DISCOGRAPHY
THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC - KORLA PANDIT'S
MUSICAL LEGACY
Welcome to Korla Pandit's Universe of Music!
This
discography features all of Korla's known releases,
plus information about the record companies for which he recorded.
The main
record companies Korla recorded for are:
VITA RECORDS Laurence H. Mead owned Perfection Plastic Products, a
record pressing plant on North Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena, California (USA).
The company pressed over 5,000 records a day, including Korla's
Vita singles and albums. The other pressings were mostly black-artists doo-wop
singles. Vita Records had the capability of producing 78s, 45s and LPs;
all were delivered to the retail record stores in Hollywood. Mike Gradney managed the record plant. Labels owned by Laurence
H. Mead included Kicks, Mambo, Dig and Vita. Korla
began recording for the Vita label in 1950. On some Vita recordings, Korla was accompanied by vocalist Jette
Satin. For more information about these recordings, please visit our Jette Satin page.
INDIA RECORDS was established in
1954 by its sole artist Korla Pandit,
when he released his first independently-produced album series, The Universal
Language of Music. So far parts 1, 2, 3 and 5 of this series have been
identified. It is extremely likely that part 4 also exists, but so far any
information is lacking. Recording facilities varied from album to album.
Mailing addresses for these albums and, later, cassettes, which Korla would sell at his various concert and lecture
appearances (therefore a great number of the records are signed and dedicated),
ran the gamut from San Bernardino and Santa Cruz, to Palm Springs, Santa Rosa
(all California, USA), and even British Columbia, depending upon where Korla was headquartered at the time. Since India Records
used independent pressing companies, the quality of the discs is inconsistent.
Often Korla would re-press the albums when they sold
out. This accounts for minor differences in layout of the covers and label
information.
FANTASY RECORDS was founded
in San Francisco in 1949 by Max and Sol Weiss, who started out in the
business by running a pressing plant, then ended up owning a record
company. Their first artist was an Oakland pianist named Dave Brubeck, and when
Brubeck's recordings began to sell, they went on to record Gerry Mulligan, Chet
Baker, Cal Tjader, Lenny Bruce, Odetta,
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, and
eventually, Korla Pandit.
Saul Zaentz, who had joined Fantasy as a salesman in
1955, assembled a group of investors in 1967 and purchased the label from the
Weiss brothers. The Fantasy 3000-series denotes high fidelity, mono, Fantasy
8000-series denotes stereo. Nearly all Fantasy records were pressed on regular
black, blue and/or red vinyl. Some of the Fantasy records were re-released in
the early 80's. They feature identical covers, but new brown or blue labels. Korla started recording for Fantasy in 1958.
This
discography also features commercial releases Korla Pandit recorded as Juan Rolando. So far, two 78 RPM records
by Juan Rolando have surfaced. Not listed here are transcription discs by Juan
Rolando/Korla Pandit, as
these were not available to the general public. For more information on the
Transcription discs, please visit the appropriate pages.
Much to our
delight last year a piano roll recorded by Korla Pandit turned up! This is the first one we’ve ever seen. It
features three recordings by Korla and was released
by Play-Rite (the home of the golden roll) in 1978. The recording date is
unknown. It is also unknown if more piano rolls were made.
Collecting
records by Korla Pandit can
be challenging. Some of his records are readily available on the second-hand
market or in local thrift stores for next to nothing, other are amazingly hard
to get and are often quite expensive. Should you have information about
recordings missing from this list, please contact us with all the details. We
love to hear from you!
Freek
Kinkelaar, official Korla Pandit
website discographer
June 2008
78 RPM 10" SINGLES:
1 LINDA MUJER / RIGHT AS THE RAIN (Cocktail hour CGE
115 released 1943)
Released by Korla Pandit under the pseudonym
Juan Rolando.
2 TEMPTATION /
CHIU CHIU (Cocktail hour CGE 116 released 1943)
Released by Korla Pandit under the pseudonym
Juan Rolando.
3 I'LL ALWAYS
BE IN LOVE WITH YOU / CACTUS SAMBA (JESUSITA EN CHIHUAHUA) (Vita 200)
4 TEMPTATION /
PELON TELEFONE (Vita 202)
5 THEY SAY
(TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME) / REMEMBERING (Vita 220, released 1951)
Featuring
vocals by Jette Satin.
