon Aug 3 11:38:12 EDT 1998
  
  Hi,
  Simply - Spb is great!....
  A trailor:
  My site will feature a SPB special for Aug15th!
  (I spent on 30 CDS yesterday - 60% of it is SPBs and ofcourse Raja!)
  
  Srikanth
  
  
• From: Raghuvaran (@ ) on: Thu Nov 1 10:06:44 EST 2001
  
  : Veera Akkoor (@ 1cust109.tnt2.det1.da.uu.net
  
  : Venkat K. P (@ lpcat102.oardc.ohio-state.edu)
  
  : rsreekkanth (@ 164.100.167.17
  
  well said
  
  
• From: jehan (@ 64.210.241.103) on: Thu Nov 1 12:31:22 EST 2001
  
  SPB is no doubt the greatest singer ever along with M.rafi & Ghantasala, but SPB's voice some what gift from the god & it has such youthness & richfull aroma, from which millions worldwide have fallen with.
  
  God bless all
  
  
• From: Raghuvaran (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Fri Nov 2 06:15:05 EST 2001
  
  agreed;
  
  
  
• From: Raguvaran (@ 64.124.150.138) on: Fri Nov 2 07:36:51 EST 2001
  
  all ROUND er?? Of course!!
  
  
• From: Raguvaran (@ 64.124.150.140) on: Fri Nov 2 07:50:31 EST 2001
  
  jehan:
  
  "such youthness and richfull aroma, from which millions worldwide have fallen with"
  
  Where did this disaster happen? Who is in charge of the relief work? Is it the Red Cross or is it the Red Crescent? Can I send in some donations??
  
  
• From: Raghuvaran (@ 212.2.14.241) on: Fri Nov 2 07:59:31 EST 2001
  
  Raguvaran (@ 64.124.150.140) ;
  
  But What abot Muthalank kattai & ettank kattai?
  
  tikke
  
  
• From: Shangeetha Pooshanam (@ 64.210.241.103) on: Sun Nov 4 12:31:29 EST 2001
  
  Hello folks
  I was interested by these topics about SPB, but I was rather disturbed by some people called raguvaran (@212), Raguvaran (@64), Isai Priyan (@ 157.95.211.50).
  Raguvaran (@64), Isai Priyan (@ 157.95.211.50) are I believe the same person who are posting under different names & IP addresses, why?
  
  Who is SPB?
  
  S.P.Balasubrahmanyam: the name evokes images of the voice beyond compare litting & melodious with a stylistic variation that conjure a visual image from pure sound.
  
  Born in 1946 at konetampet in Andhra pradesh , SPB grew up in a modest environment, SPB liked to sing in social events , but did not under go any kind of musical training, at a light music competition in 1963, SPB’s voice charmed the ears of late Shri Kothandapani who introduced him to the film world as the play back singer in the telugu film “SRI SRI MARIYADA RAMANA”, in 1966, ever since he has never looked back & today he is one of the very rare multilingual singer who has sung in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Oriya, Bengali,, till date he has sung well over 40,000 songs in 35 years, that works out to be at least 3 songs per day!, he has also composed music for 35 films in a variety of languages.
  
  Here is a list of SPB’s National awards compared to M.rafi’s awards, please note that M.rafi has never won a national award, Dr.KJY has won 7 national awards till date, who has also crossed 40,000 songs, in his 40 year service.
  
  SPB’s non-national awards are innumberable , that is “best play back singer”, association’s awards, state awards, fan club awards, film fare awards, hence I can only list his national awards.
  
  SPB’s National Awards:
  
  1979 - Sankarabharanam
  1981 - Ek Duje Keliye
  1983 - Sagara Sangamam
  1988 - Rudra Veena
  1995 - Gaana Yogi Panchashari Gavai
  1996 - Minsara Kanavu
  2001 - Padma Shri Award
  
  M.Rafi’s awards (note he has no national awards to date)
  
  Year track
  1960 Chaudhvin Ka Chand
  1961 Chashme Badoor
  1964 Chahunga Mein Tujeh
  1966 Baharon Bharasavo
  1968 Dil Ke Jharoke Mein
  1977 Kya Huva Tera Waada
  
  
  Most of these people seems to misunderstand the term bass & kattais, here is an explanation;
  
  Bass; deep sounding, the lowest pitch in music, lowest male voice.
  
