History of the GRAHAM BOND ORGANIZATION |
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- Even though they were unknown, the Graham Bond Organization was a vital piece of the rock music puzzle, introducing the 'virtuoso player'. Instrumental in launching the careers of Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman, the Graham Bond Organization remained virtually unknown. Here is the story before two principal members hooked up with Eric Clapton to form Cream in July of 1966.
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Hi, I was the drummer in "Blues Etc" and we opened from the Graham bond Organisation when the had Eric Clapton in the band. My vivid memory was seeing about six roadies trying to get the Hammond and the Melotron onto a raised stage. Our lead guitarist was "fretting" about playing before Eric, until I reminded him that I was to play drums in front of Ginger. In fact when we were on Eric was nowhere to be seen but Ginger stood in the wings and watched everything I did, after which he called me over and was very complimentary about my style and offered me a load of his signature sticks. One point, I don't think Graham (or the others) ever played in a trad jazz band - apart from anything else you don't get saxes in dixieland/trad. however, as an early teen I saw plenty of "trad bands and also saw Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies, Art Woods, John Baldry, Jeff Beck(Tridents) The Downliners Sect (who managed us for a while), the Yardbirds. and the Stones in the early days (Charlie mentored me during their residency at Eel Pie Island). I also saw John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in various incarnations and with the many famous lead guitarists whose careers he helped. Might I suggest a video about John and his many sidemen. I'm subbing.
Thanks for adding your viewpoint.
And contributing to the whole "scene" in general.
And you're still here,to talk about it.👍🏻
This is an unbelievable viewpoint on history! Thanks so much for sharing SillyMoustache! I would love to talk more about this with you.
@@speedfreakjive8843 Hi,I assure that it is all true. My email address will be on my channel . Regards, Ol' Andy.
@@brez-ed9dd Musical history that is passing with time. Thanks for your documented memory. Kids these days just don't know!
I saw the band in 1965 at the Esquire Club in Sheffield.
They were sensational.
Completely different to any other band I'd seen there.
Two saxaphone players and no guitarist ! And what a show: Graham Bond singing at the top of his voice as well as playing the Hammond organ: then breaking off to play a loud, wild solo on alto saxaphone.
The real show stopper was Jack Bruce singing The First Time I Met the Blues.
I wish I could see video of that show!
Sooo sweet! I wish I could have been there. Sadly, I'm only 63, but I remember my older brother bringing home Cream's Wheels of Fire when it was first released. I fell in love with Jack Bruce's vocals and Ginger's drums and couldn't get enough of Train Time! I later learned the bass and harmonica and had a lot of fun playing with friends in my teenage years. Unfortunately, rock had radically changed by the mid 1970's and only a few kids really appreciated it! Well, that's my explanation and I'm sticking to it! Lol
One unsung hero in all this is Dick Heckstall-Smith, who was a real innovator on sax (as was Graham) and was known for playing Tenor and Soprano Sax, at the same time! I was in a band on the early 90's called HTG and we played lots of GBO and 60's covers of the same ilk like Manfred Mann Earth Band, Coliseum, Jazz and Blues covers and we became friends with Dick around '90,'91 and jammed with him once. He played us some great unknown ( to us, at the time albums) at his flat in London. He wrote a book about those early years which is full of very funny stories about GBO and other occurrences, which is well worth tracking down.
Thanks for sharing that - much appreciated.
@@popgoesthe60s52 No worries and thanks a lot for making this history with the photos etc. I've been to Graham's final resting place. He couldn't have done better in that aspect.
Thank you. Something on Bond and his musical cohorts has been long overdue.
I will add a few random points though will start by saying, yes, the Graham Bond Organisation was - at least as far as many British musicians and fans were concerned - the precursor to Cream in terms of musical ferocity and daring. Eric Clapton said he would see them whenever he could and was always amazed by both their passion and proficiency. Indeed, that would ultimately lead him to accepting Baker's invite to form Cream. It would also prompt his insistance - much to Baker's chagrin - that Jack Bruce be the third member of what would become what was surely the most transformative band after the Beatles. Cream broadened the focus from just songs and personalities to the playing and the aforementioned passion and proficiency.
- Jon Lord of Deep Purple and various other organists have cited Bond as a key reason for them playing Hammond organ (unlike Bond, Lord did not use a Leslie cabinet), noting that everything he knew about playing that instrument came from Bond showing him the way.
- Upon returning to John Mayall's Bluesbreakers after an ill-fated autumn '65 foray to Greece with some musician friends, Clapton found himself playing alongside Jack Bruce on bass, as John McVie had been fired (one of a couple times that happened). They can be heard on a live excerpt of Mayall doing 'Stormy Monday Blues' which features what is arguably Clapton's most scintillating playing from that era. Bruce was lured away by Mayall's neighbour, the consistently chart-topping Manfred Mann, who offered the now-married-with-child Bruce a bigger paycheque. At his first Manfred Mann rehearsal - and much to the amazement of his new bandmates - Bruce played through all the tunes without any initial runthrough or need to be told what to play.
- To clarify, Bruce's work with the Hollies and Powerhouse etc. was that of session man. The latter consisted of Bruce, Clapton, Manfred Mann's Paul Jones on harmonica, and Spencer Davis Group members Stevie Winwood and Pete York (drums - apparently in place of Ginger Baker). Several tunes were recorded for the Elektra label album 'What's Shakin', which also included the Lovin' Spoonful. Clapton had skipped a Mayall gig to see the Spoonful play the Marquee, which is when a young Mick Taylor offered to sit in with the Bluesbreakers, ultimately leading him to getting the Mayall gig about a year later (after Peter Green, who sat in when Clapton was in Greece, came and then went off to form Fleetwood Mac).
