Green Bullfrog
Encyclopedia
Green Bullfrog was an album resulting from a one-off studio project and recorded between February and May 1970. The album was the idea of producer Derek Lawrence
who assembled a group of musicians with whom he had worked in the 1960s. For contractual reasons, the musicians were billed under pseudonyms:
Despite rumours at the time Jeff Beck
, Roger Glover
and Jon Lord
do not appear on the sessions.
A few originals (penned by Lawrence) were played, as well as many blues
-inflected covers of rock
songs. A record of this session was released in 1972. It was first issued on vinyl by MCA Records
in the U.K. and Decca
records in the U.S.
A reissue was released in 1980 under ECY Street Records on Vinyl in the US.
Four tracks recorded by Green Bullfrog have been published on the Ritchie Blackmore compilation Get Away - Groups and Sessions (2005).
It was remixed at Abbey Road Studios
, London in 1991 by Derek Lawrence and released on CD.
Derek Lawrence
Derek Lawrence is a record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash.Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, when he managed a group, Laurie Black and the Men of Mystery, that won a recording session at Joe Meek's studio. He...
who assembled a group of musicians with whom he had worked in the 1960s. For contractual reasons, the musicians were billed under pseudonyms:
- Albert LeeAlbert LeeAlbert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
= Pinta - Matthew FisherMatthew FisherMatthew Fisher is an English organist and singer-songwriter, and was responsible for the organ sound on the 1967 single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.-Biography:...
= Sorry - Ian PaiceIan PaiceIan Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
, of Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
= Speedy - Tony AshtonTony AshtonTony Ashton was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.-Biography:...
= Bevy - Rod Alexander = Vicar
- Chas HodgesChas HodgesChas Hodges is an English musician and singer, probably best known for being one half, and lead vocalist, of the English musical duo, Chas & Dave....
= Sleepy - Earl Jordan = Jordan
- Big Jim SullivanBig Jim SullivanBig Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...
= Boss - Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, of Deep PurpleDeep PurpleDeep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
= Boots
Despite rumours at the time Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
and Jon Lord
Jon Lord
Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
do not appear on the sessions.
A few originals (penned by Lawrence) were played, as well as many blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
-inflected covers of rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
songs. A record of this session was released in 1972. It was first issued on vinyl by MCA Records
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
in the U.K. and Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
records in the U.S.
A reissue was released in 1980 under ECY Street Records on Vinyl in the US.
Four tracks recorded by Green Bullfrog have been published on the Ritchie Blackmore compilation Get Away - Groups and Sessions (2005).
It was remixed at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London in 1991 by Derek Lawrence and released on CD.
Tracks
(as on the Green Bullfrog Session CD) ( *appeared on original vinyl)- "Ain't Nobody Home" (Jerry RagovoyJerry RagovoyJordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...
) - "Bullfrog" (Derek Lawrence)*
- "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" (Joe SouthJoe SouthJoe South is a multi-talented American singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Career:...
)* - "My Baby Left MeMy Baby Left MeMy Baby Left Me is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup in the late 1940s.It gained further exposure in covers by Elvis Presley, who placed his version on the b-side to his 1956 single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"; by Creedence Clearwater Revival, who recorded it as...
" (Arthur CrudupArthur CrudupArthur "Big Boy" Crudup was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known outside blues circles for writing songs such as "That's All Right" , "My Baby Left Me" and "So Glad You're Mine", later covered by Elvis Presley and dozens of other artists.-Career:Arthur Crudup...
)* - "Makin' TimeMaking Time"Making Time" is The Creation's debut single, written by Kenny Pickett and Eddie Phillips .-Cover versions:It has often been covered by other bands, including Little Free Rock and Green Bullfrog....
" (Eddie Phillips, Kenny Pickett)* - "Lawdy Miss ClawdyLawdy Miss Clawdy"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price. It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the chart...
" (Lloyd PriceLloyd PriceLloyd Price is an American R&B vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits...
)* - "I'm a Free Man" (Klingman)*
- "Lovin' You is Good for me Baby" (Lawrence/Corlett/Hutton)*
- "I Want You" (White)*
- "Louisiana Man" (Doug KershawDoug KershawDoug Kershaw, born January 24, 1936, is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1949, Kershaw has recorded fifteen albums and charted on the Hot Country Songs charts.- Early life :...
) - "Who Do You Love" (Ellas McDaniel)
External links
- http://www.blackmoresnight.com/moon_castle_pages/blackmore_discography.htm R. Blackmore discography