"MSV CLUB" - The Discussion Forum of MSVTimes.com

[Sai Saravanan]

Dear friends,
Just now I am listening to 'Oomai pennai' from the link provided. Amazing flute notes-brilliant! The violin/saarangi, sitar and shenai add to the melancholy. The violins and tabla give very melodious accompaniment. SJ appears to be touching very high notes, loosing some melody...? The link did provide a deeper view of hamsaanandi. Who else can possibly bring out this raaga so beautifully! Thanks to God!
However, the KJJ number of this devotional album scores better due to the element of prayerful reverence. Probably because of the situations of both the songs being different. The difference is intended anyway.
Sai Saravanan

[Sai Saravanan]

Friends,
The next album of MM that I came across is 'Yaadumaagi Nindrai'. The recording belongs to the year 2004, containing Thirupppalli Ezhucchi and other songs. The songs have been written by Kaamakodiyaan. The cassette was released by Media dreams, and the recording is alright.

The songs have been rendered by the new crop of singers like Saindhavi, Ananthu and Gayathri devi. A couple of songs by MM (one with Ananthu). Two songs are by Veeramani Raju in combination with the youngsters mentioned above.

This is a typical religious album of the recent years and lacks the vibrancy of a spiritual 'Krishna Gaanam' or a faithful 'Velankanni'. More like the 'Pattu Malai Geetham' album genre, but not as crisp and beautiful. MM seems more reserved in handling a few songs.
Sai Saravanan

[Sai Saravanan]

Friends,
The strong currents of 'Krishna Gaanam' drive us all ecstatic. There is no other album equivalent to this. Its utter simplicity, clarity, lyrics (of course!), song composition, have no parallel till today, except MM's own other albums. The songs are so popular, they are like national or personal property allover Tamil Nadu and also in Tamil-speaking areas abroad. The choice of SPB, PS, TMS KV, SJ are really noteworthy. MM's own song 'Amarajeevitham' is a top class prayer. 'Pullanguzhal kodutha' is a favourite of MM on any stage show to begin his concert. 'Aayarpaadi maligaiyil' is an unforgettable lullaby. 'Gothaiyin thiruppaavai' is another high-pitched prayer song. How can anyone forget this album! An evergreen treasure to be preserved by one and all.
Sai Saravanan

[Sai Saravanan]

Dear Venkat Sir,
I could not get the web link to the Velankanni album earlier. I am able to able to listen now. The sound is quite clear and nicely done. Thanks!
Sai Saravanan

[Sai Saravanan]

Dear friends,
I was quite reluctant to give the details of one of the devotional albums till now. This is 'Arul tharum abhirami'. This was released by HMV, may be in the early nineties (probably 1993). The only difficulty of this album has been the singing of Bombay Jayashree. Otherwise, this has all the ingredients of MM's style, touch and flavour of his devotional songs. The problem has been her pronunciation: very heavy and sounding more rigid. This spoils the mood of the album and its devotional feelings. The new way in which she has been singing is completely different (husky, cinema-type!!), whereas, this has a heavy nature. Personally I dislike this album because of Jayashree's singing. But, I cannot resist listening as it is from MM. I have honestly listened just twice, and that too stopped halfway...Feel sorry for such a choice, and hence conveying my open feelings, which I did not write about till now.
The lyrics are from Sembanar Koil Shanmugham, and the cassette has 10 songs. The stereo recording is not up to the mark (as usual, a trademark of earlier HMV's recording style...)
Thanks,
Sai Saravanan

[Sai Saravanan]

Dear friends,
I had forgotten about another devotional album released by HMV, but not entirely specific to MM alone. But it contains songs composed by many other music directors, mostly those working on devotionals. The title is 'Thithikkum then amudu' with songs on Murugan, Vinayaka and Amman. Four songs on the B side are composed by our MM, sung by PS, P Leela and one by our MM. The songs are (1) Manjal kunkumam (PS), (2) Karumaari amma (MM), (3) Devi koluvirukkum veedu (PL), and (4) Arul maari pozhiginra (PS). These have been composed in 1974 in different albums, but the cassette release was in 1995, as a collection of many songs. The originals could not be easily traced. People remarked that many of these songs were in LP records and were found in some temples being played during festivals, and now long forgotten...The song by PL is very forceful and evokes a strong prayerful mood. This was heard more often. I have been trying to trace many of these old LP records or cassettes of our MM, but not with much success.

It is interesting that many songs like the above, especially like PL's were assumed to be "devotional", without attributing anything to any music director, until the arrival of Krishna Gaanam. I was surprised by some familiarity and was only very happy to note MM's name. People are still not aware of the golden melodies by MM, but assume them to be 'songs' linked only to some actor or actress or a particular god!

Regards,
Sai Saravanan