- Also worth noting that the red Les Paul dubbed 'Lucy' and made famous by George Harrison started life as a sunburst owned by the Spoonful's John Sebastian. When he put it up for sale, Rick Derringer of the McCoys purchased it, had its Bigsby removed and the body refinished in red...but didn't like the end result so put it back up for sale. Clapton purchased it, then gve it to Harrison. When Harrison invited Clapton to play on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', they were apparently enroute to the studio. Clapton noted that he didn't have a guitar, at which point Harrison said that Lucy was at the studio.
- Yes, Bond was seemingly the first to record a mellotron on a pop record. John Lennon had taken receipt of a mellotron in late '65 but the Beatles were too busy touring for him to give it a go, so it wasn't until '66 that the Fabs dragged it down to Abbey Road. Manfred Mann's 'Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James' was one of the first pop hits to feature a mellotron...and by that point Klaus Voorman, best known as artist for the 'Revolver' album artwork (and later the Beatles' 'Anthology' series) was on bass.
- Jon Hiseman warrants additional mention here. Yes, he was enlisted after Baker's departure. After Bond and Heckstall-Smith saw him with the New Jazz Orchestra, they told Baker that if he kept acting up they would replace him with Hiseman, who had TWO bass drums. Baker immediately added a second one to his kit...though there is also the tale of him and Keith Moon both ordering second bass drums after seeing Sam Woodyard with the Count Basie Band. Moon's arrived first because his brand, Premier, was British. Baker's took some time to arrive from America.
- After Bond, Hiseman took Mitch Mitchell's spot with Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames. Mitch (and the band) had been 'let go' when Fame went solo. A couple days later he was jamming with Hendrix.
- Hiseman and Heckstall-Smith then went to Mayall's Bluesbreakers, where they recorded the excellent 'Bare Wires' album in a lineup that included Mick Taylor and bassist Tony Reeves. Despite the success of the album and band, Hiseman, Heckstall-Smith and Reeves split to form Colosseum, one of the earliest jazzy-rock bands.
Their debut album featured Bond's 'Walking in the Park' (as did their excellent 'Colosseum Live' double album). They also did Jack Bruce/Pet Brown tunes 'Theme for an Imaginary Western' and 'Morning Glory'. Hiseman had played on Bruce's 'Songs for a Tailor' album, and he, Heckstall-Smith and John McLaughlin are on Bruce's 'Things We Like', an all-instrumental jazz outing that was actually Bruce's first post-Cream recording though chronologically was third in his album releases. Bruce hired McLaughlin - who he encountered whilst on his way to the studio - to be on the record after McLaughlin told him he had an invite to join Tony Williams' band in New York but could not afford the airfare. His pay from that session paved the way for yet another transformation of the jazz, blues, and rock 'n' roll...which between Bond's Organisation, Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, Colosseum and various other offshoots compounded to forever change not only the direction of music, but also the style of players and the sound of their instruments.
Your video helps ensure this legacy is kept alive.
Hello Wayne, thank you for the extensive histories of these players. Truly a golden era an a small world that enabled these guys to continue to cross paths.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Yes, that small world was London - it all happened there.
Glad you mention Jon Hiseman. The recordings of the GBO Version with him from 1966 released on the Solid Bond LP are absoluter spellbinding. If only they had done more.
My old neighbour here in Cornwall UK was roadie for GBO in mid to late 60's. Some of the stories he told me....
His name was Pete Bailey, all of his stories are in his book "between lines and spaces"
Not sure if Pete is still with us, but would be in his 90's now.
He was also responsible for scattering Graham's ashes. I can confirm the secret place they were scattered was in Tintagel, Cornwall.❤
I saw the The Graham Bond Organisation with Bond, Bruce, Baker and Heckstall-Smith at the south London Lewisham Odeon on a tour with an eclectic mix of pop and American R and B artistes in the early 1960s. I was very young and didn’t know what to make of them then. Their music was raw and unfamiliar, but more importantly no one in the band projected towards the audience - they didn’t seem to care if we liked it or not. Just a few years later when I saw Cream in a tiny venue in Bromley, Kent they grabbed the whole audience by the throat - it was visceral. Everything was changing so fast then.
Thank you for that report - how fortunate you were to see them both!
@@popgoesthe60s52 The downside is you have to be 'kin old like me :-)
Bromley court hotel? Saw them there a few times, and once Humphrey Littleton played with them.
@@pauldickson7217 Hi Paul. No, it was a tiny wooden building like a scout hut right next to Bromley South railway station where Cream played. I understand that when they first formed they simply continued the GBO gig list.
Lucky you. Saw Cream's first US tour. Totally blew my mind as a young 17 year old.
I live in Denmark, and I still have the album. There's a bond between us. I always thought it was so cool that they didn't have a guitarist. A friend of mine saw them in Copenhagen, where Bond gave a number together with Ginger Baker. He used the bass pedals of the Hammond organ and sang and played altosax unison with the organ.
When I heard that, I decided to copy it. After several years, I began to play in smaller clubs in Denmark.
Since you mentioned Peter Brown, I thought I'd mention that he recently passed. Along with Jack Bruce, they wrote the classic songs that we still all know and love. Great retrospective.
Wow! Somehow missed that he passed away last May (at age 82). Talk about a case of poetry having a huge impact on popular music.
@@michaeldunne338 Rock in Peace - Peter and Jack.
How did miss Peter Browns death, just this past May? Jack I believe past in 2013 or 14, my favorite musician.
