Graham Bond Organization - Live at Klooks Kleek (1964)

01- Wade in the water
02- Big boss man
03- Early in the morning
04- Person to person blues
05- Spainish blues
06- Introduction by Dick Jordan
07- The first time i mer the blues
08- Stormy monday
09- Train time
10- What'd i say
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RECORDED: Live at Klook's Kleek Club, London in October 1964
PERSONNEL: Graham Bond (organ, alto-sax, vocal) Jack Bruce (bass guitar, harmonica, vocal) Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor sax) Ginger Baker (drums)
INFO: What was it like to be sitting in a club in London during the 1960s with one of the top 
R&B bands of the time playing on the stage in front of you? 
This is probably about the nearest you can get with the Graham Bond Organisation 
rocking Klooks Kleek. Former members of Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, 
the Graham Bond Organisation contained Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker who later made 
up two-thirds of Cream. At the time, London was full of blues bands, many of which, 
like the Graham Bond Organisation, 
had developed from roots in the jazz clubs of the capital. 

The album was recorded towards the end of 1964 in-between the release of the band's 
two albums. Jack Bruce had left by the time the second album was available so 
presumably it was not long after this gig. 

The album opens with the powerful Wade in the Water. 
This is a taste of what is to come later in the gig. Released as the b-side 
to the second single Tammy, the instrumental Wade in the Water is far more 
representative of the band. The track acts as a good introduction, 
showcasing the different instruments. Listen out for the amazing bass guitar solo 
in Big Boss Man. This sounds like a guitar solo but bear in mind that 
Jack Bruce is playing bass. 

Early in the Morning is introduced as a Ginger Baker song but, 
like Wade in the Water it is a traditional song that has been arranged by the group 
and again it is an instrumental. Person to Person Blues features Graham Bond on vocals. 

The instrumentals continue with Spanish Blues. 
Presumably this has a Moorish influence as the track sounds more Middle Eastern 
than Spanish!

Train Time will be familiar to Cream fans. This is noted as a group composition 
although Cream's BBC Sessions credits it to Jack Bruce. 
The track features a superb harmonica performance by Bruce. 
The final track is the Ray Charles standard What'd I Say.