''Green Bullfrog'' is a

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 ...

album recorded by an ad hoc band and produced by

Derek Lawrence Derek John Lawrence (16 November 1941 – 13 May 2020) was an English record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Flash, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash. Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, ...

. The bulk of the album was recorded over two sessions at

De Lane Lea Studios Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Studios is a recording studio, based in Dean Street, Soho, London. Although the studios have mainly been used for dubbing feature films and television programmes, major artists such as the Animals, the Beatles, Soft M ...

, London in 1970, with later string and brass overdubs. It was originally released in 1971, with reissues in 1980 and 1991. The album listed pseudonyms in the credits for contractual reasons and was commercially unsuccessful. The musicians were eventually confirmed as including

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

and

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only member ...

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have List of best-selling singles, sold over ...

's Matthew Fisher,

Chas & Dave Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were a British pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock. Hodges died in 2018. They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled ''rockney'' (a port ...

Chas Hodges Charles Nicholas Hodges (28 December 1943 – 22 September 2018) was an English musician and singer who was the lead vocalist of musical duo Chas & Dave. Early life Hodges was born at the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton on 28 ...

and session guitarists

Albert Lee Albert William Lee (born 21 December 1943) is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked, both in the studio and on tour, with many famous musicians from a wide range of genres. He has also mai ...

and

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English musician whose career started in 1958. He was best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was one of t ...

Background

''Green Bullfrog'' was the idea of producer

, who assembled a group of musicians with whom he had worked in the 1960s. Guitarist

had been working with Lawrence as a

session player 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 ...

, and the original idea had been to record with former

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

bassist Tony Dangerfield. However, the sessions did not work out, so the pair decided to invite other session musicians and Sutch alumni and record a studio jam. The backing tracks were recorded in two overnight sessions on 20 April and 23 May 1970 at

, London, starting at 11pm. It was recorded live into four track tape.

and former Sutch guitarist

had previously worked with Lawrence and brought along their drummer

. According to Lee, Blackmore and Paice arrived at the studio directly from Deep Purple gigs on both occasions. Session guitarist

was invited as he had originally taught Blackmore how to play guitar and was greatly admired by him. Guitarist Rod Alexander was friends with Blackmore and worked in a music shop on

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction of ...

. He arrived at the session to deliver some guitar strings and was persuaded to stay. All the musicians had wanted to play together for some time, but were too busy with touring or session work to do so. Singer

Earl Jordan The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s pop group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English-born Les Humphries. The group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end ...

had been recording with the

Les Humphries Singers The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s pop group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English-born Les Humphries. The group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end ...

. He put down guide vocals during the main session, then re-recorded all his parts after everyone else had left. Strings and brass overdubs were added on 4 January 1971. A few originals (penned by Lawrence) were played, as well as many

-inflected

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s. Sullivan rearranged Lawrence's "Lovin' You (Is Good for Me Baby)" in

compound time In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter ( American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perf ...

to make it more interesting to play. The guitar workout instrumental "Bullfrog" is a Deep Purple song "Jam Stew", which had been previously recorded at a

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

session. Blackmore played the main riff once to Sullivan and Lee, who both immediately created guitar harmonies around it. The track also features

Tony Ashton Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist. Biography Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blackpool whe ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

. The sessions also included a cover of the Creation's "Makin' Time", which Blackmore and Lawrence had both wanted to record. Lawrence selected all the other songs for everyone to record. For contractual reasons, the musicians were billed under pseudonyms. Lee was called "Pinta" after an in-joke where he would say "I'm only delivering the milk!" when a second take of a song was requested. Ashton was called "Bevy" because he liked to keep bottles of light ale under his organ. Bassist

(who previously played with Blackmore in the Outlaws and would later be one half of

) took the name "Sleepy" due to his habit of falling asleep at sessions. Blackmore was called "Boots" because he frequently wore suede cowboy boots, while Sullivan was nicknamed "The Boss" due to his respect from the others as one of the best session players.

's Matthew Fisher, who played piano on the album, was named "Sorry" after his reputation of apologising if another take was required. Alexander was called "The Vicar" after Lawrence's habit of saying "hello, vicar" to him, while Paice was nicknamed "Speedy" owing to his fast playing style. Despite rumours at the time,

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Ro ...

and

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

did not attend any of the sessions.

Release

The title ''Green Bullfrog'' was chosen by Lawrence. Hodges later said it was because Lawrence wanted to name every project after a colour. The first release of the session was on 19 March 1971 in the US by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, as well as a single coupling the tracks "

My Baby Left Me "My Baby Left Me" is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup. Original recording It was first recorded by Crudup in Chicago on November 8, 1950, with Ransom Knowling on bass and Judge Riley on drums, and was released as a s ...

