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Bloodrock

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Bloodrock
OriginFort Worth, Texas, United States
GenresHard rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, heavy metal[1]
Years active1969–1975, 2005
Past membersNick Taylor
Ed Grundy
Jim Rutledge
Dean Parks
Lee Pickens
Stevie Hill
Rick Cobb
Warren Ham
Randy Reader
Derek Brunson Faulk
Chris Taylor

Bloodrock was an American hard rock band, based in Fort Worth, Texas, that had considerable success in the 1970s, and was one of the earliest of a number of significant bands to emerge from the Fort Worth club and music scene during the early to mid-1970s.

Early career

Bloodrock initially formed in Fort Worth in 1963, under the name The Naturals. This first lineup featured Jim Rutledge (b. January 24, 1947) – drums/vocals, Nick Taylor (b. October 29, 1946 - d. March 10, 2010) – guitar/vocals, Ed Grundy (b. March 10, 1948) – bass/vocals, and Dean Parks – guitar. They released their first single in 1965 "Hey Girl" b/w "I Want You" (Rebel MME 1003). Shortly thereafter they changed their name to Crowd + 1 and released three more singles: "Mary Ann Regrets” b/w "Whatcha Tryin’ to Do to Me" (BOX 6604), "Don’t Hold Back" b/w "Try," and "Circles" b/w “Most Peculiar Things."

In 1967, Parks left Crowd +1 to become the musical director for The Sonny & Cher Show (the beginning of a long career as a session musician). He was replaced by Lee Pickens (b. December 8, 194?) – guitar. It was also at this time that Stevie Hill (b. Tulsa, Oklahoma) – keyboards/vocals joined the group. They continued as Crowd + 1 until 1969 (though some fans of the band recall the band briefly calling themselves Texas) when they changed their name to Bloodrock, conceived by Grand Funk Railroad manager/producer Terry Knight. They also recorded their first album, the Terry Knight produced, Bloodrock (Capitol ST-435). The album, released in March 1970, peaked at 160 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In 1970, Rutledge moved from behind the drum set to take on lead vocal duties exclusively. Rick Cobb (b. James Richard Cobb III) took over the percussive duties and added his voice to the group as well. This lineup recorded their next four albums: Bloodrock 2 (ST-491), Bloodrock 3 (ST-765), Bloodrock USA (SMAS 645), and Bloodrock Live (SVBB-11038).

Bloodrock 2 and D.O.A.

Bloodrock 2 was their most successful album peaking at #21 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in 1971 mostly on the strength of their single "DOA" which reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 6, 1971. "DOA" also gave the band considerable regional exposure throughout the Southwest and West, particularly in Texas and Southern California. "DOA" was probably the band's most well known and well remembered single. The motivation for writing this song was explained in 2005 by guitarist Lee Pickens. “When I was 17, I wanted to be an airline pilot,” Pickens said. “I had just gotten out of this airplane with a friend of mine, at this little airport, and I watched him take off. He went about 200 feet in the air, rolled and crashed.” The band decided to write a song around the incident and include it on their second album.[2]

Further career

In 1972 Lee Pickens left to form The Lee Pickens Group and released the album 'LPG" in 1973 on Capitol Records. Jim Rutlege retired from active music altogether, however in 1976 he also released a solo album on Capitol Records entitled: "Hooray for Good Times". Rutlege was replaced by Warren Ham in early 1972. The subsequent album, Passage was the last time Bloodrock visited the charts. It peaked at #104 on the Billboard 200 in 1972.

1973 brought another personnel change: Rick Cobb vacated the drums to be replaced by Randy Reader. This line up recorded one album: Whirlwind Tongues (1974).

The end of the road for Bloodrock came in 1975. Randy Reader left the group and an album, Unspoken Words, remained unreleased until 2000, where it was included as part of the CD release Triptych (along with Passage and Whirlwind Tongues). Unspoken Words featured Bill Ham and Matt Betton.

2005 reunion concert

A reunion concert featuring five of the six original members (Jim Rutledge, Lee Pickens, Ed Grundy, Nick Taylor, Stevie Hill, and Chris Taylor in place of original drummer Rick Cobb III) was held on March 12, 2005 in Fort Worth, for the benefit of their keyboardist Stevie Hill. The reunion concert was filmed.

Discography

Studio albums

Other releases

  • 2000 - Unspoken Words (as part of the Tryptich compilation)
  • 2013 - Bloodrock 2013 (by Jim Rutledge & John Nitzinger)

Live albums

Year Title Format Label Catalogno Remark
1972 Bloodrock Live 2 12"LP's CAPITOL SVBB 11038
2007 Another Amazing Adventure: The Bloodrock Reunion Concert CD PRIVATE PRESSING

Compilations

Year Title Format Label Catalogno Remark
1975 Bloodrock 'n' Roll 12"LP CAPITOL SM 11417 U.S. Compilation
1976 Bloodrock - Hitroad 12"LP SOUNDS SUPERB SPR 80536 Dutch compilation
1989 D.O.A. Cassette CAPITOL SPECIAL PRODUCTS 4XL 57214 U.S. Budget Compilation
2000 Triptych 2 CD's ONE WAY 525 437 2 Passage, Whirlwind Tongues & Unspoken Words
2007 Two Originals - Passage & Whirlwind Tongues CD MASON MR 56461 Import

Singles

Year Title Format Label Catalogno Remark
1970 Gotta Find A Way / Fatback 7"single CAPITOL ST 2736
1971 D.O.A. / Castle Of Thoughts 7"single CAPITOL ST 3009
1971 D.O.A. / D.O.A. 7"single CAPITOL PRO 27637 Promo
1971 A Certain Kind / A Certain Kind 7"single CAPITOL SPRO 6187 Promo
1971 A Certain Kind / You Gotta Roll 7"single CAPITOL ST 3089
1971 D.O.A. / Children's Heritage 7"single CAPITOL ST 3399
1971 Lucky In The Morning ~ Children's Heritage / Jessica ~ Dier Not A Lover 7"EP ? TKR 052 Thailand
1971 Jessica / You Gotta Roll 7"single CAPITOL ST 3161
1971 Jessica / Jessica 7"single CAPITOL P 3161 Promo
1972 Rock & Roll Candy Man /Don't Eat The Children 7"single CAPITOL ST 3227
1972 Erosion / Castle Of Thoughts 7"single CAPITOL ST 3320
1972 Erosion/Erosion 7"single CAPITOL ? Promo
1972 Help Is On The Way / Interview 7"single CAPITOL PRO 6579 Promo
1972 Passage: Help Is On The Way ~ The Power / Scottsman ~ Life Blood 7"EP ? IT 015 Thailand
1972 American Burn ~ Don't Eat The Children / Crazy 'bout You Babe ~ It's A Sad World 7"EP ? M 048 Thailand
1973 Help Is On The Way / Thank You Daniel Elssberg 7"single CAPITOL ST 3451
1973 Thank You Daniel Elssberg / Voices 7"single CAPITOL ST 3770
1974 D.O.A. / Lucky In The Morning 7"single CAPITOL CR 2741 Japan

References

  1. ^ Guarisco, Donald A. "Bloodrock: Bloodrock > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  2. ^ Wheeler, Lisa. “Grapevine: I Remember . . . Bloodrock Reunite”. Goldmine 31 (18 March 2005): 10, 51.
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