Dilip Balakrishnan is a singer-songwriter from Kolkata who was a Rock n' Roll pioneer of Indian music scene in 1970s. Kolkata boasted a host of quality rock bands in the 60’s – these
included The Cavaliers, The Flinstones and Calcutta-16 among others. In 1969, Dilip Balakrishnan who had earlier joined 'The Cavaliers' left and augmenting 'Calcutta-16', formed a new quintet called 'Great Bear',
the first truly Progressive Rock band in the city, who could not only
do decent cover versions but also composed their own material and drew a
dedicated audience. The band received considerable encouragement from
the Junior Statesman and went on to win the 'JS-Cordel Rock Contest'.
Their finest original work, The White Knight’s Tale, a 40-minute suite
inspired by Lewis Carroll, premiered at Kala Mandir in 1972 at the
legendary 'Seagull Empire' show. The 'Great Bear' split up in 1972. In 1974, Balakrishnan and Bagchi teamed up with
Lew Hilt (who had briefly joined the Great Bear as a bassist earlier
on) and guitarist Adi Irani to create 'High'. The band played in the 1970s and 1980s, disbanded in Balakrishnan's death in 1990. Although their music was heavily influenced by British and American rock acts, it was in terms of their original compositions that the band gained a huge cult following.
Balakrishnan and High were
unique in that their discography boasted of 3 thematic rock operas –
White Knight’s Tale (inspired by Lewis Carroll), The Tolkien Suite
(based on the poems of JRR Tolkien) and The Winter Planet (about nuclear holocaust).
A collection of the
band's recordings were released on the Saregama label in 2009. The band was awarded the 'Rerock Award for Lifetime
Contribution to Indian Rock' in 2013.
There
are no studio recordings of the album, but to mark 50 years of its
creation in 2021, Lew and Nondon along with other musicians (Shaukat Ali, Jeff Menezes and others) put together a record comprising
remastered versions of the song from home archives.
Album 'High Again' 2009 Track List :
Album 'White Knight's Tale' 2021 Track List :
Album 'Winter Planet' 2022 Track List :
1. Winter Planet (Live In Kohima, 1987)
2. Turpentine Grass (Live In Kohima, 1987)
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