Or never knew ,I know baker in interviews ,documentary s said Pete Brown and Eric Clapton got most of the $ £ out of Disraeli gears while he got hardly nothing
@@frankperricone2065mine too.
Very good info ....I saw Bond in Oxford 1965 at the Forum
Those beat club air force performances are gold. Great footage of late period Bond and his wife, and a young steve Gregory on flute and tenor sax. I think
Love The Graham Bond Organisation.
Danny Thompson on upright bass went on to join The Pentangle.
No one else sounds like Dick Heckstall-Smith. His sound is totally unique.
I agree. Although I may be a little biased... 😊
@@ahecks No prob, Arthur 🙂
Well, I saw the Graham Bond ORGANisation several times. I was living in Portsmouth and we had London groups pop down on a regular weekly basis for a couple of years. There were two clubs that booked the GBO in 1964 - Kimbells at Southsea and Rendezvous in the Oddfellows Hall between North End and Fratton. They were my favourite R&B band of the era and I've yet to hear an album that captured their live sound. Bruce would play harmonica with blood streaming down his face; Bond doubled on organ and sax together with Heckstall-Smith on some numbers and Bond was not above egging girls to take their tops off. I even once saw the band in their Bedford van en route to a gig. I count my blessings that I was alive during the birth of R'nRoll and British R&B - enjoying what was surely the most exciting music ever. Gerogie Fame, The Animals were frequent visitors, as were Screaming Lord Sutch (with Blackmore on guitar), Johnny Kidd and American rockers like Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee, Little Richard and even Larry Williams at KImbells with Johnny 'Guitar' Watson and Sugar Pie Desanto. I towered above Little Walter at the Rendezvous, saw a Blues package with Muddy Waters at the Guildhall and rejoiced with the first Tamla tour which featured Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas et al which only drew about 60% of the Guildhall's capacity. Loved my teenage years!
Wow, what a time you witnessed! Thank you for sharing.
Another fabulous retrospective. The Graham Bond Organisation is one of those crucial lynchpins of rock history that have been lost to the mists of time except among us obsessed types. Bond's later occult albums are fun, atmospheric listens. Not for everyone, but those who are into the darker, creepier corners of 60's weirdness might dig them.
It's hard to imagine what became the Progressive Rock of the Nice, Colosseum, Atomic Rooster and Uriah Heep at al without the contribution of Graham Bond. If only a peer could have had a similar protective influence on him as he had provided others who passed under his wing, who knows what he might have achieved?
You held my attention for the full 21+ minutes. An unmatched feat. I overlooked GB even though the name is mentioned in most Rock books and docs. You made his importance just glaringly obvious. I got a Ken Burns vibe watching this one. Great work.
That is high praise - thank you! His end is tragic and the music pretty much ignored, so I'm glad to see people tuning in.
who is ken burns?
Maybe I missed it but they did have a minor hit with Wade In The Water. This drew me to seeing them live in Bolton! A very rainy Wednesday night in the mid 60’s. Great documentary
At one point, in the early 70’s, Bond was staying in a house I also lived in, in Bounds Green. I didn’t get any ‘untoward’ vibes off him, at all. At one point he was listening to a conversation I was having with a fellow student regarding Teilhard de Chardin, and he expressed his approval of “that Catholic cat”! There was an electric piano, under the stairs, which I was approaching on the upper floor, when a ripple of its music, I can only describe as ‘electric’, ‘electrified’ me. Graham
Greatly enjoyed this, but cannot believe that made no mention of the album 'Live at Klooks Kleek' recorded in 1964 and issued in 1988.
That album included a live version of "Wade in the "Water", which was normally the highlightof any of his live sets. I was issued as a
single in 1965 from the album 'The Sound of 65' (track 9).
The live version of Wade in the Water from the Klooks Kleek album was use in the TV Show "One Night in Soho" back 2021.
My then wife (Hi Linda0 and I went to the Albert Hall concert, nobody's mentioned Graham climbing up to play the Albert Hall organ :)
When I was the DJ at the Ricky Tick in Windsor I remember Pete Brown (who was roadying for him right then) staggering
to the satge with Graham's Hammond B3 on his back!
I loved the way you described the physical look of the four members 😀
I was being kind! 😀
@@popgoesthe60s52 another fantastic and informative video.
@@popgoesthe60s52 LOL!!!
I watched a doc on GBO and Jack Bruce comment on their lack of chart success being due in part to their voice of songs and the way they looked-Jack looked plain,Ginger looked like a thug,Dick looked middle aged and Graham was short and fat-hardly pop star looks!
Lol ginger used to get chosen to physical fights at school over the way he looked ,as they would of got a surprise, I had a friend that appeared shy only in a group and at building collage a lad saw weakness and hit him but got a beating by my m8
Excellent presentation Matt! There's no question that Graham garnered tremendious respect in the English music business. We all knew who he was and the fundamental role he played. My band Cottonwood, signed to Chrysalis Artists, was the opening act for a tour of The Jack Bruce Band with Grahan Bond on the Hammond B3. I remember Chris Spedding was playing lead guitar. This would have been late 1971/early 1972. By this point Graham's demons had well and truly caught up with him. I must say that Jack Bruce was a real hero of mine and I was honored to tour with him, but Jack himself was in pretty poor shape at that point in his life. Graham's "manic" episodes resulted in bizarre and violent behavior during some of the shows as the tour went on. A couple of years later Graham came into a restuarant on Portobello Road where my wife and I were having dinner and terrorized all the diners into leaving. It wasn't long after that we heard the news about his passing. A sad end to a truly talented and important artist.
Wow, what an experience. Yeah, Bond sounds like he was an absolute mess in those days. How was his playing live?
