Both George Harrison and Brian Jones were among the very first musicians to incorporate the sitar into rock music, if not the first, on both 'Norwegian Wood' and 'Paint It Black' respectively. Which song do you think was most able to put the instrument to more interesting and effective usage? Which one made and left the more lasting and exciting impression on the rock music world? Lets hear youre opinions please.

PurpleJam said:

well actually I don't think either song is necessarily the best use that either band had for the Sitar. For the Beatles, I think Love You To was more interesting as it was a more authentic fusion of raga and rock, rather than just using a sitar for an interesting background sound. Likewise for the Stones the droning tamboura (and later on the shehnai solo) in the background of Street Fighting Man was much more subtle and interesting IMHO in terms of incorporating eastern music into a rock song. errrr, I guess Street Fighting Man doesn't technically count because it's a tamboura and not a sitar, but still.

Back to the original question, I think I just slightly prefer paint it black as a song because it's more rocking and the melody played on the sitar is more eerie and evocatively eastern/faux-eastern. Both are great songs though.

jacktheimprovident said:

I agree with you on 'Love You To'. The sitar is really better used for that song without question. I just choose 'NW' simply because its probably the group's most famous song featuring the sitar. Likewise for The Stones and 'Paint It Black', although it is used brilliantly for that song. A true classic.

There's a track by Steve Vai called "Firegarden suite"... one section of it is done with a sitar or an electric sitar... Really a great track.