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Graham Bond

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Graham Bond Famous memorial

Birth
Death
8 May 1974 (aged 36)
Burial
Cremated, Ashes scattered. Specifically: Ashes scattered in Rocky Valley Waterfall near Tintagel in Cornwall, England. Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Musician. Born illegitimate, he was adopted by Edwin Bond, a civil servant, and his wife Edith. They gave him the name Graham John Clifton Bond. After he left school, he took a job selling encyclopedias and refrigerators, while playing keyboards and alto saxophone in his spare time. Eventually, he turned professional and played with John Burch and Don Rendell, as well as Alexis Korner, before forming his own band, the Graham Bond Organization. The best-remembered line-up featured Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones, Jack Bruce on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. This quartet recorded two excellent albums, "The Sound of '65" and "There's a Bond Between Us," which is now available on one C.D., before Bruce and Baker left to form Cream, with Eric Clapton. At other times, the Organization featured John McLaughlin on guitar, and Jon Hiseman on drums. Graham Bond was the first musician to play two instruments (organ and alto) simultaneously, the first to use a Mellotron, and the first to use a Leslie Speaker. After the Organization dis banded, he enjoyed some success in the United States before returning to England and rejoining Ginger Baker in Airforce, then forming another band, Holy Magick, and a duo with ex-Cream lyricist Pete Brown. Bond then became addicted to heroin and involved in the occult (he was obsessed with the notion that his real father was occultist Aleister Crowley). At the beginning of 1974, he seemed to have conquered his addiction, and he telephoned the New Musical Express to say that he was looking forward to resuming his career. The next day, however, he threw himself under a Northbound train on the Victoria Line at Finsbury Park Underground Station in North London. It was claimed that he 'did not jump or fall, it was more like "something" picked him up and threw him.' His funeral took place at the South London Crematorium in Streatham Park, where Jack Bruce played the organ. Afterwards, Bond's ashes were taken to Rocky Valley in North Cornwall, the subject of the Bruce/Brown song "Tickets to Waterfalls" (from "Songs for a Tailor"). After a brief ceremony invoking the Four Elements, Graham Bond's ashes were strewn into the waterfall. A now out-of-print biography, "The Mighty Shadow", was written by Harry Shapiro and published by Guinness Publications in 1992.
Musician. Born illegitimate, he was adopted by Edwin Bond, a civil servant, and his wife Edith. They gave him the name Graham John Clifton Bond. After he left school, he took a job selling encyclopedias and refrigerators, while playing keyboards and alto saxophone in his spare time. Eventually, he turned professional and played with John Burch and Don Rendell, as well as Alexis Korner, before forming his own band, the Graham Bond Organization. The best-remembered line-up featured Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones, Jack Bruce on bass, and Ginger Baker on drums. This quartet recorded two excellent albums, "The Sound of '65" and "There's a Bond Between Us," which is now available on one C.D., before Bruce and Baker left to form Cream, with Eric Clapton. At other times, the Organization featured John McLaughlin on guitar, and Jon Hiseman on drums. Graham Bond was the first musician to play two instruments (organ and alto) simultaneously, the first to use a Mellotron, and the first to use a Leslie Speaker. After the Organization dis banded, he enjoyed some success in the United States before returning to England and rejoining Ginger Baker in Airforce, then forming another band, Holy Magick, and a duo with ex-Cream lyricist Pete Brown. Bond then became addicted to heroin and involved in the occult (he was obsessed with the notion that his real father was occultist Aleister Crowley). At the beginning of 1974, he seemed to have conquered his addiction, and he telephoned the New Musical Express to say that he was looking forward to resuming his career. The next day, however, he threw himself under a Northbound train on the Victoria Line at Finsbury Park Underground Station in North London. It was claimed that he 'did not jump or fall, it was more like "something" picked him up and threw him.' His funeral took place at the South London Crematorium in Streatham Park, where Jack Bruce played the organ. Afterwards, Bond's ashes were taken to Rocky Valley in North Cornwall, the subject of the Bruce/Brown song "Tickets to Waterfalls" (from "Songs for a Tailor"). After a brief ceremony invoking the Four Elements, Graham Bond's ashes were strewn into the waterfall. A now out-of-print biography, "The Mighty Shadow", was written by Harry Shapiro and published by Guinness Publications in 1992.

Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine


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  • Maintained by: Find a Grave
  • Originally Created by: Iain MacFarlaine
  • Added: Jun 18, 2002
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6523232/graham-bond: accessed ), memorial page for Graham Bond (28 Oct 1937–8 May 1974), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6523232; Cremated, Ashes scattered; Maintained by Find a Grave.