Band of Joy

Band of Joy were a 1960s English blues-rock band from Birmingham, West Midlands. The group is notable as having two musicians in their various line-ups, Robert Plant and John Bonham, who would later on join Led Zeppelin. They were also one of the first West Midlands groups to use a psychedelic light show, which matched their experimental musical style and sound.

Following the dissolution of Listen, at the end of 1966, Plant set off on a short lived solo career, which yielded his first solo single 'Our Song' (backed with 'Laughin', Cryin', Laughin' CBS 202656) in March 1968, with backing singers Madeline Bell and Kiki Dee. He then formed a new group Band of Joy, with friend and neighbour Kevyn Gammond (under the stage name Carlisle Egypt), who played guitar for many North Worcestershire bands, with Paul Lockey on bass guitar, Chris Brown on keyboards and drummer John Bonham. Their psychedelic light show was programmed by local Kidderminster College student Abdul Benson. Their wide variety of influences ranging from the blues to the up-and-coming progressive sounds of the West Coast music scene, combined with Plant's vocal acrobatics, made them local favourites, particularly at the Black Horse and the Chateau Impney. During one evening in 1967, when the band was performing at the Ship & Rainbow, in Wolverhampton, Plant was forced to do an unaccompanied session because of an electrical fault which cut out the amplifiers, which wowed the audience. Plant recalled that the Band of Joy was the first time everything fell into place: "I'd been singing with a lot of groups and I'd written a few songs about myself that didn't really have the right amount of balls behind them that they should have. It really just went around in circles until I formed the first Band of Joy."

Unfortunately, conflicts with band management caused Plant to be forced out of the line-up in early 1967. He decided to form a second Band of Joy which had similar problems, and so had to create a third called 'Robert Plant & The Band of Joy'. This final line-up included drummer John Bonham. This incarnation of Band of Joy lasted over 14 months and they recorded at Regent Sound Studios in London. These sessions produced their version of Billy Robert's 'Hey Joe', a Buffalo Springfield cover 'For What Its Worth', 'Memory Lane', and 'Adriatic Sea View'. This final track was later included in a charity compilation cassette for Kidderminster College. Despite these demos, the band were unable to secure a major record deal or obtain the services of The Move's Tony Secunda who had expressed an early interest in managing them. They performed at the Middle Earth in Convent Garden, and the London 'in' club, the Speakeasy, before in February 1968, Bonham was invited by Tim Rose to join his backing band about to tour the United Kingdom, and the Band of Joy folded. Plant joined Obs-Tweedle, Gammond and Lockey joined country-rock group Bronco.

Gammond and Lockey were instrumental in reviving a new Band of Joy in 1977, planning to re-group to play benefit gigs for the families of a local band involved in a fatal motorway crash. Despite strong rumours of Robert Plant or John Bonham being involved in some capacity the concerts didn't happen as planned, and instead a recording line-up settled on bassist John Pasternak, drummer Pete Robinson (replaced by Francesco Nizza), and keyboardist Michael Chetwood, and completed an eponymous album in 1978. A second album entitled 24k was recorded but not released until after this version of Band of Joy had split. Gammond later formed Priory of Brion with Plant in 1999, and Chetwood joined T'Pau.