The Sound of '65

The Sound of 65 is the debut album by rhythm & blues/jazz group The Graham Bond Organisation, featuring its best-known line-up of Graham Bond (vocals, alto saxophone, Hammond B-3 organ and Mellotron), Jack Bruce (vocals, acoustic and electric basses, harmonica), Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor and soprano saxophone) and Ginger Baker (drums).^[2]

The Sound of '65
Studio album by The Graham Bond Organization
Released	February 26, 1965 (1965-02-26)
Recorded	Dec. 16, 19, 1964, Jan. 4, 5 and Feb. 4, 1965
Studio	Olympic Studios, Carlton St, West End of London
Genre	Rhythm and blues, jazz
Length	34:17
Label	Columbia (The Gramophone Co. Ltd. label)
Producer	Robert Stigwood
The Graham Bond Organization chronology
n.a. The Sound of '65 (1965) There's a Bond Between Us (1965)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Melody Maker's Chris Welch has suggested The Sound of '65 "may have been the greatest album of the Sixties" and "one of the most exciting and influential of its time"^[3] given the respect paid by luminaries like Steve Winwood and Bill Bruford. This album and the group's second and last, There's a Bond Between Us are now considered "essential listening for anyone who is seriously interested in either British blues, The Rolling Stones' early sound, or the history of popular music, in England or America, during the late '50s and early '60s"^[4] and is also known among fans of Cream, which Bond's rhythm section joined in the next year.

In his book A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 70s (2020), Mike Barnes notes that The Sound of '65 was the first album to feature the Mellotron, a tape loop-based keyboard instrument which later became popular in progressive rock.^[5] Barnes describes Bond as one of the most influential artists of the 1960s, partly for his band's "freshly minted, jazz-inflected take on R&B including some classical influences."^[5]

The ensemble's cover of "Wade in the Water", released as a single, begins with an interpolation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565.^[5] It was one of the first singles purchased by keyboardist Keith Emerson, who described the intro as "cool", and similarly interpolated Toccata and Fugue in D Minor during the Nice's "Rondo" (from The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, 1967).^[5][6]

Track listing

Side A

1. "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Willie Dixon) – 3:11
2. "Baby Make Love to Me" (Janet Godfrey, John Group) – 1:49
3. "Neighbour, Neighbour" (Alton Joseph Valier) – 2:37
4. "Early in the Morning" (Traditional, arranged by Group) – 1:47
5. "Spanish Blues" (Graham Bond) – 3:03
6. "Oh Baby" (Bond) – 2:39
7. "Little Girl" (Bond) – 2:11

Side B

1. "I Want You" (Bond) – 1:43
2. "Wade in the Water" (Traditional, arranged by Group and Paul Getty) – 2:39
3. "Got My Mojo Working" (McKinley Morganfield) – 3:08
4. "Train Time" (Group) – 2:21
5. "Baby Be Good to Me" (Godfrey, Group) – 2:21
6. "Half a Man" (Bond) – 2:02
7. "Tammy" (Jay Livingston, Ray Evans) – 2:46

Personnel

• Graham Bond – Hammond organ, vocals, Mellotron, alto saxophone
• Dick Heckstall-Smith – tenor saxophone
• Jack Bruce – electric and acoustic basses, vocals, harmonica
• Ginger Baker – drums

References

1. Unterberger, Richie. "Graham Bond Organisation The Sound of 65 review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
2. "The Graham Bond Organisation – The Sound Of '65 / There's A Bond Between Us (1999, CD)". Discogs.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
3. Welch, Chris (25 November 2009). "Graham Bond – The Glorious Sound of '65". Repertoire Records. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
4. Eder, Bruce. "Graham Bond Organisation The Sound of 65/There's a Bond Between Us review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
5. Barnes, Mike (2024). A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 70s (2nd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 14. ISBN 9781915841360.
6. Barnes, Mike (2024). A New Day Yesterday: UK Progressive Rock & the 70s (2nd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. p. 37. ISBN 9781915841360.

External links

• The Sound of '65 at Discogs (list of releases)