This influence may be conceptual or immediately discernible in the music. We'll see what happens.

This is "See My Friends" by The Kinks, an early drone-based pop song.

Can't resist posting this here. It's the one and only Rolf Harris (last seen clearing dung out of his didgeridoo in The Beard Of Love) singing "Sun Arise", a George Martin production.

The non-Western influence should be obvious...

And read the wiki link - it would be easier to describe what this man hasn't done...

In a desperate attempt to keep this thread afloat, these are Canned Heat with a nice drone-driven boogie, "On The Road Again".

Confession time rolls round yet again, folks: When I was young and even more foolish than I am now, I used to play this ditty on guitar and piano simultaneously. I tuned the guitar to a chord which gave me the rhythm in the left hand (I'm left-handed), and banged out the tune on the piano with my right. When I did the chord changes on the line "I'm on the road again", necessitating the use of my right hand, the melody presented itself as if by magic in the top note in the guitar line. Of course I had to whistle the harmonica solo, the hair-raising alternative being to bring other piano-thumping appendages into play when the chord changes came around.

I seem to be the only &£$%%±@$^*&er posting on this thread so I guess I'll just plod on regardless as is my wont...

In the '60s, one of the most superficial aspects of the infuence from the East was to make your guitar imitate a sitar. I believe they even brought sitar-guitars onto the market.

Three notable records using this sound were Eric Burdon's "Monterey", "Cry Like A Baby" by The Box Tops and this one, "Games People Play" by Joe South which (BB connection!) is name-checked by Brian in "Games Two Can Play"...

Great vid, too - all old album covers from the '60s...

Uhhh let's see, John, ... non-Western music ... ... Does the Four Seasons count as non-Western music ????

It seems Rap/Hip-Hop has a big influence on current Indian pop music these days.

No, Vivaldi was an Italian.

Really? I'll see if I can find some some time...

These are DNOAX, a 20+-strong Indian hip hop crew hoping to break through internationally.

It sure ain't Bollywood...

And Frankie Valli was DEFINITELY Italian.

For a more serious answer, I imagine that much of what is considered 'surf guitar' music (i.e. Dickie Dale) derives a lot of influence from Middle Eastern music, particularly Jewish music, of which I have a modest collection (thus accounting for the otherwise curious song title of "Misirlou"... or "Miserlu" [which is a folk Jewish dance step] ). I think somewhere else on this forum this is discussed to a greater extent, with far more expertise that I can summon up...

The bass solo in Call Me Al is not western at all. It has to be one of the most memorable solos ever.

Right! Apparently half of that solo is "as played" and the other half is the taped first half run backwards.

There's some fantastic African playing all round on that album. Some of that bass stuff is mind-blowing...

How about this for a clash of Western and non-Western cultures? Athough it all works out in the end (I think)...

Folks, this is really where it's at, when the two musical worlds (East and West) join forces to produce something of this calibre, "Face Of Love" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Eddie Vedder. Truly awesome...

Ok, I'm not a major Stones fan (I can't stand Mick Jagger) but this is a wonderful example of the subtle incorporation of sitar and tamboura (by Brian Jones) in a pop/rock song: "Street Fighting Man". Click on "more info" - it makes an interesting read. Love this song.

The combination of clearly Eastern influence and straight up rock on Kashmir by Led Zeppelin is amazing.

Check out Alabina, especially their second album, ALABINA II. Their music is a mixture of Pop, Gypsy, Spanish and Middle Eastern. Its very good music to dance to. I gave Alabina II to a friend who belly dances and she's included their music to her performances.

For folks like me who had never heard of Alabina let alone heard their music, this is their take on "Don't let Me be Misunderstood" from said album...

Although a strict non-dancer myself, I can understand dancers liking this music. I must confess I prefer the likes of "Kashmir"...

"I find Alabina's cover of "Don't Let Me Be Understood" the least interesting song in the their catalog and not a true representative of their music.

Is there something of theirs on YouTube that is representative?

YouTube is quite limited with Alabina videos, but here's one thats more indicative of what their music is like. Its called "Salma Y Salama", very gypsy sounding music with lyrics in Spanish and Arabic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPIwRekDUsA...feature=related

The female lead singer, Ishhtar, is an Israeli who sings in Arabic in this song and the band sings in Spanish. The band is Los Ninos de Sara and they sing in Spanish, with Ishtar they perform as Alabina.

Getting back to all-instrumental stuff, this is the amazing "Meeting Of The Spirits" by The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

I saw these lads performing in Amsterdam back in '75. My future wife and I were sitting behind a pair of dopers armed with a well-stocked pipe and a cloth to make sure none of the goodness escaped. Needless to say, great clouds of it did escape - no prizes for guessing in whose direction! I had flashbacks for weeks afterwards...

This is a small part of what Brian Jones recorded in a remote part of Morocco with the Master Musicians of Joujouka. He tried to get the other Stones interested in using this music but not illogically they declined.

Jones was some way ahead of his time on this count too...

This is more recent. It's "Nierika", actually a track I hadn't heard before, by Dead Can Dance, of whom I have four albums on tape.

DCD concerts were more like religious rites than musical performances, with the "ice queen" Lisa Gerrard doing the ceremonial honours. Their influences are from all over the place, including many non-Western sources.

My favourite albums of theirs are The Serpent's Egg and Spleen and Ideal...

The idea of hypnotic repetition that grew out of minimal music and went mainstream with house owes more to Africa and Asia than to Europe and the US.

This is A Guy Called Gerald and an early house hit, "Voodoo Ray"...

The influence of non-Western music patently evident here in a stunning live version of "The Sheltering Sky" by King Crimson...

It seems The Chemical Brothers had (have?) a minor obsession with The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows".

From their breakthrough album Dig Your Own Hole, this is "Setting Sun" - dig the "TNK"-style drums - featuring Liam Gallagher on vocals...

Traces of Middle Eastern music can be found across the musical board these days, even in the unlikely case of Gary Numan, witness the title track from his 2006 album Jagged...

Not a big jump from Numan...

This is David Bowie and "Yassassin" from probably his most bizarre album (judging from this article), Lodger...

Plenty of non-Western elements here. This is "Bettina" by the magnificent Popul Vuh...

Francis Vincent Zappa was open to influences from all sides. Oodles of Eastern promise here in "Canarsie"...

Fantastic ensemble work - it seems almost entirely improvised...

This example may be obvious, but it certainly fits the bill admirably. And it's a classic - "This is the end / Beautiful friend"...

This is on Seeing For Miles, a comp of "new psych-rock classics" supplied with Uncut magazine.

It's "Moon" (another for the Moon thread!) and it's by Deradoorian...

The Beatles far out "Tomorrow Never Knows" is sometimes cited as a song written on one chord where Lennon was influenced by Harrisons excursion into all things Indian (Indian music often being all on one chord).

It's possibly true considering Harrison plays tambura and sitar on it.

It probably is true. Ian MacDonald sees "Ticket To Ride" as another possible precedent for "TNK" (the drums, the single bass note)...

As for the one-chord bit, Harrison's own "Within You, Without You" has a sort of Far Eastern middle eight but "Blue Jay Way" is in C from start to finish...