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The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast

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This article is about concept album by Roger Glover. For the poem by William Roscoe, see The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast.

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
Studio album by
Roger Glover
Released18 November 1974 (UK)
16 October 1975 (US)
RecordedKingsway Recorders, London[1]
GenrePop rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, progressive rock
Length48:28
LabelPurple (UK)
UK (US)
ProducerRoger Glover, Alan G. Rainer
Roger Glover chronology
Who Do We Think We Are
(1973) 		The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
(1974) 		Elements
(1978)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's design for a 1973 book based on the poem.

The album spawned a hit song, "Love Is All," which reached Number 1 in the Netherlands and Belgium.[3]

Origin and production history

The work was originally conceived as a solo vehicle for Jon Lord to be produced by Roger Glover who had recently left Deep Purple. However, Lord proved too busy with Deep Purple, and Glover took up the reins on his own. Using his connections, Glover recruited a large cast of noted rock musicians, with a different vocalist for each character, including David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.

The single "Love Is All", with vocals from Ronnie James Dio, made a minor impression in the UK but reached number one in the Netherlands. Its accompanying animated short movie, The Butterfly Ball, made by the Halas & Batchelor company, also gained unexpected success in France, where the newly launched second TV channel Antenne 2 used it as a fill-in every time it experienced "technical difficulties". These random airings, together with the psychedelic tone of the clip and the lack of subtitles, made it very popular amongst young viewers. This success was renewed in France in 1991 when Sironimo, a brand of flavored syrup used the song in a very popular animated commercial. In 2006 the song was used by the Dutch political party CDA in its election advertisements for the 2006 Dutch General Election. Many Americans in the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s recall seeing the animated song clip "Love Is All" being regularly played in children's TV programs such as The Great Space Coaster and Nickelodeon morning shows.

"Love Is All" and its animated music video were also given wide exposure in the southern hemisphere. It became something of a favourite well into the 1980s on pioneering Australian music show Countdown (1974–1987), and was also regularly used as an interstitial program on the ABC. With its rousing lyrics and parade of animals marching through the forest on their way to the mythical Butterfly Ball, the song attained Top 10 status "Down Under" four years after it was recorded.

On 16 October 1975, a one-off performance at the Royal Albert Hall took place. Again it had a star-studded cast of rock musicians, most notably Ian Gillan who was drafted in at the last minute and received a standing ovation on his entrance. He replaced an unavailable Ronnie James Dio who had commitments with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (although Dio did eventually get to perform the song at the Royal Albert Hall in 1999 as the guest of Deep Purple). Gillan had not performed since leaving Deep Purple in 1973. Also notable was the appearance of Twiggy as singer and actress and Vincent Price as narrator. Apart from most of the musicians involved in the studio recording, the concert also featured Jon Lord. The live concert was filmed and released in 1976, produced by Tony Klinger.

Later appearance

Colin Meloy of The Decemberists has used the piece as intro music for the band's shows.[4]

Track listing

All songs written by Roger Glover except where noted.

Original album
No.TitleLength
1."Dawn"1:21
2."Get Ready"2:06
3."Saffron Dormouse and Lizzy Bee"1:25
4."Harlequin Hare" (Glover, Dio, Soule)1:26
5."Old Blind Mole"1:11
6."Magician Moth"1:33
7."No Solution"3:28
8."Behind the Smile"1:46
9."Fly Away"2:22
10."Aranea"1:37
11."Sitting in a Dream"3:40
12."Waiting"3:11
13."Sir Maximus Mouse"2:35
14."Dreams of Sir Bedivere"4:09
15."Together Again" (Glover, Dio, Soule)2:05
16."Watch Out for the Bat"1:41
17."Little Chalk Blue" (Glover, Hardin; CD Reissue only)3:44
18."The Feast"1:48
19."Love is All" (Glover, Hardin, Dio)3:14
20."Homeward" (Glover, Hardin)4:12
1995 Reissue Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Love is All (Demo Version)"3:04
2."Dawn (Remix)"1:35
3."Magician Moth (Remix)"1:37
4."Harlequin Hare (Remix)"1:33
5."Magician Moth (Remix)"1:34
6."No Solution (Remix)"3:58
7."Waiting (Remix)"3:58
8."Fly Away (Remix)"2:24
9."Aranea (Remix)"1:38
Film version from the concert 16 October 1975
No.TitleLength
1."Dawn (feat Vincent Price)" 
2."Get Ready (feat Glenn Hughes)" 
3."Saffron Dormouse and Lizzy Bee (feat Helen Chappelle and Barry St. John)" 
4."Together Again (feat Tony Ashton)" 
5."Old Blind Mole (feat Earl Jordan)" 
6."Magician Moth (feat Vincent Price)" 
7."Watch Out for the Bat (feat John Gustafson)" 
8."Aranea (feat Judi Kuhl)" 
9."Sir Maximus Mouse (feat Eddie Hardin)" 
10."Behind the Smile (feat David Coverdale)" 
11."Little Chalk Blue (feat John Lawton)" 
12."Waiting (feat Al Matthews)" 
13."Sitting in a Dream (feat Ian Gillan)" 
14."No Solution (feat Micky Lee Soule)" 
15."The Feast (feat Vincent Price)" 
16."Love is All (feat John Lawton a.o.)" 
17."Homeward (feat Twiggy)" 
18."Love is All (encore)" 

Charts

Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 12

Personnel (original album)

References

  1. ^ https://www.discogs.com/Roger-Glover-And-Guests-The-Butterfly-Ball-And-The-Grasshoppers-Feast/release/690381
  2. ^ Allmusic review
  3. ^ http://nightflight.com/the-butterfly-ball-and-the-grasshoppers-feast-remembering-ronnie-james-dios-psychedelic-childrens-song-love-is-all/
  4. ^ Schweber, Nate, "The Making of Meloy", The Montanan, Winter, 2009. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  5. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 321. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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