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Strange Light From the East - Eastern Influenced Western Music 1965-72 [3CD]

Preorder — Out 08/28/2026
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About This Release

1965-1972 period saw Western music transformed through the integration of Eastern music and philosophy and raga influences. Iconic tracks by The Byrds, The Yardbirds, and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band pioneered the fusion of modal jazz, Indian classical music, and psychedelic rock. These experiments laid the foundations for progressive rock, proto-punk, and world music, permanently altering the technical and creative landscape of modern music. The dawn of the British folk revival broke in 1965 when Bert Jansch's "folk-baroque" finger style revolutionised tradition, providing the early morning light for a burgeoning psychedelic scene which, by 1972 had traveled from folk clubs to the high-concept landscapes of progressive rock, exemplified by the Eastern-tinged sitar-guitar on Yes's 'Siberian Khatru'. Western artists utilised Eastern forms as a new musical bedrock. The Byrds transitioned from folk-rock into the uncharted territory of 'Eight Miles High', a track widely cited as the first true U.S. "Raga Rock" single. Driven by Roger McGuinn's solos - inspired by Ravi Shankar and John Coltrane - it proved pop could embrace complex modal structures. Similarly, The Yardbirds' Jeff Beck used high-fuzz pedals to mimic a sitar's drone on 'Heart Full Of Soul'. As the daylight intensified, ambitious excursions pushed genre limits. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band bridged the gap between traditional forms and the jam-band aesthetic with 'East West', a masterpiece of modal jazz and Indian classical music. Kaleidoscope's 'Egyptian Gardens' remains one of the most authentic examples of the trend, blending Middle Eastern scales into world-music fusion. Even the driving rhythms of Shocking Blue's 'Love Buzz' showed how the raga sound was integrated into emerging hard rock. This "strange light" provided the blueprint for the complex musical architecture that followed. The technical rigours of progressive rock grew directly from these experiments; Jimmy Page's DADGAD tuning on 'White Summer' became a Led Zeppelin staple. The influence even reached into the shadows, as The Stooges traded garage-rock for the ritualistic intensity of 'We Will Fall'. From the "space-age" pop of The Riot Squad to the "Indo-Afro" experiments of The 40 Watt Banana, this era of cross-pollination forever altered the horizons of Western musicians.

Tracklist

Disc 1
1 Bert Jansch - Anji
2 The Yardbirds W/ Jeff
3 Beck - Heart Full Of Soul
4 The Byrds - Eight Miles High
5 The Riot Squad - I Take It That We're Through
6 The Cyrkle - Turn Down Day
7 The Mirage - Tomorrow Never Knows
8 The Misunderstood - I Unseen (Ibc Acetate) -The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - East West
9 Tuesday's Children -Strange Light From The East
10 Big Jim Sullivan - She's Leaving Home
11 Dantalion's Chariot -This Island
12 The Flower Pot -Wantin' Ain't Gettin'
13 The Zodiac - Libra - The Flower Child
14 Kaleidoscope - Egyptian Gardens
15 West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band -Buddha
16 The Yardbirds W/ Jimmy
17 Page - White Summer
18 The Fugs - Hare Krishna
19 The Misty Wizards - It's Love
20 Hi Revving Tongues - (The Psychedelic) Illusion
21 Spirit - Girl In Your Eye
22 The Lemon Pipers - I Need Someone (The Painter)
23 The Twilights -Devendra
24 Chad ; Jeremy -Sunstroke
25 Boeing Duveen ; The Beautiful Soup - Which Dreamed It
26 Spencer Davis Group -After Tea
27 July - The Way (Unreleased Version)
28 Tales Of Justine - Sitting
29 On A Blunestone
30 East Of Eden - Waterways (Demo)
31 Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera - Air
32 Tomorrow - Real Life Peppermint Dream
33 The Rascals - Sattva
34 Incredible String Band -Koeeoaddi There
35 Pretty Things - Bracelets
36 Merrell Fankhauser ;
37 Hms Bounty - A Visit With Ashiya
38 The Ceyleib People -Menyatt Dyl Com
39 The Nirvana Sitar ; String Group - Head
40 The Stooges - We Will Fall
41 Blossom Toes - Just
42 Above My Hobby Horse's Head
43 Humble Pie - The Light Of Love
44 Pentangle - Once I Had A Sweetheart
45 Walter Horton ; Martin Stone - Netti Netti
46 Shocking Blue - Love Buzz
47 Clark-Hutchinson -Impromptu In 'E' Minor
48 Lynne Pike - Given Time
49 Jeremy Harmer - Tuesday P.M.
50 Blonde On Blonde -Spinning Wheel
51 The Hubbels - Hippy
52 Dippy Funky Monkey Double Bubble Sitar Man
53 Third Ear Band - GhettoRaga (Edit)
54 John Renbourn -Lamento Di Tristan
55 The Fox - Butterfly
56 Meic Stevens - Yorric
57 Ananda Shankar -Jumpin' Jack Flash
58 Nitai Dasgupta - BaithaTano
59 Abacus - Song ForBrunhilde
60 The 40 Watt Banana -Nirvana
61 Pandit Kanwar Sain
62 Trikha - Folk Piece In Kahrwa
63 Wizz Jones - American Land
64 Yes - Siberian Khatru
Various Artists
Strange Light From the East - Eastern Influenced Western Music 1965-72 [3CD]
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