Little John and The Monks - Black Winds (1965)

The original lead singer of this band, Tom Davis, was born in Scotland, but moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon in 1963. There, he started a band called The Nomads which were soon offered an opportunity to audition with Jerden Records in Eugene, Oregon. Once in Eugene, Davis was solicited by a teenager-attracting nightclub owner to front a new band. Davis accepted the offer and the band he joined became the one featured today, who are not to be confused with the similarly named band of American GIs stationed in Germany.

The song heard below, written and sung by Tom Davis, was recorded in November 1965 but possibly not released until 1967. Information is difficult to find. The track was the A-Side of the only single the band ever put out, and it was backed on the B-Side with a cover of “Needles and Pins.” Although the song was never given the proper push needed to make a dent on the charts, it’s hard to imagine the radio stations of the day would have been comfortable playing its dark lyrics.



Little John and The Monks - Black Winds (1965)

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Lyrics:

Black winds, take this soul of mine
Take me to the dark below
Lord, I want to die
In the night, I killed my love
Black winds, take away my life
Oh, Lord, let me die

Now, there was a girl I loved
Caught her with another man
Killed them both with my knife
Now the black winds blow
Black winds, take away my life
Oh, Lord, let me die

Now, I could hear the same things
That broke my heart
Yes, she did
Things that she said
Only to him

I pulled my knife
And crying her name
I stood before them
And now their blood
Lies on the ground

Black winds, take this soul of mine
Take me to the dark below
Lord, I want to die
In the night, I killed my love
Black winds, take away my life
Oh, Lord, let me die

Oh, Lord, let me die
Let me die