The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

Formed in the early ‘60s, this band was originally known as the Graham Bond Quartet. Mixing jazz with elements of rhythm & blues, the group was centered around frontman Graham Bond, a classically trained pianist who “dabbled” with the saxophone (he played it in a very avant-garde way). Not being entirely pleased with a deal they had received to sign with EMI, the band decided to sign with Decca Records in 1964. They opened for Marvin Gaye and toured the UK backing Chuck Berry, but were constantly in turmoil because of the clashing between drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce. Eventually, Graham Bond told Baker that he should ask Bruce to leave the band. When Bruce was asked to leave, he hadn’t been informed it was actually Bond’s request and thought it was merely Baker telling him to leave. Bruce felt he had just as much claim to the band as Baker did, so he kept showing up to perform at their concerts until Baker finally convinced him to quit for good at knifepoint backstage before a show in August 1965. Ironically, it was less than a year later in July 1966 when Ginger Baker quit the band and he and Bruce were reunited in the supergroup Cream with Eric Clapton. In late-1966, Graham Bond attempted to reform his band as a trio consisting of himself, original member Dick Heckstall-Smith, and newcomer Jon Hiseman; but, their commercial success was severely lacking. Although the band officially broke up in 1967, Bond would again unite with his original bandmates when he briefly played in Ginger Baker’s Air Force and toured with Jack Bruce in the 1970s. After years of substance abuse, it was reported that Bond had apparently been clean by this period, but also had a growing obsession with black magic and the occult. On May 8, 1974, Graham Bond died of an apparent suicide after lying down (or falling) in front of a train.

Released on the band’s first album, The Sound of ’65, this song is a traditional track that, for the sake of this band, was arranged by John Group and Paul Getty. Regarding the history of the song, it’s author is unknown, but it was first published in New Jubliee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers by brothers John Wesley Work, Jr. and Frederick J. Work in 1901. The song, which originally contained lyrics referencing the Bible, was a spiritual song for enslaved African Americans in the United States.



The Graham Bond Organisation - Wade in the Water (1965)

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Lyrics:

(instrumental)

Cream - As You Said (1968)

One night in 1966, Ginger Baker had gone to see Eric Clapton play in a concert with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Giving Clapton a ride home, Baker informed him about the creative stifling he was feeling in his current group, the Graham Bond Organisation. It was Baker’s idea and invitation for him and Clapton to start a new group together that would allow them to explore their creative desires. Clapton, equally admiring Baker’s playing, suggested that they pick up Jack Bruce as the bassist, also admiring his work from having played with him briefly in the Bluesbreakers and Powerhouse. Allegedly, Baker was so distraught at this suggestion that he nearly ran off the road and crashed the car. Unaware to Clapton at the time, Baker and Bruce had been known for their feuding while they were in the Graham Bond Organisation together. The two musicians were allegedly known to sabotage one another’s instruments and fight with one another on stage. At one point Baker had verbally fired Bruce from the band, but Bruce kept showing up at their practices and gigs. Bruce finally got the picture and left permanently when Ginger Baker threatened him up close and personally with a knife. Putting his differences aside and obeying Clapton’s wishes, Baker and Bruce saw past their differences and came together to form the band. With each of the three members having been renowned as “the cream of the crop” of their respective instruments, the band thought “Cream” might make for a good band name.

After the band’s first two albums, Fresh Cream and the legendary Disraeli Gears, they decided to release a double album that was going to be laced with a combination of studio tracks and live recordings. Calling it Wheels of Fire, the band split whose songs they would record pretty evenly three ways. Although the album is remembered for songs such as “White Room” and Clapton’s arrangement of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” the entire album is something to enjoy. This song, written by Jack Bruce and lyricist/poet Pete Brown, was the closing track to side one of the first disc and showed that the group didn’t have to “rock” to make great music.



Cream - As You Said (1968)

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Lyrics:

Let's go down to where it's clean
To see the time that might have been
The tides have carried off the beach
As you said, “The sun is out of reach”

Let's go back to where it's clean
To see what year it might have been
The roads have carried off the smile
As you said, “To judge them at the trial”

So let's go back to now that's bad
To see what time we might have had
The rails have carried off the train
As you said, “I'll never come again, again, again, a-”

Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses (1967)

The first commercially successful supergroup, these guys were pioneers for fusing blues, jazz, and psychedelic sounds. They consisted of Jack Bruce (of Blues Incorporated, The Bluesbreakers, and Manfredd Mann), Eric Clapton (of The Yardbirds and The Bluesbreakers), and Ginger Baker (of Graham Bond Organisation). They had huge hits, such as “Sunshine of Your Love,” “White Room,” and “I Feel Free”.

This song is the first release in rock history to use the wah wah pedal. Its lyrics were written in the form of a poem by Martin Sharp (inspired by the Odyssey by Homer) and reconfigured into a song by Eric Clapton, who was looking to create a song based on riffs inspired by “Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. It was never one of the band’s biggest hits, but with my love for ancient Greek/Roman mythology, I absolutely love it.



Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses (1967)

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Lyrics:

You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever
But you rode upon a steamer to the violence of the sun

And the colors of the sea blind your eyes with trembling mermaids
And you touch the distant beaches with tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing
For the sparkling waves are calling you to kiss their white-laced lips

And you see a girl's brown body dancing through the turquoise
And her footprints make you follow where the sky loves the sea
And when your fingers find her, she drowns you in her body
Carving deep blue ripples in the tissues of your mind

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter

Her name is Aphrodite and she rides a crimson shell
And you know you cannot leave her
For you touched the distant sands with tales of brave Ulysses
How his naked ears were tortured by the sirens sweetly singing

The tiny purple fishes run laughing through your fingers
And you want to take her with you to the hard land of the winter