His playing and singing abilities on the Jack Bruce Band tour were obviously compromised by his struggles with substance abuse and mental health challanges.
“Harmonica” should have been a hit. I didn’t know John MacLaughlin was in an early version! Too bad about Graham’s personal problems, very sad and disturbing.
Thank you for not glossing over the Heroin, Occult and tragic suicide. All par for the course I know but those sixties guys really went for it. They tried to live authentic lives as their jazz heros had before them. Great stuff mate. I very much look forward to watching the rest of your videos.
Thank you, Winston!
That "Sound Of 1965" looks like a K-Tel album cover. As a result, I hope I never passed on it while quickly thumbing through 1000's of albums over the years. Great video!
Thank you shyman!
One thing I've always appreciated about your RUclips shows, Matt, is your interest in talking in depth about not well known groups, both British and American, and the influences they had on better known groups and music trends in general. Something I've thought (you may not agree with this) was in many ways, British musicians during the late '50s through mid '60s were much like the Japanese, and what Japan did to the American auto industry in the late '70s through the mid '80s. British musicians took American genres of music (Blues, Jazz and Pop/Rock) and refined or put their own spin on it.
I hadn't made the Japan connection but it is a good one! Thank you, Robert.
Thanks for this. Just brilliant. What a great sound.
10:45 Dick Heckstall-Smith reprised "Walking in the park" with Coliseum. I think it was on their debut album "Morituri Te Salutant". Jon Hiseman was also in Coliseum.
That's right, 'Walking in the Park' (vocals: James 'Butty' Litherland) was the first track on Colosseum's debut album 'Those Who Are About to Die Salute You', with Henry Lowther (trumpet) as a guest. 'Walking in the Park' can also be found on the legendary double album 'Live', sung there by the one and only Chris Farlowe.
Graham Bond was an inspiration for Jon Lord and Vincent Crane. His sound and style were very unique and he had a great influence on my playing.
I bought a record of theirs when I was a teenager ('91). Side 1 track 1 was "Wade in the Water" from "Live at Klooks Kleek". They still blow me away.
I saw the Graham Bond Organization at the Richmond Jazz and Blues Festival in 1965 (I think.)I was playing in a blues band at the time but this was unlike anything I had heard before. Raw, raucous and complex, I loved it.
Love your channel.
You sir, know your music, and it obviously comes from your love for this music.
Continued success to you.
Thank you kkwok! More to come.
Saw the Graham Bond Organisation in 1965 66 😮 I loved the mix of the brass and the normal band loved em. Xx
I'm a lifelong Colosseum fan, and have been lucky enough to have a few conversations with Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jon Hiseman & Co. since the 80s. Graham Bond, Alexis Korner and also John Mayall really were the forefathers of many great bands. It's incredible how many of their band members crossed paths again and again. Many thanks for this great video! A little tip: This documentary about Jack Bruce, also with Graham Bond: ruclips.net/video/29L-D6oEmDI/видео.html . Greetings from Germany
Great to have you, and thank you for the comments!
I remember the GBO coming to Kingston College of Tech (later Poly, later Uni) in the winter of 1966-67. What I recall was (a) they were dynamite, (b) all the girls left after half an hour or so, and (c) a rather barrel shaped Graham Bond ended up performing minus shirt. Loved every minute of it.
Minus shirt? That must have really scared them off! What a great band to have seen. Thanks for sharing.
I saw GBO twice, firstly in August 1965 when they were supporting The Who at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, and secondly, in June 1967, at the pier in Lowestoft. They knocked me out couldn’t believe the sound they created, what memories.
Were they a 3-piece at that '67 show? I didn't think they played as a band that far into 1967.
What a fantastic eyewitness account. If only you had a 8mm camera. Thanks for sharing.
Graham Bond first came to public attention on the modern jaźz scene as a member of Don Rendell's group. A sad ending for so much talent
rendell paved the way for the seond Soft Machine - thru ian carr / Nucleus
Wow thanks for covering them. Their music is so straightforward - it has a freshness and dare I say timeless sound to it almost 60 years later. A rugged, dirty, jazzy decidedly non-commercial English R&B. Love it.
This PGT Sixties video illustrate the value of what Matt Williamson brings to us that appreciate this period of music . I was 12 in 1963 and all Matt's choices taught me about art , writing and Band. Love your brain Matt . Merci
I thank you, Barry!
What a brilliant and enlightening exploration of the threads running through these 60s bands!
I knew Pete Brown and he even played my Birthday party last December (2022) singing my two favourite Cream songs 'what he wrote' Sunshine and White Room. In an interview I did with him a couple of years ago he described Graham Bond as the 'musicians musician'. He loved the man but Graham was his own worst enemy with drugs.
When Bond first played some R&B on the radio he wouldn't allow his name to be used in case the 'Jazz' police came after him. He was named New Jazz Star in 1961.
Thank you for this. Graham Bond was my relative and I never met him but heard all the stories. I think my dad met him when he went to England for a trip (if I recall, they were first cousins). I remember hearing the stories of his death and how he was either pushed, ran into, or fell asleep in the railroad tracks and was killed. I wish I had been able to meet him but I was a baby when he died plus I was in Illinois and he was in England so not likely.
You are quite welcome. He certainly deserves recognition.
Matt, your appreciation and presentation of the music of the '60s are much appreciated. These videos and photos (which I could only imagine in my teens in the 70s) are such a pleasure. I look forward to viewing more. Heartfelt thanks!
Hi Greg - thank you for the kind words - more to come!
