Career
The band was formed in 1963, and toured Germany for a month, playing several sets each day. The band's first recording was a version of "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", recorded in Joe Meek's bathroom. They were signed by Pye subsidiary Piccadilly Records, and began working with producer John Schroeder.
The Sorrows released their first album, Take a Heart, in 1965 on Piccadilly. 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". One of the most overlooked bands of the British Invasion, the Sorrows offered a tough brand of R&B-infused rock that recalled The Pretty Things (though not as R&B-oriented) and The Kinks (though not as pop-oriented).
Their hallmarks are boomy, raucous vocals, lightning fast guitar solos and frantic thudding drums. The musicianship was excellent, yet the band failed to achieve much success, probably because their brand of Garage rock/Freakbeat was simply too far 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.
Lomas in the early 1980s became a record producer for his own company, ROLO productions, and produced 1980s ska bands such as Bad Manners. In 2003 Lomas produced the Grammy Award winning album, Jamaican E.T. for Lee "Scratch" Perry.
In 2011, the band was reformed by Fardon and Packham, and they began performing live again. The new line-up comprised Fardon (vocals), Packham (bass guitar and vocals), Nigel Lomas (drums and vocals), Marcus Webb (guitar) and Brian Wilkins (guitar, harmonica and vocals).
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