It has been extremely frustrating to obtain The Graham Bond Organisation recordings on CD. Pete Brown has compiled all the available material for a box set which remains unreleased. Once again it is an enthusiastic fan who has compiled a 3 CD set of the available recordings - 'A Total Bond'. The sources are mainly from vinyl, including BBC transcriptions, but high quality ones with careful digital remastering.
From these 3 CDs one can hear an innovative and adventurous band that spanned a range of musical styles - Modern Jazz to Blues to R&B to Pop. The live tracks are particularly interesting especially the three with John McLaughlin from 1963. I heard those back in the '70's and have been after them ever since. They are playing modern jazz - heavy Charles Mingus influence and they cover Sonny Rollins' "Doxy" - fascinating stuff. A very rare trio performance of "Wade in the Water" is the earliest recording from March '63. Jack is on acoustic bass on these tracks.
The Klooks Kleek material from 1964 has been more widely available but this version has been reordered to provide a more homogenous single set on CD vs the vinyl's two sides.
The two studio albums are included plus all the singles and B-sides including the definitive version "Wade in the Water" which was done for a US B-side. A couple of bonus tracks are the last single of the GBO featuring Jon Hiseman.
CD1 Early & Rare
1. Wade in the Water - A [ EMI Demo, 1963, Graham Bond Trio]
2. I Saw Her Standing There - B1 [Parlophone Single (A), 1963, Duffy Power & Graham Bond Quartet]
3. Farewell Baby - B1 [Parlophone Single (B), 1963, Duffy Power & Graham Bond Quartet]
4. I Got A Woman - B1 [BBC, 1963, Duffy Power & the Graham Bond Quartet]
5. Gabbage Greens - B [BBC, 1963, Graham Bond Quartet]
6. I Saw Her Standing There - B1 [BBC, 1963, Duffy Power & the Graham Bond Quartet]
7. Spanish Blues - B [BBC, 1963, Graham Bond Quartet]
8. Harmonica - C [Decca, “Gonks Go Beat” soundtrack, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
9. High Heel Sneakers - C [Decca Sampler LP “R&B”, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
10. Long Legged Bay - C [Decca Sampler LP “R&B”, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
11. Hoochie Coochie Man - C [Decca Sampler LP “R&B”, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
12 . Little Girl - C [Decca Sampler LP “R&B”, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
13. Strut Around - C [Decca Sampler LP “R&B”, 1964, Graham Bond Organisation]
14. Love Comes Shining Through -- C [Columbia Single (A), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
15. Tell Me - C [Columbia Single (B), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
16. Lease on me - C [Columbia Single (A), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
17. My Heart’s in Little Pieces - C [Columbia Single (B), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
18. St James Infirmary C [Columbia Single (A), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
19. Soul Tango C [Columbia Single (B), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
20. Wade in the Water C [Columbia US Single (B with 18.), 1965, Graham Bond Organisation]
21. Waltz For A Pig, D [Reaction B-Side of The Who’s ‘Substitute’, 1966, as The Who Orchestra]
22. Only Sixteen D [BBC, 1966, Graham Bond Organisation]
GBO Bonus tracks: Graham Bond, Dick Heckstall-Smith with Jon Hiseman on Drums [Page One Single, 1967]
23. You Gotta Have Love
24. I Love You
A. Graham Bond, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce
B. A + John McLaughlin B1. & Duffy Power
C. A + Dick Heckstall Smith D. Bond, Baker, Heckstall-Smith.
CD2
The Sound of ‘65
1. Hoochie Coochie Man (Dixon)
2. Baby Make Love to Me (Group/Godfrey)
3. Neighbour Neighbour (Valior)
4. Early in the Morning (Trad Arr. Group)
5. Spanish Blues (Bond)
6. Oh Baby (Bond)
7. Little Girl (Bond)
8. I Want You (Bond)
9. Wade in the Water (Trad Arr. Group/Getty)
10. Got My Mojo Working (Poster)
11. Train Time (Group)
12 . Baby Be Good To Me (Group)
13. Half a Man (Bond)
14. Tammy (Evans/Livingston)
There’s A Bond Between Us
15. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Knox/Kirkpatrick)
16. Hear Me Calling Your Name (Bond)
17. The Night Time is the Right Time (Herman)
18. Walkin’ in the Park (Bond)
19. Last Night (Axton/Jackson/Nix/Smith/Cropper/Dunn/Johnson)
20. Baby Can It Be True? (Bond)
21. What’d I Say? (Charles)
22. Dick’s Instrumental (Heckstall-Smith)
23. Don’t Let Go (Stone)
24. Keep A Drivin’ (Willis)
25. Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Bond)
26. Camels & Elephants (Baker)
Graham Bond, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, Dick Heckstall-Smith
CD3
Totally LIVE
Plough, Ilford, March 1963
1. Wade in the Water* (Trad Arr Group/Getty)
Klooks Kleek, Hamstead, London, June 1963
2. Ho Ho Country Kicking Blues (Group)
3. The Grass is Greener (Bond)
4. Doxy (Sonny Rollins)
Klooks Kleek, Hamstead, London, [Late] 1964
5. Introduction
6. Wade in the Water
7. Big Boss Man
8. Person to Person Blues
9. 1st Time I Met the Blues
10. Spanish Blues
11. Stormy Monday
12. Traintime
13. Early in the Morning 4
14. What’d I Say*
All Tracks: Graham Bond, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce,
2-4 + John MacLaughlin
5-14 + Dick Heckstall-Smith
Copyright ©2002 Graeme Pattingale