Korla Pandit - Miserlou

[@synchro505]

When I was a kid, my mom took me to see Korla Pandit perform live at a small theater in downtown L.A.,Ca. At first I scoffed. But as I watched his performance found myself mesmerized and amazed. He had a full orchestral Wurlitzer organ setup along with many other instruments. My mom swooned over to him after his performance (along with a swarm of other gushing women) and got her album autographed. He sure had quite a power over all those women. I thought my mom was going to faint or something.

[@jackgrant9301]

That sounds amazing!

[@techrescuestl]

or something. 🤔😏

[@davitofarito]

Hey, I'm no homo but this IS a good looking dude! I'm sure he nailed a fair number of 1950s housewives that came to his live appearances!

[@EternalArtist44]

He was a black man passing as Indian. He felt that was the only way to avoid racism in America. It worked for him but he had to fake his whole life. So sad! He was very talented though

[@santaclaws50]

Just saw the movie "ED WOOD" with Johnny DEPP...and there was KORLA PANDIT!!!! What memories!!! Love this!!!

[@TrishBenedict]

I’m 75 and we got our first TV in 1948 when I was 2. I started life in Pasadena and that was around when he started on KTLA. My first TV memories were the sad Kathy Fiscus rescue - she was my age when she fell down a well and suffocated - “Time for Beany” - Stan Freburg live with Beany & Cecil hand puppets, and Korla Pandit! (coincidentally, I was just reading that when he was hired at KTLA, he also was contracted to provide background music for Beany and Cecil!)I I was mesmerized. He seemed so exotic and the way he fluidly moved back-and-forth between the two instruments at right angles. And the close-ups on that jewel on his forehead… so mesmerizing. We moved to the Bay Area when I was 8 and I had no idea he came up here, too. Serramonte, Petaluma. All nearby to places I’ve lived. I was talking last week with someone who grew up in Berkeley and is five years younger and he had never heard of Korla Pandit! I mentioned that to my sister (also 70) today and she hadn’t heard of him either! So just the five year difference. He was like a shooting star. And when I recently found out his story and that he actually had to make himself “Indian” to make himself, well, less black and more palatable to television audiences - probably a good looking young black male was too threatening. Black performers then had to be pretty much subservient or comical (think Rochester). So much lost talent...

[@RobertKarlBerta]

I am 74 and like you can relate to those days of early TV. I lived and worked in Bay Area (SF) myself until I retired here in Michigan. I too am a musician and he was a big influence to my starting at 8 years old playing electric and pipe organ as well as accordion (more portable). I also met him when he played the concerts at Seramonte Pizza and PIpes when he retired and told him how he influenced my interest in playing organ.....I am still a performing musician. Other musicians of the day tried to invent a persona to capture the audience attention......besides Korla there were others...Liberace who was probably the most successful, Florian Zabach (violin), Dick Contino (accordion), are a few that come to mind. All of them adopted some sort of a style that was exaggerated to hopefully gain attention. Today that might seem corny but that was a different time. Korla's real name was John Redd and he was indeed a very fine musician.

[@TrishBenedict]

@@RobertKarlBerta Liberace was another one who didn’t get his due as an artist. He became famous, but was more like a caricature. I’ve gone back and looked at some of his old clips and he was a damn good pianist! And he was the reason I kept bugging my mom when I was little that I want a piano lessons. She always brushed me off and wouldn’t get me a piano. She finally did when I was 16 and it was too late because getting ready for college, boys, hanging out with friends… But I did obsessively teach myself to read music enough to memorize the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata. Beethoven was my early passion musically - and still is the backbone of everything I love.

[@karenstrang2069]

I had the privilege of meeting him several times and was on stand-by to open one of his shows at one time in Dallas. He was friends with the guy who sold my family all of our organs. Such a nice man...I miss him.

[@williewillie7666]

I had never heard of Kola Pandit until I saw s documentary about him. He was talented and it was ingenious how he and his wife came up with this. Unfortunately, it speaks volumes about racism in this country.

[@NellieKAdaba]

I have never heard of him either until now.

