Graham Bond

Graham Bond stands as a significant yet often overlooked pioneer in the formative years of British R&B. In America he registers chiefly as the leader of the ensemble that featured Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker prior to their Cream tenure. Initially an alto saxophone jazz musician who earned the title of Britain’s New Jazz Star in 1961, he encountered Bruce and Baker upon entering Alexis Koerner’s Blues Incorporated in 1962, the ensemble that schooled many future British rock and blues players. When the three musicians departed in 1963 to establish their own unit, Bond had already shifted primarily to the Hammond organ while supplying most of the vocals. John McLaughlin spent several months in the Graham Bond Organization during its earliest phase, and live recordings he made with the group surfaced years afterward once its alumni had attained fame elsewhere. Saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith rounded out the band’s most enduring configuration, which produced a pair of solid albums and several singles during the mid-1960s.

At their peak the Graham Bond Organization delivered rhythm & blues infused with pronounced jazz elements, spotlighting Bond’s intense organ work and rugged vocals. Bruce’s vocal talents might have benefited the group more prominently, yet he appeared only sparingly on their releases. Even so, their strongest sides offered robust British R&B/rock/jazzsoul, and although Bond has occasionally been credited as a jazz-rock innovator, the music remained far closer to rock. The repertoire mixed inventive covers with original songs of considerable merit, and Bond became the first rock artist to employ the Mellotron synthesizer on record. Commercial singles proved essential for survival in mid-1960s Britain, and the absence of hits contributed to the band’s disintegration in 1966 once Bruce and Baker teamed with Eric Clapton in Cream. Bond persisted briefly with Heckstall-Smith and drummer Jon Hiseman, both of whom later joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Colosseum.

Bond never again reached the level attained with the Organization. In the late 1960s he relocated to the United States and recorded with Harvey Brooks, Harvey Mandel, and Hal Blaine. Returning to Britain, he collaborated with Ginger Baker’s Airforce, the Jack Bruce Band, and Cream lyricist Pete Brown while forming Holy Magick, which issued a pair of albums. His later years were marked by severe substance abuse and an immersion in occult practices; the British biography Mighty Shadow later raised posthumous allegations of sexual abuse involving his stepdaughter. In 1974 he took his own life by stepping in front of a London Underground train.