Graham Bond

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Graham Bond (born October 28, 1937 in Romford ; † May 8, 1974 in London ) was an English jazz and blues musician who allegedly did not know his own date of birth and posed as the illegitimate son of the magician Aleister Crowley . He sang and played the saxophone and keyboard . Among his merits is that he introduced the Hammond organ and the mellotron to rock music.

In 1963 he founded the Graham Bond Organization in London ; he had previously played for Don Rendell in 1961 and then replaced Cyril Davies in Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated . His band was a talent factory from which, similar to the formations of Alexis Korner and John Mayall , eminent musicians of the English scene emerged who then became successful in their own bands, e.g. B. John McLaughlin , Jack Bruce , Ginger Baker , Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Jon Hiseman . In 1966 he became a criminal and disbanded the band. In 1968 he went to America and recorded two solo albums there. In 1970 he became a member of Ginger Baker's Air Force where he played the saxophone; it can also be heard on some of this band's records.

Graham Bond died at the age of 36 when he was run over by an incoming Piccadilly Line train at Finsbury Park Underground Station in London . Bond could only be identified by his fingerprints.

Shortly before his death, he reported to the press and announced that he was fine and that he wanted to realize new musical plans.

Discography (selection)

  • 1965: The Sound Of 65
  • 1965: There's A Bond Between Us
  • 1968: Love Is the Law
  • 1969: Mighty Grahame Bond
  • 1970: Solid Bond
  • 1970: Holy Magic
  • 1971: We Put Our Magick On You
  • 1973: Two Heads Are Better Than One (with Pete Brown )

literature

  • Harry Shapiro: Graham Bond - The Mighty Shadow , Guinness Publishing Ltd, London, 1992
  • Dick Heckstall-Smith: The Safest Place In The World , Quartet Books Ltd, London, 1989

Web links