[@VictorKPanda]

I still remember watching tv with my sis, now passed also. She sat glued to his strangely nice performances.

[@rkberta]

Korla was a very interesting person. He was actually born in America in Missouri and was an African American not Indian. He was the first person to do live music on TV but rumors started that he was hypnotizing his audience. BS of course but they let him go and Liberace took his place! I remember hearing him on TV when I was a kid and later as an organist myself I went to special concerts he gave after he retired at a Pizza and Pipes restaurant famous for their Wurlitzer theater pipe organs at stores in the Bay Area of San Francisco. He played at the one located in the Serramonte shopping mall in Daly City. He played many of the pieces he was famous for plus a few really demanding pieces that showed he was indeed a fantastic musician. I heard he was a prodigy on piano but figured to make it he needed a gimic and the Mysterious Indian persona was it and added organ. Some argue that he was one of the artists that helped Hammond take the world by storm in the early days of the company. Oh by the way his real name wasn't Korla Pandit...that was his stage name. He passed away around 1998 as I recall.

[@KingDayDayDay00]

thanks for the info! really interesting :)

[@RobertKarlBerta]

Near the end of his life he also played in the movie Ed Wood in a cameo appearance during a party scene. He was a VERY good musician. I am an organist and heard him in concerts after he retired. He played a theater pipe organ in the concerts. He was able to play a wide variety of musical styles.

[@Thomaschapmanbfc]

Robert Berta Yep, just got done watching a segment on Mysteries At The Museum on him.. He was black and died in 1998

[@victorkoyano8212]

Robert Berta I watched mesmerized with my now late sister.I recall Ravel's Bolero. He was cool and we really thought he was from India.

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

I remember all the mom's in our LA neighborhood loved the guy.

[@wmnashco]

I used to be glued to the TV when Korla Pandit was on. Definately the godfather of musique exotique.

[@airamerica1964]

Television first came to Kansas in 1952. They didn't have presentations to fill every time slot even in the daytime, so these early "music videos" would be played. Korla Pandit was featured a lot and I welcome seeing him perform again.

[@larryjamesdodson7661]

Korla is as cool now as he was way back then.

[@albertogs432]

Yo pienso en aquella tarde

[@philiphargrave2398]

I never saw a man with such beautiful eyes. I can see how mysterious and enchanting this early TV production may have been.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

We can thank his wife, who did his makeup, and also made his exotic clothing...and sometimes, she can be seen dancing behind Korla, in an exotic way, of course...She was a very attractive blond lady...back in those days, mixed race couples were frequently shunned....but an Indian man with a white woman was marginally acceptable...so his flim-flam situation worked on a couple levels!

[@tonyktown]

The way he played with the camera only one other entertainer comes to mind..... Prince.

[@robertleath9913]

Liberace

[@ilovelife3328]

I said the same thing. He had the same mesmerizing eyes like Prince.

[@cherylolynick6435]

IKR? He definitely had all the ladies' hearts going pitter-patter.

[@Fryns]

Actually he looks like a young Michael Jackson, pre cosmetic surgery. Not difficult to imagine 50' housewife getting week in the knees when he looks into her eyes.

[@nantucket897]

Digging through my grandmother attic and found a art bust of this artist. His name inscribed on the side. Researched the name and I was amazed. Found last night. Bored in quarantine at family compound.

[@leighmaynard2285]

Cool! DM if you want to sell the bust. . . . !

[@DanielEvans95678]

I remember him dimly from my childhood. He plays very well. Interesting how times have changed. Can you imagine anything like this on contemporary television? I sure can't.

[@guinnberger2681]

He was very talented, and very handsome. If the world were a better place, the alternative life history would not have been necessary ...but good on him that he succeeded so brilliantly in fooling the bigots! He gained a well-earned advantage in show business (as so many people have done before him and since).

[@newt5694]

My mom glued her self to the TV every time Korla Pandit appeared.

[@anitamarques555]

My parents has a Red vinyl record of him when I was young. We loved listening to it!

[@johnny-cc4in]

This is my favorite one of his performances. I remember my grandmother talking about this guy to my mom. They watched him in the 50s. He invented himself at least.