I never thought I'd see a bio of The Graham Bond Organisation! Harmonica is one of my favourite tunes and has been since I found it on a compilation back in the mid 80's. Looking at a lot of the comments, it looks like you need to do a proper Blues Incorporated video! R & B At The Marquee baby!!!
I'm very happy to see the positive comments on this band. Often times I get reprimanded for "wasting time" on bands like this when I could be doing the Seekers!
😂😂😂
Thanks for the very informative video, Matt. I started listening to music when I was 10 years old in 1964 (after seeing The Beatles on TV). However, I never heard of the Graham Bond Organization until your video. Back then, most of us were listening to AM radio Top 30 (plus watching TV programs such as "American Bandstand" and "Hullabaloo"), so if a group wasn't on that, we'd have missed it. We OD'd on The Monkees, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Tommy James & The Shondells, etc, but no Graham Bond. So, thanks again for plugging the knowledge gap.
You are welcome, jjquinn!
Thank you for bringing the tragedy of Graham Bond to light. The London R&B scene that birthed the Stones had several bands that were training ground for future stars, among them Alexis Korner & Blues Incorporated, the Cyril Davies all-stars, Blues Breakers, and the Graham Bond Organization. Graham really wanted recognition, named the band after himself, but a series of bad breaks stifled his fortunes and he never rose above the level of club band. It didn't help that his records were never released in America. It ensured minor cult status and obscurity, a mere footnote to the British invasion. It must've eaten him up inside to see the musicians he mentored rise to fame, first Bruce and Baker with Cream, then McLaughlin with Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra. His junk problem really must've amplified his depression. The gruesome ending, suicide by jumping in front of a train, was inevitable. While his music wasn't particularly groundbreaking, it did help to promote the blues, and his mentorship to 3 important musicians shouldn't be forgotten. Next time you listen to Cream, Blind Faith, Miles Davis Bitches Brew, or the Mahavishnu Orchestra, remember Graham Bond paved the way for all that excellence, rest in peace G.B.
And of course Colosseum with Dick Hextall Smith and John Hiseman.
Ginger Baker's Airforce although mentioned in the video is missing from your list?
@@bendream544 in the uk, they were one hit wonders with Man of Constant Sorrow, sung by Denny Laine, the only tack to chart.
@@Joanna-il2ur I can't tell people enough....FORGET WHAT YOU HEAR IN THE CHARTS THEY'RE ABOUT A GOOD WAY OF JUDGING GREAT MUSIC AS BELIEVING THAT THE BEATLES INVENTED ROCK AND ROLL....
@@bendream544 Either your caps locked stuck, or you’re shouting. Hope you got it fixed.
Great video Matt
This is the first time I have seen a history of this band!
I regularly attended Klooks Kleek which was a room above the Railway Hotel West Hampstead. On several occasions I saw the Graham Bond Organisation. You could drink in the pub downstairs and then get into Klooks upstairs for free. Those were the days
Thanks, Matt! I love that you've gone deep with the relative unknown of Graham Bond. I first became aware of this band when I picked up a British Invasion collection in a tiny mom and pop record store about 1975. Long Tall Shorty was the GBO track on this collection and it made me eager to hear more from them. Sadly, until the internet arrived, exploration was next to impossible as we all depended on whatever we could find that our local stores brought in. It wasn't until years later that I even became aware of who played on that track, let alone their pedigree in the Rock pantheon. Another song on that same collection was Joe Cocker's very first release, a 1964 cover of The Beatles' I'll Cry Instead with Big Sullivan, Jimmy Page and Bobby Graham as part of the studio band as Cocker's own group didn't want to make the trip down to London from Sheffield.
Thank you for bringing attention to those who laboured hard without success, yet changed what we listened to just the same. Even the great Georgie Fame didn't get the attention he deserved. In truth, the 60s are filled with unsung hero bands who deserved better, but for the fierce competition for airplay that often kept even the deserving from their just rewards. Or that some bands just didn't translate well from club act to recording stars. The Downliners Sect, a hugely popular London club act, immediately come to mind.
Like many of the unsung heroes of the UK Blues movement, Graham Bond deserves higher recognition for his contributions.
If you can get hold of him, I would love to see you interview Ron Ryan, who wrote and cowrote almost all of the Dave Clark Five's biggest hits, despite never being credited for his work (nor paid). Ron's a really nice guy who has given me tips and critiques of my own writing. In return, I've done my best to spread the word of his rightful place in the British Invasion history and his story is another amazing and frustrating journey of an unrecognised contributor. After abandoning the DC5, among other projects, Ron formed the Riot Squad. Despite a couple of strong singles and no hits, he was pushed out of his own band by his drummer who thought that heavy Blues Rock held no future. That drummer, ironically, was future Jimi Hendrix Experience member Mitch Mitchell. Ron's eventual replacement in The Riot Squad was an unknown kid named David Jones, who would later change his name to Bowie.
It seems that so many of the UK bands of the 60s share members in common.
Thank you for the substantive comments. I have heard of Ron Ryan and the appalling way he was treated. I can just about tell when he stopped working with the DC5 by the quality of their songs. Thank you for that tip. Plenty more underrated bands to come!
@@popgoesthe60s52 I'm looking forward to them all ☺
"Live at Klooks Kleek" was definitely the greatest album 1988 had to offer to a young 16-year old me. Period! 😊
Ah, I was glad when that came out. It is essential in understanding the club scene.
Saw the Zeppelin at Klooks 👍👍👍
So enjoyed your retrospective on Graham Bond
Thank you, and part two will be coming soon (featuring Cream).
Great choice, Matt. The GBO is one of those bands that comes up a lot in stories about better known groups but there’s rarely a focus on them.
