Graham Bond | Artist

Graham Bond was an English rock/blues musician and vocalist born 1937 in Romford, UK. He was considered a founding father of the English rhythm and blues boom of the 1960s, with his solo work and band The Graham Bond Organisation. Bond was an innovator, described as "an important, under-appreciated figure of early British R&B", along with Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner. Bond was one of the earliest musician experimenting with jazz-rock fusion style. Many of the UK's finest jazz and rock musicians worked under Bond in their formative years, including Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, who moved on to Cream, Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith, who would form Colosseum, and John McLaughlin, the legendary UK Jazz-fusion guitarist. Bond was voted Britain's New Jazz Star in 1961. He was an early user of the Hammond organ/Leslie speaker combo in British R&B, and was the first rock artist to record using a Mellotron. Bond's career was plagued by substance abuse problems and periods of manic depression. In his later years he became increasingly obsessed with the occult, in particular the religion of Thelema. He spent his last years under the delusion that he was Aleister Crowley's son. Bond made eight studio albums and one live album, standouts include The Sound of 65, Love is The Law, Solid Bond, We put our Magick on You. The 2016 archival release Live at the BBC, is also highly recommended. Bond died under the wheels of a Piccadilly Line train at Finsbury Park Station, London, at the age of 36.

Artist Website: grahambond.org

Featured Albums: Graham Bond

Related Artists: Graham Bond Organization, Jack Bruce, Colosseum, Ginger Baker, Alexis Korner, John McLaughlin, Pete Brown