[@CassandrashadowcassMorrison]

His name was John Roland Redd and he died just one month short of his 77th birthday in 1998. Meaning he lived to see a slight resurgence of his fame following the release of Ed Wood in 1994. Of course, among some of us, Exotica has never really gone away. I got hooked on it in the early 1960s and I keep my Korla Pandit albums on regular rotation along with Les Baxter, Yma Sumac, Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman and the rest of that "Old gang of mine" 😁

[@MSoulPoet]

Reading about his background, I have to say that his life would make for an amazing movie.

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

He had it all and did it all. An American Pioneer and original. As unique as it gets.

[@fvrrljr]

i was at the public library and while downloading some files i walked around a book caught my eye "5,000 years of fakes forgeries and fallacies Hoax a history of deception" thumbed thru and hand a clip with a man with a turban was there. after reading i had to jump on youtube. this is the first song that came up. i was entranced, his looks were mesmerizing and the melody so familiar but did not recognize it. i kept telling myself don't look at his eyes you're being hypnotized LOL later i shared the story with my 14 yr old daughter and she too was captivated. anyways i told her the story and we started humming the melody, That's when it hits me and i say No Way, Pulp Fiction !? yep when i played it she even recognized the song. we were blown away. but more because of his life story i read on that book. born a black man, posed as a mexican, married an english woman in tijuana b.c. mexico. he changed to man from india hence new identity. turns out on his new tv show he performed the numbers he promised but left the show because of not being paid what he wanted. got replaced with a new comer that also went with just a single name. ladies and gentlemen it was Liberace. very talented and handsome man indeed RIP Korla Pandit

[@whitecrow1949]

Back in the 1950s he came to a music store in Modesto CA and performed. Mom took us. We bought a few of his records. They came in different colors.

[@caroldavis8064]

I had a red one. That has now been lost. I saw him perform on a pipe organ at a church in West Seattle sometime in the 70s. What a treat.

[@mondomark]

Korla transports us to another realm with every beat of the keys...I love the fact for all the years he appeared on television, Korla never once did speak...the eyes...the eyes...

[@Aeolian4]

I met him when he played at the Avenue Theater in San Francisco. He was a very nice man, and I enjoyed working with him while he practiced for his concert.

[@remmymafia3889]

was he in a turbin?

[@RobertKarlBerta]

@@remmymafia3889 When he played in SF at Pizza and Pipes he was wore his turban. Didn't see him at the Avenue Theater

[@johnnyw525]

Did he speak with an Indian accent?

[@Aeolian4]

@@johnnyw525 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korla_Pandit

[@leogarcia1761]

Just absolutely amazing

[@SmoothCinnamonX]

My lord that is one gorgeous man! Those eyes slay me.

[@ilovelife3328]

Seriously!

[@OFR]

He was an incredible musician - saw him many times and his skill with playing was boosted by the fact that he gave great talks. Funny, because he never talked during his TV shows. You see a lot of style and character - shadow and shade - that is unknown in most 1950s TV. Very cool....

[@stargate1121]

I saw him in person a number of years ago at a music store, and he was fantastic. I got his autograph on a record album too. His music was amazing.

[@cvueguy]

His son, Shari Pandit lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia & was also a prolific songwriter and wonderful on the keyboards. Sadly he passed away at the age of 52.

[@jazzyclassical]

He is amazing in so many ways! I love reading the stories people are posting about their memories of Mr. Pandit!

[@b.j.grantham9799]

I LOVED Korla Pandit. Watched him in the afternoon's after school on KTLA in L.A. So sexy!

[@RyanSchweitzer77]

@Shufei For sure---quite the handsome fellow.

[@randyjustrandy9937]

PBS occasionally airs a very interesting documentary about Korla. Catch it if you can.

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

A TV pioneer. Dick Dale made this song famous again as did the Pulp Fiction movie. Korla as smooth and as cool as it gets back then and still. One hell of an act.