6 THERE'S A
STORY GOING ROUND / YOU BELONG TO MY HEART (Vita 230, released 1951)
Featuring
vocals by Jette Satin.
7 CHIU CHIU /
BLUE TANGO (Vita V-236/237)
8 MOONLIGHT
AND SHADOWS / WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES (Vita V-238)
78 RPM 10" BOXSET ALBUMS (4 shellac discs in each album):
1 THE GRAND MOGHUL SUITE (Vita V-101 released 1951)
2 KORLA
PANDIT'S MUSICAL GEMS (Vita V-103 released 1951)
3 REMEM'BRING
(Vita V-105 released 1951)
4 MERRY XMAS
(Vita V-1 released 1951)
45 RPM 7" SINGLES:
1 I'LL ALWAYS BE IN LOVE WITH YOU / CACTUS SAMBA (Vita
45-200)
2 LOVER COME
BACK TO ME / IT'S A SIN TO TELL A LIE (Vita 45-228, released 1951)
Featuring vocals by Jette Satin.
3 THERE'S A
STORY GOING 'ROUND / YOU BELONG TO MY HEART (Vita 45-230, released 1951)
Featuring
vocals by Jette Satin.
4 MOONLIGHT
AND SHADOWS / WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES (Vita 45-238)
5 THE WHITE
CLIFFS OF DOVER / UNKNOWN (Vita)
6 BRASILLIAN
BAIO / TURKISH DANCE (Fantasy 545 X red vinyl)
Also available
as a white label promo on red vinyl.
Featuring an
unknown vocalist on Brasillian baio.
7 BOMBAY /
BAGHDAD (Fantasy 554 red vinyl)
Released by Korla Pandit under the pseudonym Koram Khris.
Bombay is in
fact identical to Brasillian Baio
and Baghdad is identical to Turkish Dance on the Fantasy 545 single.
8 KUMAR /
KARTEKEYA (India 401 released 1971)
Featuring tablas by Santwant Singh.
9 BLAST OFF! /
DON'T BLAST OFF! (Sympathy for the Record Industry SFTRI 386 released 1995)
45 RPM 7" BOXSET ALBUMS (4 vinyl discs in each album):
1 THE GRAND MOGHUL SUITE (Vita 45-101 released 1951)
2 KORLA
PANDIT'S MUSICAL GEMS (Vita 45-103 released 1951)
3 REMEMB'RING
(Vita 45-105 released 1951)
4 MERRY XMAS
(Vita 45 V-1 released 1951)
33 RPM 10" ALBUMS:
1 THE GRAND MOGHUL SUITE (Vita VLP-10 released 1951)
Also available
on red vinyl.
2 KORLA
PANDIT'S MUSICAL GEMS (Vita LP-12 released 1951)
3 REMEMB'RING
(Vita LP-14 released 1951)
4 MERRY XMAS
(Vita LP-16 released 1951)
33 RPM 12" ALBUMS:
1 UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC VOLUME ONE (India
V-6814-400, released 1954)
Featuring
narration by Dave Ballard.
Also available
on red vinyl.
An overstock
of this album was made available in a white cover with gold KP-Production
sticker and large autograph on front.
2 MUSIC OF THE
EXOTIC EAST (Fantasy 3272/8013 released 1958)
3 LATIN
HOLIDAY (Fantasy 3284/8027 released 1959)
Available in
two different covers.
4 KORLA PANDIT
AT THE PIPE ORGAN (Fantasy 3286/8018 released 1960)
5 TROPICAL
MAGIC (Fantasy 3288/8034 released 1959)
6 SPEAK TO ME
OF LOVE (Fantasy 3292/8039 released 1959)
7 AN EVENING
WITH KORLA PANDIT (Fantasy 3304/8049 released 1960)
8 MUSIC OF
MYSTERY AND ROMANCE (Fantasy 3320/8061 released 1960)
9 LOVE LETTERS
(Fantasy 3327/8070 released 1960)
Featuring Arthur Bergman on
guitar.
10 HYPNOTIQUE
(Fantasy 3329/8075 released 1961)
Featuring
Arthur Bergman on guitar.
