The Sorrows

The Sorrows are considered perhaps to be the archetypal "Freakbeat" band. Formed in 1963 in Coventry, England, they released their first album "Take a Heart" in 1965 on the Piccadilly Records label which was a subsidiary of Pye Records. The Sorrows were at the time the hardest, most aggressive and contemporary R&B band of that time, although later this brand of music was eventually termed "Freakbeat". The Sorrows were so edgy and raw they simply made The Rolling Stones seem like easy listening music. Their hallmarks are boomy, raucous vocals, lightning fast guitar solos and frantic thudding drums. The musicianship is excellent yet the band failed to achieve too much success probably due to the fact that their brand of proto-punk rock and roll, was simply too ahead of its time.

After receiving some minor chart positions on the UK Singles Chart, Phil Packham and Don Fardon left the band. Fardon then went on to have a UK chart hit with "Indian Reservation". Wez Price took Phil Packam's place on bass guitar, whilst Roger Lomas became lead guitarist and Pip Whitcher focused on vocals. The band relocated to Italy and received minor success. Following the band's break-up Whitcher and Lomas went on to record at Air Studios under Mike Sullivan.

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