[@ursamagick]

My parent's could not drag me away from our (first) TV when it was time for Korla Pandit. Whatever romantic notions a 5-year old girl might have, I had them when he stared into my eyes! Yeah, 60 years later it all looks pretty darn corny and more than a little creepy. I remember performing matinee style swoons and dancing around the living room. Later, HE would come to me in my tent. Not that I had any idea what would happen then, I was 5! I just knew he was lots hotter than Buffalol Bob.

[@marie1948]

ursamagick That is hilarious!

[@frd2008]

So cute!

[@arissongsmusic]

Great music, life -+ story 🎶🎹🎶 truly made music history more interesting. Excellent ! Rock on ☆♡☆

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

They still feature his music 24/7 at Frankies Tiki Bar in ' Vegas. Works amazing in that atmosphere.

[@deanadiedrich9304]

I read that he was passing as of Indian decent... so what if he was ! That instrumental version of Misirlou... amazing 👏 ❤ and he sure was fine!

[@BunstanMcFunkstan]

Love it!!! I'm now fantasising about a very erudite version of "Pulp Fiction" with the Blue Rajah

[@toonbat]

Heh! Always happy to hear someone reference one of my favorite movies. No. Not Pulp Fiction.

[@Dive-Bar-Casanova]

Nothing wrong with re-inventing yourself. More people should try it. He was a wonderful act loved by everyone.

[@watermelonlalala]

A sucker is born every minute.

[@Prospero510]

That's one gorgeous tie that handsome fellow is wearing.

[@rickcroucher]

These videos used to fill in between shows on TV in the very early days.

[@troypix]

He was born in Arizona as John Roland Redd and was actually African-American. He played background music on channel KTLA in Los Angeles for the show Time for Beany. The brilliant KTLA station manager Klaus Landsberg was looking for something to improve daytime 1940s TV. Redd donned the turban, starred silently into the camera (the first performer said to have done this) and became the mysterious 'Korla Pandit'. Housewives swooned, fan mail poured in-daytime TV would never be the same. In the 1950s guess who replaced him? Liberace! And the rest-and candelabra-is history.

[@Johnny-qe9zv]

I remember my grandmother talking about watching him on tv in the 50's. I had never seen him until one day I decided to look on youtube. It's fascinating to watch him master a piano and organ at the same time. What a talent and story behind his pulling this off at that time period.

[@vkorchnoifan]

The 1994 movie "Ed Wood" had Mr. Pandit in a very short scene. What a difference in looks in 40 years. He died four years later. Luckly, we can see him has he appeared in tv 60 years ago.

[@rjstar67]

Korea and I were friends. He always needed a ride in my car whenever metaphysical events were going on. He always wore his turban and had some trick way of staring at mr intensely and making the jewel light up. Ha! He was nice.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Yeah..He apparently suffered from heart problems the last few years of his life...he did not look too healthy in that movie...you could tell he was sliding into the oblivion we all must face...Time is cruel to all!

[@asyntheticsound]

i've played keys without lessons (synths/organ/accordion) by ear for many years - all of which require me to use both my hands and/or both of my feet to do different notes and progressions in conjunction at the same time. i don't play organ or accordion much anymore, but i definitely sit on the floor during my current performances so that i can use my hands on my synths while using my feet to control my drum machine. this video of Korla Pandit has always been an inspiration in the back of my mind because he's able to hypnotize an audience with his gaze while also utilizing multiple instruments to play complex pieces at the same time. regardless of his background/story - he really was a fantastic musician through and through.

[@telecaster1963]

Lots of talent, charisma, instant pathos. Truly an icon.

[@playerpianogal]

Just discovered this channel and love Korla Pandit.

[@cherylolynick6435]

I am amazed at how many versions there are of this great song! And for the longest time I thought there was only Dick Dale's version! Whouda thunk it?

[@willmfrank]

I discovered it in a version by Martin Denny on one of the "Ultra-Lounge" collections.

[@ancestralyuba]

Korla Pandit had his own television show in the San Francisco Bay Area during the early 50s. He was very popular there and performed in nearly every Rose Parade during the decade.

