A new Christmas CD from Anil

By Mahes Perera

"It's strange and unusual that my first group when I was young was called Reindeer which quite naturally, as the legend goes, is associated with Christmas and Santa Claus. When the years went by in my music career the song Bethlehem Pure which I recorded became a big hit which gave me a feeling of great happiness" said Anil Bhareti who has released a CD containing the Christmas songs that were originally sung by him and which turned out to be seasonal favourites.

Anil Bhareti

Question: What made you decide on recording this CD of Christmas songs now, which you will agree should have been done much earlier?

Answer: I had no particular reason as such except that I wanted to do it for the love of the music. I thought I am the one who originally sang these songs and for the sake of posterity, I should record the songs so that young musicians could popularise the songs further, and help build a larger base of Sinhala Christmas favourites.

There are 12 songs on the CD, of course the big hit is Bethlehem Pure for which the melody was composed by Clarence Wijewardene and the lyrics were written by the ace lyricist Karunaratne Abeysekera. The other tracks are Sandaken, Dinaka Perani, Nisala Reyaka, Judha Pure, Bethlehem Seethale, Bethlehem, Tharukawa Payala, Kalakata Pera, Rea Seethale, Pulan Wagei and Sili Sili. I sang a lot of Christmas songs that were written by Catholic priests and the melodies were provided by Stanley Pieris, Rookantha Goonetilleke and Rohana Weerasinghe.

Q: What about the music arrangements, did you keep to the earlier arrangements or did you embellish the tunes with new music ideas?

A: I did have new music arrangements and these were handled by Channa Athalage, the leader while the music backing was by Annesley and the Super Chimes and I was responsible for the over all production.

Q: You have been in show business for about 40 years now, how did you launch yourself on this stage?

A: Actually, I hail from a family of singers. My brother Nihal and my sister Shamini are also singers. My mother she had a good singing voice and we have inherited her musical talents. We used to sing at many variety shows they used to have those days and also at home for the pleasure of our parents - you know how it is, they liked to share our talent with others. When I was 15 years old. I sang with Reindeer, the members were my friends but my real break came when Chanaka Perera of Golden Chimes introduced me to Clarence Wijewardena and I became their lead singer and started singing Sinhala songs besides the English favourites. I was with the Golden Chimes for eight years and then launched out on a solo career. The songs Tikiri Malli and Adawe Me Irundini both songs written by Clarence became big hits for me.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Anil Bhareti is when you are in conversation with him he's not outspoken, holds himself back that you have to nudge him constantly to get a satisfying answer. But on stage he assumes a whole new personality and makes an impact that leaves the audience asking for more.

A product of Sri Sumangala College, Panadura and Prince of Wales College he grew up in a home that echoed with music, and as Anil said he used to listen to the radio and nutured a secret wish to sing on radio. He's come a long way since singing 'Highways are Happy ways' with his brother Nihal and sister and now has a fan base that enjoys his rich and pulsating voice.

Q: What would your comment be of today's Sinhala music scene especially the songs?

A: To me I find the songs that were sung in the earlier years were on a different level. In the sense that when a song was composed we had to get the approval of SLBC for the lyrics and the melody. As a result we had to maintain a high standard. Today there are newcomers who are good and we could have more quality material if there was a kind of a bar to inspire them to success; and be remembered for a long long time. However, the youth of today are doing well for themselves. They have a lot of new technology to help them along which we didn't have and I'm sure in the years to come we will be amazed at their creativity."