Yes, and their music is more of an acquired taste. I only listen to them occasionally when I want that sweaty club feel.
Excellent Episode Matt on The Graham Bond Organization 👍👍 - One thing about All these British Rock Bands is that one great band leads you to another great band, That has always been the case for me, The Beatles being the gateway (so to say) which leads into The Rolling Stones and then into The Animals, into the Kinks, into The Who, The Yardbirds and so on.... and eventually you discover great acts like Graham Bond, Georgie Fame, Brian Auger, The Peddlers and so on... Cant wait to see your video on another great band- The Cream!!! Thanks Matt for another cool video and Cheers🍺✌️
My pleasure, Ernie!
Incredible! I was too young to appreciate them in the mid-sixties, but my cousin (ten years older) was a drummer in a successful Merseybeat band. He would play me GBO records and I loved them. Thank you so much for posting.
My pleasure, Kay. Thank you for commenting.
Always enjoy Matt's histories - even the obscure groups. You don't realize how important a band like GBO was to the 1960s thread. Matt gets you into listening to groups like the Grass Roots or the Fortunes, who I barely thought of as having albums. I was checking those two out this week. Still loving that 5th Dimension album he put us onto a while back. Matt knows the gems!
I appreciate the kind words - thank you.
@@popgoesthe60s52 Can I say that the song "Books and Films" by the Fortunes has such an amazing hook and I'm embarrassed to say I never heard it before. These guys are actially a pretty good band.
@@misternewoutlook5437 That Fortunes song is excellent! I hadn't known about it - thank you!
Great video matt!
Side note:
Janet Godfrey was the secretary of the fan club for the Graham Bond Organisation.
Who later would marry Jack Bruce.
Yes, and also became a composer of some of their songs. Thanks for that, Jonas!
Janet Godfrey also co-penned with Jack the tunes 'Sweet Wine' and 'Sleepy Time Time' on the 'Fresh Cream' album. For Bond she provided lyrics for the tunes 'Baby Make Love to Me' and 'Baby Be Good to Me', both group-penned tunes on the band's debut album, 'The Sound of '65'.
There is something quite compelling about Graham Bond’s music and singing. The title track of ‘Love is the Law’ sounds quite manic to me. He definitely deserves recognition and credit for his role as a catalyst in the evolution of the British music scene and as you say mentoring some great musicians along the way. Great episode, thanks.
Thank you, emscott!
The story is all too heartbreakingly familiar. A superb musician who had great talent, but was blighted by bad luck and poor management decisions.
The decline into heroin, mental illness, and then self-destruction is inevitable. Graham deserved much better than an early grave. At the peak of his powers, he was unbeatable.
I'm of that '60s generation, I'm 76 now and I've often felt suicidal over my lack of success as a modern poet. I call it the Vincent Van Gogh syndrome.
Just thinking about what you said, I too was 'blighted' by bad luck and thing seeming to take me much longer to achieve than it took the average person. It seemed to me that I had to work twice as hard for everything I achieved than the next man..
Having met the man, I would say he was very troubled, possibly by trauma in his early life. Its the reason that we take strong drugs and alcohol so as we can 'escape' the pain, the guilt and the shame. If Graham wasn't experience this i don't see the need for suicide. It's only a small percentage of those who strive for stellar success who achieve it. The vast majority of those who try and fail don't turn to suicide...they just keep on trucking.
@@bodyer2120 I am or have been suicidal at times but I'd never choose a violent way to end it. I'm not whining when I say I never got the breaks; instead I've been thwarted at every turn by 'dark forces.' And yes as you're a long time dead why hasten it? I still have the odd good day but for the most part it's merely a long hard lonely slog.
@@bodyer2120 My mother was a psychiatric nurse who said to me years ago if somebody wants to take their own life, there is nothing in the world that will stop them.
I once knew a lovely, kind woman called Nia whose life was cursed by mental illness. She had already made several failed attempts to nullify her existence.
One day, she calmly announced that she will carry out the deed, but will wait until her cousin sat his exams. She knitted a little jumper for my first child which was
wonderful.
My then-partner contacted Nia a few months later. She said her voice was utterly devoid of emotion. She had lost her father, and the conservation was very
awkward. We never saw or heard from her again. Nia's relatives contacted me to inform me, that she had committed suicide on the Bank Holiday weekend.
That was thirty years ago. Nia had many friends and was popular. She was very bright and made people laugh but eventually, the darkness devoured her entirely.
Nia has found eternal peace, but my mother's comments have always haunted me.
Phil .A lot of men have done their self in and killed T S ,least your still here and not done it shows your strong enough
Baker's own daughter said that Baker and Bruce didn't hate each other. She has written a couple of books about growing up amongst the musicians who worked with her father.
Hate is a strong word. They certainly couldn't stand working together at times and it got physical even in the reunion.
I would agree, in that hate is not the right word to try to categorise the relationship between Jack and Ginger - it definitely wasn't as simple as that.
Thanks for this ,did he take a lot of lsd bond?
All new information for me. I never heard of Graham Bond before. Can't wait for the Cream episode.
i have their CD with 2 albums. its a banger of those days.
Excellent well put together.
The Graham Bond Organisation started out as a modern, rather than trad, jazz band. I recall seeing Graham Bond on RSG. 'Lily The Pink' was recorded about two years after 'Pretty Flamingo'.
Thank you for that info.
True, but Ginger Baker's professional career began, rather surprisingly (to me, at any rate), in trad (including Terry Lightfoot's Jazzmen, with whom he recorded).
ruclips.net/video/Bv-w5ihlVBw/видео.html
@@neilsaunders6009 And he drummed for Acker Bilk.