[@angelsart9703]

Great stuff. i remember watching this as a kid glued to the TV. It was very mesmerizing. Thx for this blast to the past. Anyone know how old he was here...he looks pretty young...but at the time, he looked pretty old to me. Now he looks young again. LOL

[@dixgun]

✨ I’d forgotten there were so many shots of his hands playing keyboards. 🙏 Thanks for posting.

[@gregruland1934]

Thank you, Rev. Dan

[@Chaosga]

@pipesandwings are you serious? Or are you pulling my leg? This guy was such a wonderful pianist. He had his critics though, but you can't argue his talent.

[@johneebee242]

Korla Pandit had a daily television show in Los Angeles in the early 1950s where he batted his eyelashes at housewives and became a minor sensation. Like many American entertainers, Korla Pandit was an invention; he was born John Roland Redd in Missouri, the son of a [black] preacher. Donning the turban, fine Indian clothes, a faux exotic background and the name he'd stick with for the rest of his life, J. R. Redd became Korla Pandit.

[@bonniescali2478]

Yes, I used to watch him too.

[@SolaJocoLoca1]

I had the pleasure of meeting him at a Thrifty Drug Store Cafe in Santa Rosa, Ca. in the late '70s or early '80s. Mom and I watched him in the early '50s. I remember Mom saying that she loved his "bedroom eyes, with the shades half drawn". Sure surprised me, as Mom was such a private person. He was also a friend of my aunt, who lived in Marin County.

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Did you know his Greatest Hits album is called "Swami's Revenge"?

[@omkr0122]

Amazing performance!

[@ancestralyuba]

Pandit moved to northern California and had a regular television program on KGO-TV (San Francisco) after leaving Los Angeles.

[@TrishBenedict]

Really?! I moved from LA to the Peninsula about the same time and I have no memory of that show - and I was such a fan of his late ‘40s/early ‘50s program. Was it on in the daytime for the housewives? I would’ve been in school by then, of course, and missed it. But in 1948 I was just a toddler and I was fascinated with him. Obviously, I still am!

[@ancestralyuba]

Pandit has nothing to be ashamed of. He lived a remarkable life. He married in Mexico because interracial marriage was still illegal in the US. Anonymity was easier in those days -- a way of life chosen by many for their own reasons. He survived. He flourished. He contributed.

[@Heisrisin3]

I remember his face from TV when I was very young. Mesmerizing. I never knew who he was until I saw a story about him on "Mysteries At The Museum"

[@Tropicalexc]

Wow! Amazing musician and story!

[@philiphoward1731]

OK this guy is super cool it is a very good organ player and piano player I look forward to seeing more of his videos

[@judsons]

Keith Emerson, eat your heart out. Korla was so good!!

[@victorpanda7639]

So very talented. He was an organic pianist. Look at his eyes....

[@yasirniazi1099]

love you Pandit.........

[@sanjeevbravo121]

Well as I can clearly see there's no other 19 year old who listens to the master pieces of korla pandit . As an Indian i make sure my music taste is an embodiment of 60 year American macho man

[@junktex]

Extraordinary talent

[@roz805]

This was worth every second of my time.

[@kennethjohnson6319]

My mom loved korla pandit a lot this is moms favorite song every time I hear this song it bring back great memories

[@bongofury1975]

OH YESSS!!!! ..Great Post, I Love It!

[@lynnlobliner3933]

I like this version of Miserlou .

[@iamyohan]

This guy is amazing!

[@pipesandwings]

I personally knew him and heard him many times live on stage.

[@dehoedisc7247]

I met Vincent T. Saavedra, the manager for Korla Pandit's career and he informed me of Korla's very considerable musical talents.

[@stellaluna4u2]

I think that my grandma had some of his record albums. I vaguely remember listening to them when I was over at her house when I was a little kid.

[@davidwilks2434]

This is Magik !!! I would like to see/hear a modern day equivalent doing instrumental electronic exotica with such a captivating look, almost hypnotic ..

