I ‘discovered’ this band while listening to the compilation CD set of British Mod Sounds of The 1960s.

What immediately struck me about this track, was how similar it sounded to the Don Fardon UK #3 hit of November 1970, ‘Indian Reservation.‘ Both the vocals and the drumming style had me cross-referencing the band and solo artist – and yes, vocalist Don Maughn did later change his name to Fardon, and score that particular hit.

Seven years earlier in Coventry, England, and originally playing as The Boys Blue, the R&B band were formed. After serving their time on the local club circuit, the band moved to Germany (the ‘done thing’ of its time) where they toured and played for up to ten hours a day over the course of several sets!

The now re-named The Sorrows garnered a loyal following and were eventually offered a recording deal with Pye Records subsidiary, Piccadilly Records.

Their first two records bombed, but the third, ‘Take A Heart,’ (above) boosted by heavy pirate radio-play, entered the UK charts and peaked at #21 on 7th October1965.

An album of the same name soon followed. An original pressing recently (20th December 2023) sold for just over £300 on Discogs, with the album being assessed as Very Rare / Ultra Rare.

Unfortunately, the band were unable to replicate the commercial success of ‘Take A Heart’ and Don Maughn and bassist Philip Packham decided to leave the band.

Now joined by Chris ‘Chuck’ Fryers on organ, guitar and vocals plus Chris Smith on vocals and keyboard, The Sorrows re-located to Italy where they releases an album and several singles with reasonable success.

The album features a good mix of old tracks, re-named in Italian; covers of songs by Traffic, Family and The Small Faces, and a couple of songs written by Chuck Fryers that have more of a psychedelic feel to them than their previous recordings. Songs like ‘Same Old Road,’ for instance:

This album is even more rare than the debut, having previously sold on Discogs for £954. (At the time of writing this post – December 2023 – there are three copies available to purchase via Discogs, ranging from £300 to @ £900!)

Sadly, the band split in 1969, though Don Fardon would still have that little bit of solo success to come.

** The band was resurrected in 2012, I believe, and as at summer 2023 was still performing. **

THE SORROWS

(Members over the years to initial disbanding in 1969)
Bruce Finley – Drums
Terry Jukes – Guitar / Vocals
Don Maughn – Vocals
Philip Packham – Bass
Wez Price – Guitar
Phillip Witcher – Lead guitar / Vocals
Roger Lomas – Guitar
Mick Bradley – Drums
Chris ‘Chuck ‘ Fryers – Vocals / Organ / Guitar
Chris Smith – Vocals / Keyboards

TITLE	FORMAT	YEAR	LABEL	NOTES
Take A Heart	LP	1965	Piccadilly
Old Songs, New Songs	LP	1969	Miura
Take A Heart	EP	1965	Pye
Rosa, Morado,. Amaillo Y Rojo	EP	1967	Gamma / Pye
Various singles				There are fourteen singles released between UK, Italy & Germany between 1965 and 1968.