Sam Gopal

Sam Gopal occupies what can safely be considered a rarefied -- if not unique -- position in the history of British rock & roll: as its premiere tabla player. Needless to say, he achieved this status in the second half of the 1960s, when the instrument, borne on a wave of interest spawned by certain records by the Beatles, the Moody Blues, et al., joined its geographical cousin the sitar in a special niche carved out of psychedelic enthusiasm. Sam Gopal was born in Malaysia, and began playing the tabla when he was seven years old. He arrived in London as a student of music in 1...