c“During his short visit to Bombay in 1948 I fixed up a recording session with him. In the afternoon, when I had everything arranged for recording in our studio, he telephoned to say that he was not feeling well enough to record. I insisted that he should come over and that we would not do any recording but we would have a nice long chat and dinner. Very reluctantly he accepted my pressing invitation. Before he came I had to plan a strategy whereby I would be able to persuade him to strain his vocal chords. I gave a hundred rupee note to my peon Sakharam and instructed him to procure a bottle of Scotch, which was the Ustad's favourite drink. Sakharam was to bring the bottle and the glasses into the studio only when I gave him the signal to do so.

I had arranged things in the studio in such a manner that I could start recording at a moment's notice. I instructed that the accompanying musicians be kept waiting in an ante-room. I escorted the great Ustad into the studio, assuring him that we would not do any recording but would have just an interesting and enjoyable evening. On the spacious wooden platform were two tanpuras already tuned to suit his pitch. The Ustad, a man of generous proportions, always preferred to sit cross-legged on the platform instead of on a chair. I seated myself near him with one tanpura close at hand. While we conversed I casually started playing on the strings of the tanpura. 'Khan Saheb,' I said, ' I want to know why followers of the Gwalior gharana prefer to use tivra dhaivat, in Raga Lalat, instead of komal dhaivat which sounds so much sweeter.' With the sound of the tanpura playing in the background Khan Saheb could not resist demonstrating why komal dhaivat is preferable to tivra dhaivat. 1 noticed with satisfaction that my strategy was succeeding. Unseen by him, I gave the signal to Sakharam who walked in with the bottle and the glasses. Noticing this, the Ustad looked happier, though he protested mildly. I said to him, 'Since we are not going to do any recording we might as well have a gay time.' I came up with another question while the maestro was enjoying the drink. 'Why is it that some singers use both tivra and komal nishads in Raga Adana? Is it correct to do so?' I refilled Khan Saheb's glass, and he who had been sitting in a relaxed position so far sat upright in his usual singing posture, fully inspired and in the mood to sing. He picked up the other tanpura which was close to him and began to demonstrate how Raga Adana should be rendered.

I allowed him to sing for a while and then said, 'Khan Saheb, your voice is in absolutely top form!' He guessed the implication of my remark, and smiling a little mischievously he said, 'So, you do want to do a recording'. Taking this as a form of consent, I immediately summoned the accompanists and in a few minutes all was ready for the recording. Khan Saheb was indeed in great form that night. The next two hours literally flew by. He sang one enchanting song after another, and we were able to record such immortal pieces as Aaye na baalam, kya karun sajani, Naina more taras rahe hatn and Prem ki maar katar, to name a few. Like a person possessed Khan Saheb poured his heart and soul into the magic notes. He did not even know how many songs he recorded; this after having been determined not to record at all.”

d“Therefore, when I approached him, telling him that he would be able to get about 17 to 18 minutes per side, he was very happy and immediately consented. 'Very good' he said, 'I will do the recording but I have a request. On the previous occasions, you paid me on a royalty basis, but this time I want cash.' I tried to reason with him as to how a royalty agreement would be more advantageous to him in the long run. But he was very adamant so I asked how much he would expect in cash. 'I want only a lakh of rupees,' he said.”

e“My bosses also tried to reason with him, but this only made Bade Gulam Ali more obstinate. 'If you are not ready to pay my fees I will go and record abroad,' was his final answer to them. I had however not given up hope. I kept up friendly relations with him and persisted in my persuasive tactics. In the course of 6 months Khan Saheb climbed down from a lakh to 45 thousand, and after another 4 months he agreed on 25 thousand, from which he would not budge.”

f“I suggested the thumri Kanakar mar jagaye-Bamna ka chora and he readily accepted my suggestion since this was also his pet song. In this manner he eventually gave us 2 LPs and one extended play record. I prevailed upon him to sign a royalty contract. but, as promised, I paid him Rs. 5000/- in cash, as advance against royalty. Once again the fact was proved, that a genuine artist values affection more than money.”

Factual Corrections

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