11 MUSIC FROM
HOLLYWOOD (Fantasy 3334/8086 released 1960)
12 MUSIC FOR
MEDITATION (Fantasy 3342/8342 released 1961)
13 KORLA
PANDIT IN PARIS (Fantasy 3347/8347 released 1961)
14 CHRISTMAS
WITH KORLA PANDIT (Fantasy 3350 released 1961)
15
FANTASTIQUE! (National Custom Recording 12 574)
16 UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE OF MUSIC VOLUME TWO (National Custom Recording/India 12 574)
An overstock
of Fantastique! made available in a different cover.
17 CHRISTMAS
WITH KORLA PANDIT (India SR4S 4437)
Different
recordings to the Christmas with Korla Pandit LP on Fantasy records.
18 KORLA
PANDIT LIVE AT THE RIALTO THEATRE (India WR 4773 released 1968)
19 MERRY XMAS
(India SR4S-4437)
An overstock
of Christmas with Korla Pandit
on India records made available in a hand-decorated sleeve.
20 UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE OF MUSIC VOLUME THREE (India Z4RS-7625 released 1969)
Produced by
21 UNIVERSAL
LANGUAGE OF MUSIC VOLUME FIVE - CHRISTMAS TRADITIONALS (India SR4S-4437)
An overstock
of Christmas with Korla Pandit
on India records made available in a different, printed, cover.
22 THE GRAND
MOGHUL SUITE (India KLP 1001 released 1971)
22 THE PIPES
OF PAN (India KLP 1002 released 1971)
24 MUSIC FOR
MEDITATION VOLUME ONE (India KLP 1003 released 1971)
25 EXOTICA
2000 (Sympathy for the Record Industry SFTRI 387 released 1995)
COMPACT DISCS:
1 EXOTICA 2000 (Sympathy for the Record Industry SFR
387 released 1995)
2 ODDYSSEY
(Fantasy FCW 24746 released 1996)
Features the
complete Fantasy albums Music From The Exotic East and Latin Holiday.
3 REMEMBERING
KORLA PANDIT (Dejavu DJV 002-2 released 1999)
Features the
complete India album Universal Language Of Music Volume Three and bonus
material.
4 BURIED
TREASURE / COCKTAIL HOUR (Dejavu 012-2 released 2007,
double CD)
Features one
CD with previously unreleased songs by Korla Pandit and one CD with previously unreleased songs by Juan
Rolando).
5 MERRY XMAS (Dejavu DJV SPEC EDIT-MXM DJV-XT2 released 2007)
Features the
complete Vita album Merry Xmas.
6 THE GRAND
MOGHUL SUITE/THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC VOLUME 1 (El ACMEM 128 released
2007)
Features the
complete India album The Grand Moghul Suite and the
majority of the India album The Universal Language Of Music Volume 1.
CASSETTES:
1 MUSIC FOR MEDITATION VOLUME ONE (India IR-1000
released 1973)
2 MUSIC OF THE
EXOTIC EAST (India IR-1001 released 1973)
3 GRAND MOGHUL
SUITE (India 1001 released 1973)
8-TRACKS:
1 MUSIC FOR MEDITATION VOLUME ONE (India IR-1000
released 1973)
2 GRAND MOGHUL
SUITE (India 1001 released 1973)
COMPILATIONS:
1 MUSIC FOR NIGHT PEOPLE (Polygram PMP 012 promo CD
released 1996)
Contains the
exclusive track Diamond Head.
2 NOCTURNE
(Camay CA 3039)
Contains
exclusive recordings of Misirlou and The Swan.
3 FANTASY HIGH
FIDELITY SAMPLER (Fantasy FS 654)
It is highly
likely that this album features Korla Pandit, though it is unknown what track(s) were used.
4 FANTASY
STEREO DEMONSTRATION DISC (Fantasy FS 655)
Contains the
track Kumar from Korla Pandit
Plays Music From The Exotic East.
PIANO ROLLS:
1 THE LATIN
TOUCH OF KORLA PANDIT (Play-Rite 26-B released 1978)
Contains
exclusive recordings of La Borrachita, A Day In The
Life Of A Fool and Spanish Eyes.
[ Main || Bio || Gallery || Reviews || Cactus Pandit || Rose Parade || Bust Of Korla || Wisdom || Discography || Tunes || Jette
Satin ||
Transcription
Discs || Sheet music II History
Part One II History Part Two
II Obituaries II Remembering Korla II Kudos II Contact Us
]
©1999 Dejavu Record Company,
all rights reserved.