Bond, Graham - Solid Bond
SKU
15-RHINO79906
"Originally a double LP issued in 1972, it contains a good assortment of '60s material that Bond did not put out during that decade, and which remains unavailable on any other release. The earliest three tracks are rare recordings of long, straight jazz pieces from the Graham Bond Group in 1962 with JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, JACK BRUCE, and GINGER BAKER and Bond on saxophone! Historically they're interesting, particularly in their documentation of early McLaughlin, who solos well, though his blistering Mahavishnu fusion style was a long way off in coming. [those tracks are the LAST three on this CD: Hi Ho Country Kicking Blues (Bruce), The Grass Is Greener (Bond-McLaughlin), and Doxy (Rollins) - you should note this, as the musicians credit info on this Rhino Encore 'budget' reissue is non-existent!] However, Bond's outfits became much better known when he switched both styles [to R&B] and instruments [to singing organist] and formed the Graham Bond Oranisation. The other nine of the 12 tracks date from 1966, with Bond accompanied by Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax and Jon Hiseman on drums (Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker - originally in the Organisation, had by this time left to join Cream). Most of those latter nine tunes did not appear on the two proper GBO albums he issued in the '60s (The Sound of '65 and There's a Bond Between Us), and though a few did appear on those albums and non-LP singles, these recordings are obviously different versions due to the altered lineup. While perhaps not up to the level of the best cuts waxed by the Bruce/Baker lineup, these Hiseman/Heckstall-Smith backed numbers are still solid jazzy R&B with that aura of faint menace unique to Bond's mid-'60s work. His singing is particularly effective in its drawn-out anguish on "It's Not Goodbye" and "Springtime in the City" has those uneasy descending chord progressions and creepy R&B black-mass organ that were Bond specialties."-Ritchie Unterberger/All Music Guide (as reworked by Manny "Lunch" Marris)