Music brought Everett Perry, Bobby Furtado, Lionel Taylor, Nissim Ezekiel and George Taylor (left to right in the live concert picture below) together in Bombay in 1969 — with Godfrey Uttanwalla as the band’s manager. For three eventful years, this final personnel combination of The Combustibles was at the heart of Bombay’s active rock music scene.
Four decades later the surviving members remain in close contact despite being scattered across the globe, i.e. Everett and Lionel in London, George and Godfrey in Bombay (Mumbai), and Nissim in Las Vegas. Music remains a uniting theme, but personal relationships have remained strong and the band members have continued to celebrate each other’s good times and provide support through more difficult periods.
George at the Taylor Family home where it all began in the mid-1960s!
And Everett continues to write new songs that one can imagine The Combustibles practicing again on a terrace in Bandra alongside the Western Railway tracks in Bombay…!
This Must Be Love*
You come into my mind like sunshine,
That creeps through my window each morning,
Yes you do, so easily.
And gently, like soft moonbeams,
You reach out and touch me
And all at once,
Love takes a magic step
My heart’s aglow.
I Love My Mary*
Mary goes round in her garden,
Watering all the flowers,
For Mary, time stands still to watch her,
Talking to the birds for hours…
The Day She Came Into My Life*
She assures me sweetly,
Love from her tender heart:
‘Our love will stand the test of time’;
All my fears take wing now,
Life is a song I sing now,
The day she came into my life…
Love (is not for those who are children)*
Love is not for those who are children,
For what do children know about loving;
Love has to do with giving,
Children just know receiving;
Love has to do with dying to self,
Children just know living – for themselves.
* Copyright: Everett Perry