  Kattais ; as there are 1-37 keys in vocal, with keys
  
  1-5 being mudhal kattai (lowest one)
  
  6-10 being rendam kattai
  
  11- 15 being moondram kattai
  
  16-20 being naalank kattai
  
  21- 25 being aiyntham kattai
  
  26-30 being arank kattai
  
  31-35 being elank kattai
  
  36 + being ettank kattai (highest one)
  
  Most of the songs are sung between keys 16 –30, which includes (4th, 5th & 6th kattai), every male singer has bass, even singers like Hariharn, Unni Krishnan have bass, this bass can be achieved at singing in lowest notes (keys 1 – 4) not many singers have done this, certainly not the new good for nothing singers.
  
  SPB, KJY, Ghantasala, Balamurali Krishna & M. Rafi are the only singers who have touched key 1, in order to access the bass of these singers, one must clarify as to which one of these singers has the deepest voice at key 1, this voice should also have the punch in it, this is where SPB stands out of the rest.
  
  M.rafi, Ghantasala, BMK have soft voice, hence they do not sound as deep as SPB. KJY being a carnatic boffin, does not also sound deep as SPB between keys 1-5, this bass has to come deep from the throat, this is very rare & difficult to do so, only SPB is capable of this to date, best bass means a singer can sing very effectively at the highest pitch (key 36+) without screaming or sounding feminine, many male singers who lack bass sounds very feminine at high pitches, typical examples are T.R.Mahalingham, Unni Krishnan, Hariharan , Udit narayan , Sonu nigam , Kumar Sanu, Punkaj udas, …etc.
  
  As SPB having the best bass he easily reaches key 36+, without sounding feminine or as if he is screaming or straining his voice, M.rafi although lacks the bass of SPB was extremely good at higher pitches, which is very difficult to do without a very deep bass, but some how M.rafi superb at highest pitches, simply Superb!.
  
  Typical example of SPB’s key 1 songs are, “thuli thuli nee paadamma sithiyamma”, when he sings “aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh” from key 1, then key6, then key11, then key 16, then key 21, then key 26, then key 31, then key 36+, this is simply superb!.
  
  Another example is the song “sa re ga re gapa tha pa”, from the ever green shankaraparanam, he starts again from key 1, with a very deep voice all the way to key 36+, without any strain at all. Now think about the reverse process of singing in key36+ down to key 1, and SPB does this superb again in the song “ka ma re gama gasa maga sa re saa netha ma pa, sa re sa re (vedham athanilum oru nataham) from “salanghai Oli”.
  
  Now consider singing the entire song in highest notes, that is key 30+,SPB again does this beautifully in “naanum unthan uravai naadi vantha paravai”, from mythili ennai kadhali.
  
  Some people says that TMS was very good at high pitches, I do not agree at all, because he always strained his voice to the maximum limit, any songs sung by TMS always sounded as if he is singing in high pitches, take the song “paatum naane paavamum naanee” from thiruvizhaiyadhal , he sounded as if he was singing from high pitch from the beginning, which is wrong, he sounds the same at high & low pitches, hence you can distinguish whether he is singing in high pitch or not, his carnatic singing & pronunciation is terrible. Although TMS was good at modulation & expressing feelings, but he does not have an amazing voice of SPB.
  
  SPB being a “frog in a well” when it comes to carnatic, is awesome in terms of pronunciation of swarams & singing, even Bala Murali swallows some swarams when he sings it, when you listen to SPB’s shankaraparanam you can clearly understand all swarams, as they are all crystal clear.
  
  KJY , like some one mention is bhajan singer, an excellent carnatic singer, but in cine world, he is so boring, always the same style, you can not tell whether he is singing sad or happy, or joy or excitement. He was hopeless at modulation, expressing emotions. Jayachandran was better than him in romantic songs, but SPB ruled over everyone in Romantic songs, superb expression, beautiful voice.
  
  SPB is not just the greatest singer, but he is an excellent dub artisists, he mainly dubbed for Kamal, Mohan, N.ravi, Nagesh, ..etc. He has also scored music for
  About 35 films so far, with a mesmorizing songs from Sikaram.
  
  I hope I did not offend any body, this thread is being misused badly, so many swearing especially from this raguvaran @212., please guys, I beg you to stop this nonsense & behave bit maturely .
  
  
  
• From: Raguvaran (@ 64.124.150.130) on: Sun Nov 4 17:17:55 EST 2001
  
  Shangeetha Pooshanam:
  
  chappaathi chappaathi thaan roti roti thaan!!
  
  

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