Mick Weaver (born 16 June 1944,
Bolton,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
, best known for his playing of the
Hammond
Hammond may refer to:
People
* Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist
* Hammond (surname)
* Justice Hammond (disambiguation)
Places Antarctica
* Hammond Glacier, Antarctica
Australia
*Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
B3 organ, and as an exponent of the
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
and
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
.
Career
Weaver's band performed as Wynder K. Frog
and became popular on the student union and club circuit of the mid 1960s. A brief merging of this band with
Herbie Goins and the Night-Timers took his work to a higher level. Wynder K. Frogg — they are billed under this spelling — appeared on the bill at the
Saville Theatre
ODEON Covent Garden is a four-screen cinema in the heart of London's West End. Formerly known as The Saville Theatre, a former West End theatre at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the London Borough of Camden. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a ...
, London on 24 September 1967, supporting
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
on their first UK presentation. Also on the bill were
Jackie Edwards and
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
. The compere was
David Symonds.
When
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...
left
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
to form
Blind Faith, Weaver was recruited to replace him and Traffic became ''Mason, Capaldi, Wood and Frog'', soon shortened to ''Wooden Frog''. They played a few gigs before dissolving three months later when Traffic reformed.
After this he recorded with solo artists such as
Buddy Guy,
Dave Gilmour,
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
,
Eric Burdon,
Frankie Miller,
Roger Chapman,
Steve Marriott and
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...
as well as
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...
and
The Blues Band
The Blues Band is a British blues band formed in 1979 by Paul Jones, former lead vocalist and harmonica player with Manfred Mann, and guitarist Tom McGuinness also of Manfred Mann and The Roosters. The band’s first line-up also included bass ...
,
also playing keyboards with Steve Marriott's ''Majik Mijits''.
Discography
As Wynder K. Frog
''Sunshine Super Frog'' (1967)
=Credits
=
All tracks featured Mick Weaver as Wynder K. Frog, playing a
Hammond B3
Hammond may refer to:
People
* Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist
* Hammond (surname)
* Justice Hammond (disambiguation)
Places Antarctica
* Hammond Glacier, Antarctica
Australia
*Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
organ
and were recorded in London playing over backing tapes by unnamed session musicians from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In the album liner notes
Jimmy Miller noted that Weaver had "supplemented the band with trumpet, tenor sax, guitar, bass and drums, Wynder has transformed the organ into a highly enjoyable medium of sound, combining jazzy finesse with popular and commercial phrasing suitable for vast appeal".
''Out of the Frying Pan'' (1968)
=Credits
=
* Mick Weaver – keyboards
*
Dick Heckstall-Smith – saxophone
*
Neil Hubbard – guitar
*
Alan Spenner – bass
* Chris Mercer – saxophone
*
Bruce Rowland
Bruce Rowland (born 9 May 1942 in Melbourne) is an Australian composer.
Biography
Rowland composed the soundtrack for the 1982 movie ''The Man from Snowy River (1982 film), The Man from Snowy River'', as well as the soundtrack for its 1988 s ...
– drums
* Ron Carthy – horn
*
Rebop Kwaku Baah
Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can.
Biography
Baah was born on 13 February 1944, in Konongo, Gold Coast.
In 1969, Baah performe ...
– percussion
''Into the Fire'' (1970)
''Into the Fire'' was released only in the
US,
after the band had dissolved. Unlike the previous albums of mostly covers, the liner notes here state that the songs were, "composed specifically for the Frog style of musical interpretation, ranging far in beat, tempo and mood".
=Credits
=
* Mick Weaver – keyboards
* Rocky Dzidzornu – percussion
*
Neil Hubbard – guitar
* Chris Mercer – saxophone
*
Shawn Phillips
Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s. His work is rooted in folk rock but straddles other genres, including jazz fusion and funk. Phillips has reco ...
– guitar and vocals (on "Eddie's Tune" only)
*
Bruce Rowland
Bruce Rowland (born 9 May 1942 in Melbourne) is an Australian composer.
Biography
Rowland composed the soundtrack for the 1982 movie ''The Man from Snowy River (1982 film), The Man from Snowy River'', as well as the soundtrack for its 1988 s ...
– drums
*
Alan Spenner – bass
In 2018, RPM/Cherry Red Records released a triple-CD
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
, entitled ''Wynder K. Frog. Shook, Shimmy and Shake. The Complete Recordings 1966–1970'', including all the above recordings, plus 12 bonus tracks, previously unissued. There were four on the second CD and nine on the third CD, and a 26 page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. The bonus tracks on the second CD are: 14. "Jumping' Jack Flash" (Mono Version); 15. "Baldy"; 16. "Dancing Frog" (Stereo Version); and 17. "Blues For A Frog" (Stereo Version). On the third CD, the bonus tracks are: 9. "Happy Jack"; 10. "We Can Work It Out"; 11. "Funky Broadway"; 12. "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever"; 13. "A Memory Of Bruce"; 14. "The House That Jack Built"; 15. "I'll Go Crazy"; 16. "Tequila"; 17. "Baldy".
As a session musician
References
Bibliography
*Joynson, Vernon. ''The Tapestry of Delights – The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963–1976''. Borderline (2006). Reprinted (2008).
*Paolo Hewitt John Hellier (2004). ''
Steve Marriott - All Too Beautiful...''. Helter Skelter Publishing
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Mick
1944 births
Living people
English blues musicians
English rock musicians
English rock keyboardists
English session musicians
Progressive rock musicians
People from Bolton
Island Records artists
Fat Mattress members