Graham Bond

Graham John Clifton Bond (28 October 1937 – 8 May 1974) was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist, considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s.

Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, under-appreciated figure of early British R&B", along with Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Jack Bruce, John McLaughlin and Ginger Baker first achieved prominence in his group, the Graham Bond Organisation. Bond was voted Britain's New Jazz Star in 1961. He was an early user of the Hammond organ/Leslie speaker combination in British rhythm and blues – he "split" the Hammond for portability – and was the first rock artist to record using a Mellotron.

Biography Bond was born in Romford, Essex, England. Adopted from a Dr Barnardo's home, before forming the Graham Bond Quartet, a jazz group, with musicians he met in the Korner group, Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on double bass,

The group was plagued by substance abuse problems, particularly Bond's, as well as the relentless bickering between Baker and Bruce. Due to his declining situation, Bond entrusted running of the band to Baker, who then used that power to fire Bruce, which saw the band continue, albeit with declining success as a trio. Baker would leave soon after to start his own band, with the first invite going to Eric Clapton, at the time guitarist with the UK's premier blues band, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Clapton accepted, with the caveat that Jack Bruce be added as vocalist and bassist. Meanwhile, the Organisation carried on as a trio with Jon Hiseman on drums, but Bond's mental and physical health continued to deteriorate, until the band eventually dissolved in 1967. The group's lack of commercial success is generally put down to Bond being "unable to find a commercially successful niche. Some jazz fans regarded Bond's band as too noisy and rock-based, while the pop audience found his music complicated and too jazzy".

After the break-up of the Organisation, Bond continued to exhibit mental disorders, with manic episodes and periods of intense depression, exacerbated by heavy drug use.

In 2015, Bond's work was the focus of a two-hour special on the Dr Boogie radio show.

Discography

as The Graham Bond Organisation The Sound of '65 (1965) There's a Bond Between Us (1965) Rock Generation Vols. 3 & 4 (1972, live recordings at Klooks Kleek 1964)

Other Bond-led recordings Solid Bond 1963-1966 (Warner Bros 1970) Wade In The Water (Classics, Origins & Oddities) 1963-1966 (Repertoire Records 4-CD set 2012) Live At The BBC And Other Stories 1962-1972 (Repertoire Records 4-CD set 2015) Love Is the Law (Pulsar, 1969, as Grahame Bond) Mighty Grahame Bond (Pulsar, 1969, as Grahame Bond) Holy Magick (Vertigo, December 1970) We Put Our Magick on You (Vertigo, October 1971) Two Heads Are Better Than One (with Pete Brown, 1972)

In other groups

Roarin''' (with Don Rendell New Jazz Quartet, Jazzland, October 1961)