I saw The Scaffold with my parents at the old Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. They did an evening of poetry and the audience were expecting Lily the Pink.
Excellent analysis as usual Matt and a heck of a story. For all the influence these individuals had on popular music and the influence Bond had on his bandmates, it is truly a shame that his gifts were not nurtured by someone else to continue shaping others and / or even himself. One could argue that perhaps GBO was a mid-step of sorts in the evolution of pop music that was expanding into guitar rock at that time.
Yes, Bond was an important link between the blues/jazz/club world and late 60s rock. Thank you for commenting!
Based on the history you describe here between Jack Bruce & Ginger Baker, I can’t wait to hear how Cream ever even managed to stay together as long as they did! In fact, it really doesn’t even seem to make any sense that they ever formed in the first place.
Ginger got with Eric and actually recommended Jack as the bass player. Gin wasn't a stupid man, he knew when something suited the music. Eric was really the buffer between them.
If you saw the documentary 'Beware Mr Baker' you can first see just what a phenomenal drummer he actually was. To hear him play and then actually see him doing it are a real revelation. He also comes across as intense and dangerous and probably psychotic. How anyone could coexist in a band with this guy for any length of time is a real mystery because he genuinely was a terrifying person.
Virtuosity, Bruce and Baker shared that factor, clashed enormously, but their virtuosity won over for a short time.
Right ! But Thank Heaven they Did!
The animosity between Jack and Ginger is well documented . Apparently Eric Clapton insisted that Jack would be the bass player for Ginger's new band , otherwise he ( Clapton) would not join . The rest, as they say is history .
Graham Bond matured physically at an unusually early age - that photo of him at 2:20 (holding a sax and a cymbal stand) was taken at only 17 years old!
Worth mentioning too that he was adopted, which might explain some of his psychological problems, and helped feed the delusion that he was Aleister Crowley's son. (Crowley did father a son born in 1937, but his subsequent life is well documented, and he can't possibly have been Bond.) As to Bond's biological parentage, this remains a mystery. The Mighty Shadow tells of an attempt to find out more, but an adverse court ruling at a crucial stage scotched any chances.
Matt, this episode was a treat and a half, thank you, Mate 🙏
My pleasure, Lee!
Although I had bought Graham’s earlier singles and LPs as part of my introduction to R&B over here in the U.K. it wasn’t until mid-1966 that I first saw him play live at The IL Rondo in Leicester. I’d just missed Jack but trumpeter Mike Falana was playing in the group. I loved the group and followed Graham’s career right up to Ginger Baker’s Airforce. Obviously I loved Cream and Colosseum who were a popular draw on the club and festival circuit over here, and got to see Jack guesting in various jazz-rock groups. It was a sad loss of a great talent when he passed.
After Ginger Baker died, one of the radio programmes that I listened to were asking for suitable tracks to celebrate his life so I requested Wade In The Water. There was an audible pause after it was actually played on the show, and I know that the presenter, a former member of The Fall had never heard it before as all he could say after it finished was an astonished oh! Many thanks for this great video tribute to one of my all-time favourite keyboard players Matt. R.I.P. Graham, Dick, Ginger, and Jon. Andy C.
Thank you, Andrew and I appreciate your background history of the band. Much appreciated.
Still have the LP and really enjoy listening to "Holy Magick" (1970).
I was standing on the platform at finsbury Park tube station with my two young daughters late one evening when, as the train appeared in the tunnel a man in a baggy raincoat threw himself under the train.
I found out later that it was Graham Bond.
Thanx for your enlightening work. This day is more than complete as I was enlightened by your research and that Mahavishnu John McLaughlin was once a member of The Graham Bond Organization: that Jack Bruce worked with Manfred Mann and Graham Bond's storied life. Nice job!!
Thank you, David! More to come.
Thanks for the video. Been a fan of Cream since I was 12 years old (I’m 43). Love to know more about the band history.
I'm working on the Cream follow-up so stay tuned!
Thanks for putting up your history of the Oganization who I was fortunate enough to enjoy twice in my early adventures in club/concert outings 65/66. I used to have a very frayed rim shot worn monogramed stick of Gingers which has unfortunately disappeared in the mists of time. Unlike my memories of how brilliant they were.
Matt , fantastic episode ! GBO was a catalyst for so many great artists! I can't wait for your take on Cream as I am a huge fan . I have seen Eric Clapton many times live and would have loved to see him with Cream!
Thank you - Cream is coming soon!
What a great - and overdue - programme on the Ugliest Band of the Sixties! I had no idea The Place in Hanley had ever been a "funky" venue - by the late 70s it was a disco, and we used Cyril's Bridge Street Arts Centre in Newcastle-under-Lyme for a blues hang-out. That place would be worthy of a film in itself- Jack Bruce played there in 1985...😏
Thank you for watching!
I'm in my late 50s, grew up with an Album Oriented Rock station. But I never heard of this band. Ya learn something every day. Thanks for the upload!
This is another one of those British bands like the Small Faces that I wished was more popular in the US. Some of the stuff that never made it over here I actually find myself diggin' more than the stuff that did make it across the pond!
This is a terrific segment! Detailed, interesting information about a musician and his various groups of whom I had heard nothing before. It’s amazing how many giants of the 60’s/70’s rock scene were associated with Graham Bond.
Thank you for the warm comment! Stay tuned for the follow up!
