The Jam formed at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey, England, in 1972, with a line-up consisting of Paul Weller on bass and lead vocals, along with various friends. The name 'The Jam' was reportedly suggested by Weller's sister, Nicky, and the band played their first gigs at Michael's, a local club. The line-up began to solidify in the mid-1970's with Weller, guitarist/vocalist Steve Brookes and drummer Rick Buckler, and in their early years their sets consisted of covers of early American rock and roll songs by the likes of Chuck Berry and Little Richard. They continued in this vein until Weller discovered the Who's debut album 'My Generation' and became fascinated with mod music, thinking that becoming a mod would give him a base and an angle to write from. Their set list changed from rock'n'roll to Motown, Stax and Atlantic covers, and Weller bought a Rickenbacker guitar, a Lambretta GP 150, and tried to style his hair like Steve Marriott's circa '66. Eventually Brookes left the band, but although they advertised for a new guitarist, he was not replaced, and Weller persuaded the band's second guitarist Bruce Foxton to take over bass duties so that he could swap from bass to lead guitar, and this line-up of Weller, Foxton, and Buckler would persist until the end of The Jam's career. In March 1975 the group decamped to TW studios in Fulham and laid down four demo tracks, and over the rest of the year they recorded a couple of tracks at Bob Potter's Studio in May, and a further four songs in December. In September 1976 they visited Bob Potter again and recorded three more tracks, and with their manager John Weller, Paul's father, hawking around the demos, by February 1977 Chris Parry had signed the band to Polydor Records. In April 1977 Polydor released the Jam's debut single, 'In the City', which charted in the Top 40 in the UK, and in May the band released their debut album of the same name, with their career taking off from that point, to become one of the best and most admired outfits of the punk era. To hear what they sounded like before they hit the big time, give this "Jam session" a listen, and see if you can hear the burgeoning sound of what was to come.
Track listing
01 100 Ways
02 Forever And Always
03 I Will Be There
04 Walking The Dog
05 Non-Stop Dancing
06 Takin' My Love
07 Left, Right & Centre
08 Again
09 When I Needed You
10 Please Don't Treat Me Bad
11 Soul Dance
12 I Got By In Time
13 Back In My Arms Again
