Top 10 Songs From The Sorrows

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The Sorrows took root in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, in 1963, founded by guitarist and vocalist Pip Whitcher. They arrived at the height of the British beat boom, quickly establishing themselves as a fixture in the English mod subculture. Their sound was raw, aggressive, and uncompromising: a hard-driving take on R&B that would later be classified under the genre label freakbeat. Before a single note was committed to proper tape, the band sharpened their craft on the road, touring Germany for a month and playing multiple sets per day to develop the live intensity that would come to define them.

Their recording history began in genuinely unusual fashion. The very first session took place in the bathroom of legendary independent producer Joe Meek, where the group cut a version of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” That unconventional beginning gave way to a more structured arrangement when they signed to Piccadilly Records, a subsidiary of Pye, and began working with producer John Schroeder. The original lineup brought together Whitcher on lead guitar and vocals, Don Fardon on lead vocals, Phil Packham on bass guitar, Terry Juckes on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Bruce Finlay on drums.

The band’s debut album, Take a Heart, arrived in 1965 on Piccadilly. It captured them in full force, a punishing and exhilarating collection that set them apart from the more polished acts of the era. The title track, “Take a Heart,” delivered the group’s most significant commercial moment, climbing to No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. A German-language version of the same song, “Nimm mein Herz,” was also released, demonstrating the band’s reach beyond the British market. Other singles from this period included “I Don’t Wanna Be Free,” “Baby,” “You’ve Got What I Want,” “Let The Live Live,” and “Let Me In.”

Following that chart success, the group experienced its first significant lineup shift. Phil Packham and Don Fardon both departed; Fardon went on to carve out a solo career and eventually scored a UK hit with “Indian Reservation.” Wesley “Wez” Price stepped in on bass guitar, Roger Lomas took over as lead guitarist, and Whitcher moved to rhythm guitar and lead vocals. The reconstituted band made a bold geographic move, relocating to Italy, where they found a moderately receptive audience and continued to perform and record. This era produced the group’s second album, Old Songs, New Songs, released in 1967, which was later reissued on CD by Wooden Hill Records in 2009.

After the Italian chapter wound down, Whitcher and Lomas recorded together at Air Studios under the direction of Mike Sullivan, keeping the band’s creative spark alive even as its membership continued to evolve. The group released further singles through the late 1960s, including “Pink, Purple, Yellow and Red” in 1967, adding to a catalog that would resonate with collectors and fans of 1960s British rock for decades. A compilation LP titled Pink, Purple, Yellow and Red appeared in 1987, followed by a self-titled CD on Sequel Records in 1991, bringing their catalog to a new generation of listeners.

Roger Lomas, whose work as The Sorrows’ lead guitarist secured his place in the group’s story, went on to become one of the more versatile figures to emerge from the band’s orbit. In the early 1980s, he founded ROLO Productions and built a reputation as a record producer, working with British ska acts including Bad Manners. His production career reached its highest point in 2003, when he produced Jamaican E.T. for dub innovator Lee “Scratch” Perry. That album earned a Grammy Award, a milestone that connected The Sorrows’ lineage directly to one of the most celebrated moments in roots reggae history.

The Sorrows returned to the stage in 2011 when Fardon and Packham reunited and reformed the band. The revived lineup brought in Nigel Lomas on drums and vocals, Marcus Webb on lead guitar, and Brian Wilkins on guitar, harmonica, and vocals. The reunion generated new recordings, including the 2014 EP featuring “Gonna Find A Cave,” proving that the group’s energy had not diminished over the decades. Mark Mortimer replaced Packham on bass in October 2013, and Paul Rollason stepped in for Webb on lead guitar in March 2017, keeping the band active and evolving well into the next century.

What has always set The Sorrows apart is the sheer intensity of their approach. They were never a band content to follow trends; they pushed against the commercial grain with an R&B aggression that was ahead of its time. The freakbeat label that history eventually placed on them was simply a way of acknowledging what audiences already sensed, that this was a group operating at a different voltage than most of their contemporaries. Their recordings from the 1960s remain touchstones for fans of that era, and their 2011 reunion affirmed that the music they made was built to endure.

# 10 – I Don’t Wanna Be Free

We open up our Sorrows songs list with the band’s debut single, entitled I Don’t Want to Be Free. The rocking track was released in 1965.

# 9 – Baby

Continuing with our look back at the Sorrows’ musical career, he thought it would just fit right to place their second single release, ” Baby, ” at number 9. I love the great guitar riff opening to this one. It’s a raw recording, but it works perfectly.

# 8 – We Should Get Along Fine

This one was released as the B-side to the band’s biggest hit “Take A Heart.” The single was released in 1966.

# 7 – Pink, Purple, Yellow, Red

It’s amazing how much a band’s sound could evolve in just one year. This one was released as a single in 1967.

# 6 – Which Way

The Sorrows released an album in 1968 in Italy that sounded very different from the material they released in 1966. You can really hear the impact of The Beatles on the band on this track.

# 5 – Let Me In

Another track from 1966 that focuses on traditional blues changes. Don Fardon reminds me of Jim Morrison on this track.

# 4 – Same Old Road

The band sounded a little different in 1968 than they did in their first couple of years. You can hear the psychedelia creeping in as opposed to the early freakbeat sound.