[@ZuzerHun]

i watch this on a daily basis. i would like a law passed so that ALL channels must broadcast stuff like this regularly

[@MagicJohn11]

Geez, this guy gave me organ lessons when I was a kid. He also was in the movie Ed Wood playing himself

[@sergiodiflatus2736]

creepy, sexy, awesome, brilliant... some of the earliest psychedelic music

[@jamesmarquis1970]

Roy Buchanan was the Korla Pandit of the electric guitar. Imagine if the two of them played together. It would sound like an orchestra!

[@misharyutubbee]

Imagine--someone with actual musical talent!

[@KimJPI]

Very cool, MagicJohn. He used to play at my grandpa's restaurant in LA in the 50s, but unfortunately that was before my time. I recall seeing him on Johnny Carson as a little girl in the late 60s. Sure wish I could have taken lessons from him instead of Yamaha Music School. Didn't know he was in Ed Wood--will have to check that out. Thanks.

[@raymichael8839]

I just found out about Mr. Redd today, I'm from that part of the world and have no problem with what he did.

[@packjim56]

Say what you will, he was really good on the ivories and ebonies. It takes thousands of hours of practice to achieve that level of proficiency and artistry.

[@PeteFoxvocalist1981]

Hey Rev, thanks for putting this up!.

[@arquitectostar5714]

*KORLA PANDIT, born John Roland Redd, D. 77. RIP!!*

[@arquitectostar5714]

*THANKS FOR YOUR THUMBS UP NO. 3 MATE. CARE TO LEAVE A PUBLIC REPLY FOR ME HERE. HARALD.*

[@LeslieMeeker]

They just did a story about him on Mysteries of the Museum. Watching him play makes me wonder if Keith Emerson was inspired by his playing.

[@resacarat]

There's always Korla Plankton Him 'n me can play the blues An' then I'll watch him buff that Tiny ruby that he use He'll straighten up his turban An' eject a little ooze Along a one-celled Hammond Organism Underneath my shoes

[@ganazby]

Frank!

[@garybravo]

He lived in my town when he passed. I wish I'd known.

[@Prinzvogelfrey]

ab sofort in meinem Repertoire!

[@Bram25]

I was almost ready to sing 'in a gadda da vida'. DAMN!

[@zerozeroone4424]

yay, someone remembers that song

[@Bram25]

+The CardBoard Gamer How can one not remember it?! Iron Butterfly didn't make much great stuff, but In a gadda da vida is brilliant stuff!

[@davidratcliffe1]

+Bram25 It really means In A Garden of Eden

[@arishaun]

I was wondering when someone was going to bring that up! I'm guessing Doug Ingalls was paying tribute to him with that riff at the end?

[@jerrytheracecardriver1100]

XD i like the lyricless version of that song. The singing is what ruined it for me. The instruments and the drum solo were great, but the singing was out of tune and the lyrics made my brain cells want to commit suicide.

[@ObeyVonZip]

Holy crap. That was about him? I've had Apostrophe since it first came out. Thanks resacarat.

[@saintgarluth]

The pure German Expressionism...the great Egyptian Horror within....The Cramps met alot greatly intresting people.

[@kaglyn]

i love this i LOVE this! it's hypnotic

[@marktaylor1811]

Wow

[@Saturnstales]

Korla Pandit is actually a relative of mine...

[@HunterMann]

Nice version of this exotic song! There's some interesting reading you can do about the history of the song Miserlou(there are a few variations on the spelling as well).

[@andreaj5067]

Such a talented man 😢that had to hide to get recognized

[@mikelord9860]

Yeah the PBS documentary at 4 in the morning brought me here. Intriguing dude, fo' true! I especially dug his multi-tasking at 1:45. That makes me wanna put in a good word for Anthony Farrell, of the Austin soul duo Greyhounds.

[@garycole520]

The man was truly talented and a sad commentary on America when Black people had to “ pass “ for other races,..just to avoid systemic bigotry and discrimination. But the best part,… he got away with it! You can’t help but find the ironic humor in his story: he was the first Black man in America to have his own tv show, masqueraded as an exotic Indian, wore a Sikh- like turban and all the while mesmerizing suburban white woman. He and his buddy Sabu, the Indian actor who starred in the films, the Jungle book, the thief of Baghdad and the elephant boy, probably had a good laugh over the stunt.