A Tribute to Legendary Mohammed Rafi Sahab

Was just thinking of posting some songs by Mohd Rafi and before that I did some research on this legendary singer and to my surprise his birthday is coming soon! So I've decided to do a bit more than just posting his songs. And here you go, a special tribute to him by SDJ........with some synopsis of his 6 decades life, a video and as usual some of his most popular tracks to listen/download

Mohammed Rafi.

Mohammed Rafi Sahab born on Dec 24^th 1924 in Kotla Sultanpur, was one of India's greatest playback singers. During his nearly five-decade-long career, he performed an estimated 26,000 songs and was heard in 76 films. Singing in all of India's national languages, Rafi was effective whether he was performing ghazals, qawwalis, or bhajans.

Mohammed Rafi was born the youngest of six sons of Hajji Ali Mohammad at Kotla Sultan Singh, a village near Amritsar in Punjab (British India).Rafi, whose nickname was Pheeka, started singing by imitating chants of a fakir in his village.In 1935-36, Rafi's father moved to Lahore, and the rest of the family followed later. In 1945, Rafi married his cousin Bashira, nicknamed "Majhi", in his village. It was his brother-in-law Mohammed Hameed who spotted the talent in Rafi and encouraged him. Rafi learnt classical music from Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwanlal Matto and Firoze Nizami.

Making his professional debut in the Shyam Sunder-directed 1941 film Gul Baloch and the Bombay film, Gaon Ki Gauri, the following year, Rafi rose to the upper echelon of Indian music. He worked with top-notch musical directors including Naushad, Sachin Dev Burman, Usha Khanna, and O.P. Nayyar. In the late '50s, Rafi became convinced that singing was a sin. Moving to London, he stayed away from music until his sons persuaded him to return to the recording studio.

Rafi's peak came during the 1960s when he provided the voice for such influential Indian actors as Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dev Anand, Shashi Kapoor, Raj Kumar, and Kishore Kumar.

Rafi remained active for the remainder of his life. On Thursday, July 31, 1980, Rafi died at 10:50 p.m., following a massive heart attack. His last song was "Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost" (Aas Paas), which he had recorded with Laxmikant-Pyarelal few hours before his death.He was survived by four sons (Saeed Rafi, Khalid Rafi, Hamid Rafi, Shahid Rafi), three daughters (Parveen, Nasreen, Yasmin) and 18 grandchildren.

Rafi was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery. In 2010, his tomb was demolished to make space for new bodies. Fans of Mohammed Rafi who arrive twice a year at his tomb, on December 24 and July 31, to mark his birth and death anniversary, use the coconut tree nearest to his grave as a marker.

"Goonjte hain tere naghmon se ameeron ke mahal, Jhopdon mein bhi ghareebon ke teri aawaaz hai, Apni mausiqi pe sab ko fakhr hota hai magar, Mere saathi, aaj mausiqi ko tujh pe naaz hai."

~ Naushad Sahab on Mohd. Rafi ~

To all SDJ's fan who admire Mohd Rafi, as we approach his birthday in 10 more days, here is some of his songs compilation which i have chosen specially on this posting, you can hear to the songs by just clicking on it or right click and 'save target as' to download...

Tu Ganga Ki Mauj - Baiju Bawra (1952)
Oo Dunya Ke Rakhwale - Baiju Bawra (1952)
Pardha He Pardha - Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
Pardesiyon Se Na Akhiyan Milana - Jab Jab Phool Khile
Baharon Phool Barsao
Chaudary Ka Chand Ho (1960)
Tujhko Pukare Mera Pyar - Neel Kamal (1960)
Ye Dunya Ye Mehfil - Heer Ranjha (1970)
Chahoonga Mein Tujhe - Dosti (1964)
Tum Mujhe Youn Bhula Na - Pagla Kahin Ka
Teri Galiyon Mein - Hawas (1974)
Kya Hua Tera Vaada - Hum Kisise Kum Nahin
Aja Tujhko Pukare
Yeh Mera Prem Patre Padkar
Aane Se Uske Aaye Bahar
Likhe Jho Khat Tujhe
Hum Tumse Judha Hoke
Yeh Reshmi Zulfe
Mujhe Ishk He Tujhi Se
Hum To Chale Pardes
Ramiya Vastaviya - Shree 420
Eik Tera Saath - Ye Dil Deewana He

If only I have time to attach more of his songs, its just countless!!