" and "Lovin' You Is Good for Me, Baby". It was issued in the UK by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

in March 1972 after Lawrence played some tracks to company president Mike Maitland. However, Maitland had left the company by the time the album was released, so it had little promotion and was commercially unsuccessful. The album was re-released in 1980 under ECY Street Records in the US. The reissue had additional sleeve notes written by Ed Chapero. The front cover had a quote from Blackmore taken from an interview with ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' magazine in September 1978, which correctly identified himself, Paice, Lee and Sullivan on the album but mistakenly credited Glover. Both Blackmore and Glover were unimpressed with the front cover quotation. It was remixed at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio 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 c ...

, London in 1991 by Lawrence and engineer

Peter Vince Peter Vince (born Peter Robert Vince) was an English sound engineer, producer and operations manager at Abbey Road Studios. Biography Vince was born in Fulham, London in July 1942 and was educated at Munster School and St Clement Danes Gram ...

and reissued on LP and CD. The re-release contained extra tracks not on the original release, and additional information and sleeve notes including an interview with Lawrence. It was the first release that properly credited all the musicians. Four tracks recorded by Green Bullfrog have been published on the 2005 Blackmore compilation ''Get Away – Groups and Sessions''. Dave Thompson gave a retrospective review on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

which was mixed, praising the quality of musicians, but felt there was "little ..to truly engage the attention".

Track listing

LP

Taken from the sleeve notes Side one #"

" (

Arthur Crudup Arthur William "Big Boy" Crudup (August 24, 1905 – March 28, 1974) was an American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known, outside blues circles, for his songs "That's All Right" (1946), "My Baby Left Me" and "So Gla ...

) #" Makin' Time" ( Eddie Phillips, Kenny Pickett) #"

Lawdy Miss Clawdy "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by New Orleans singer/songwriter Lloyd Price that "grandly introduced '' The New Orleans Sound''". It was first recorded by Price in 1952 with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew during his first session for Art Rupe ...

" (

Lloyd Price Lloyd Price (March 9, 1933May 3, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter, record executive and bandleader, known as "Mr. Personality", after his 1959 million-selling hit, "Personality". His first recording, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", was a hit for Spe ...

) #"Bullfrog" (

) Side two #"I Want You" (

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...

) #"I'm a Free Man" ( Mark "Moogy" Klingman) #"

Walk a Mile in My Shoes "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" is a song written by Joe South, who had a hit with it in 1970. South was also producer and arranger of the track and of its B-side, "Shelter." The single was credited to "Joe South and the Believers"; the Believers includ ...

" (

Joe South Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter; February 28, 1940 – September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1970 for " Ga ...

) #"Lovin' You Is Good for Me Baby" (Lawrence/Corlett/Hutton)

CD reissue

Tracks marked * are on the original LP. #"Ain't Nobody Home" (

Jerry Ragovoy Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer. His best-known composition " Time Is on My Side" (written under the pseudonym of Norman Meade) was made famous by the Rolling Stones, alt ...

) #"Bullfrog" (

)* #"

" (

)* #"

" (

)* #" Makin' Time" ( Eddie Phillips, Kenny Pickett)* #"

" (

)* #"I'm a Free Man" (Mark "Moogy" Klingman)* #"Lovin' You Is Good for Me Baby" (Lawrence/Corlett/Hutton)* #"I Want You" (

)* #"Louisiana Man" (

Doug Kershaw Douglas James Kershaw (born January 24, 1936) is an American fiddle player, singer and songwriter from Louisiana. Active since 1948, he began his career as part of the duo Rusty and Doug, along with his brother, Rusty Kershaw. He had an extens ...

) #" Who Do You Love?" (

Ellas McDaniel Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inclu ...

)

Personnel

* "Speedy" (

) – drums * "Sleepy" (

) – bass * "Bevy" (

) – piano / organ * "Sorry" ( Matthew Fisher) – piano * "Boots" (

) – guitar * "Pinta" (

) – guitar * "The Boss" (

) – guitar * "The Vicar" ( Rod Alexander) – guitar * "Jordan" (

) – vocals Production *

– producer *

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

– engineer

Notes

References

Sources * * * *

External links

Green Bullfrog
– Deep Purple Podcast {{Authority control 1971 debut albums Albums produced by Derek Lawrence Decca Records albums Deep Purple