Ride Rajbun

The eponymous Rajbun was a character in the series based on English's friend and cricketer Rajendrasinh Jadeja,[1][2][3] one of a team of cricket-playing rabbits – in this case, from Bangalore in India.

Harrison's nine-year-old son Dhani and English accompanied him on the recording, as fellow vocalists, and Indian musician and composer Ravi Shankar provided the opening sitar part.

The song appeared in the Bunbury Tails episode "Rajbun Story", and on the soundtrack album alongside contributions from Elton John, the Bee Gees and Eric Clapton.

[4] Having previously been averse to most team sports,[5] George Harrison came to appreciate cricket while recording his 1987 comeback album, Cloud Nine, with fellow musicians Jeff Lynne and Elton John, both fans of the game.

[8] The latter was a charity-fundraising team founded in 1986 by writer and former RSO Records executive David English,[9][10] whose Bunbury Tails cartoon books inspired the TV show.

[22] Musically, "Ride Rajbun" is in the style of what author Alan Clayson calls "George's Indo-pop productions" for the Beatles, "Love You To" and "The Inner Light",[23] released in 1966 and 1968 respectively.

[25] As with Harrison's appearance on "Friar Park", a track on Shankar's album Tana Mana (1987),[32] "Ride Rajbun" marked a rare collaboration between the two musicians in the years since their joint North American tour at the end of 1974.

[39] The UK-only album was released on 5 October that year,[39] on the same day that Harrison joined guitarist Gary Moore on stage at London's Royal Albert Hall.

[40] While Harrison made a number of concert appearances throughout 1992,[41] this period marked the end of his successful return to full-time music-making,[42] after Cloud Nine and two albums with the Traveling Wilburys.

[51] Huntley laments the unavailability of "Ride Rajbun", since "the song is excellent, with a delightful melody, earnest vocals, and some great sitar work by Ravi Shankar".

A man sits cross-legged and holds a long-necked lute while looking to the side.
Ravi Shankar (pictured in 1988) performed the song's sitar introduction.