I met Grahan Bond in 1972 at a mews house in London belonging to two escorts. I cant remember where I first met the escorts but it was possibly in one of the pubs where i sold hash. They visited me in my home at the time and always bought plenty. One day I had got a phone call to bring some hash to a party they were holding in their home. When i arrived, there were about a dozen people. Simon Kirk of Bad Company was there and the others were involved in the music business as well, but i didn't recognise any of them. Anyway, i had nice hash and everybody bought some. After a while a late visitor arrived who was rather plump, had greasy hair and dressed a bit like Dr John. I can remember he was wearing elaborate satanic symbols on a long kaftan he was wearing. From the moment he arrived he dominated the room talking and acting strange. He liked the hash and bought some of me. It was then that he told me his name and as I had read a couple of articles in New Musical Express about him and his involvement with Baker and Bruce, i was able to converse with him. I was a Cream fan from the start so we chatted for a while and he asked me about Northern Ireland, where i was from. I was only 19 year old at the time but i had other musicians as regular clients, including Phil Lynott and Lemmy who lived a few doors away, down the street from me.
After a few joints, he went over to the fireplace and removed a whip from the wall, he made a funny remark and then took one of the women by the arm and they disappeared into an adjacent room. I think he was a regular there. I left maybe around a half hour later and the next time i heard of him was in a headline and story about his death. London was a big playground back then. It was for me anyway.
Nice video. I remember finding Solid Bond on vinyl at a thrift store back in the mid 90’s and it became one of my favorite albums of that time in my life.
That is a good one and I though I had it but when I gathered stuff for the video I realized I just had digital downloads!
Jack Bruce went on to make some excellent solo albums...my favs being Songs for a Tailor and Harmony Row...which includes the song The Consul at Sunset based on Malcom Lowry's memorable and kinda devastating novel - Under the Volcano...thankfully I have them both albums on vinyl. I find the whole albums a complete pleasure to listen to Sides A and B all the way through...also....great video...thank you for the back story on a group I had only a vague knowledge about....but clearly significant.
The tailor in question was Jenny the Tailor, Jeanie Franklin, who did Cream’s stage gear. She died in 1969 in the infamous Fairport Convention motorway crash. Richard Thompson denies in his autobiography that she was his girlfriend but says she was trying to be by hanging around with the band. Jack named the album in her memory.
I love a lot of Cream's uniquely powerful output, but I actually rate Jack's compositions, playing and singing on his albums afterwards even higher, despite not comprising the bigger hits of Cream. There's a lot of superb, creative music there.
Great program . Thanks .
Just fabulous review. Thank you
Excellent Matt. Great segment
Thanks! Points for " Gonks Go Beat!" Film clip. Yes I've heard of that. That's a rare song " Crossroads" featuring 2/3rds of CREAM sung by Paul Jones!!!! It's on " my list" as we all know is" A never ending search".
Stevie Winwood did the singing on 'Crossroads' and the other Powerhouse tracks. Paul Jones provided harmonica.
These sessions helped foster the realisation of Cream and also Blind Faith.
Though Pete York, who like Winwood was with the Spencer Davis Group, drummed on the Powerhouse recordings, word was that Ginger was the original choice but either opted out or was excluded.
Bond had a superb, Howlin Wolf style singing voice.
Fantastic teaching & super informative. You do these videos very good & your choice of artists you cover are so important then, today & the future of music. Thank you very much for your hard work & looking forward to watching your other videos.
Thank you, Ray. I appreciate the comments and support!
Good pic you drew that
You track the connections between these iconic musicians so well. I would love to see your take on John McLaughlin's early history.
excellent and interesting - great content, presentation style and production values
Thank you, teashea1!
Very interesting video. Had never heard of Graham Bond although I am a fan of Cream and John McLaughlin. Thanks!
They're a great under rated band....
I saw several incarnations of these blokes. They were always innovative and excellent
Jon Hisemans Coliseum. Another great band
I really like your relaxed style. Gonna watch more videos from you!
Hi Matt, normally I watch your videos for bands I enjoy. Thank you for widening my interests in a new band! Excellent video.
My pleasure, Thomas. Plenty more to come!
Great in Depth Look at Some of the Hip, Non Pop Music of the 60's!
Thanks
Thank you Vince - I appreciate the comment.
Another great choice for another great band history. Thank you Matt. I've always been a great fan of JacK the Bruce. I've got one of those crazy 6 string bass's with the tremelo arm like the intro of Long Tall Shorty. My other favorite is the clip of Harmonica, so very very cool, the rest of the film is really bad apart from the Lulu song, Chocolate Ice which is another UK mid sixties killer in my humble opinion. As far as I know, the pig in Waltz for a Pig is meant to be poor Shel Talmy. The Who thought that he had butchered the production on their first LP. I don't know because it sounds pretty good to me. Wishing you a fine weekend and I'm really looking forward to your next bio, who will it be???
Thank you, David. I love that part of the film from Gonks. I had a longer portion in the video but had to take it out due to copyright. Already working on that next bio so stay tuned!
P.S I didn't know that about Waltz for a Pig! Thank you!
magical truly thank you for this act of spirtual honnering thanks
Actually the best known usage of the mellotron was Mike Pinder of the Moody blues
Davey Graham figures in there somewhere ; big friends with Graham Bond-also wrote a tune for him.'Lashtal's room'.
Heroin is a terrible thing. There is quite a lot of this in the "Beware of Mr Baker" documentary,
Thanks for this one. I’ve listened to loads of stuff that came out of the GBO - Colosseum, Tempest, Cream, practically everything that John McLaughlin did after - without ever listening to GBO. I guess I’ve got some catching up to do
another commenter connected to Rendell who mentored many incl Ian Carr.
so add Nucleus, Soft Machine, Tippett,,, king crimson...
Zebob ,just found Colossiam (Spelt I I think) today good psych