Bloodrock

Bloodrock was a Fort Worth, Texas-based (hard) rock & roll band in the 1970s.

Career

Bloodrock initially formed in Ft. Worth, TX in 1963 under the name The Naturals. This first lineup featured Jim Rutledge (b. January 24, 1947) – drums/vocals, Nick Taylor – 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. 12-08-??) – guitar. It was also at this time that Stevie Hill (b. Tulsa, OK) – keyboards/vocals joined the group. They continued as Crowd + 1 until 1969 when they changed their name to Bloodrock. They also recorded their first album the Terry Knight produced Bloodrock (ST-435). The album peaked at 160 on the Billboard Pop Albums Chart in 1970.

In 1970 Rutledge moved from behind the drum set to take on lead vocal duties exclusively. Rick Cobb (b. James Richard Cobb III) takes over the percussive duties and adds 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 was their most successful album peaking at 21 on the Billboard Pop Album Charts in 1971 mostly on the strength of their somewhat morbid single "DOA" which reached #36 on the music charts on March 6, 1971.

In 1972 Lee Pickens left to form The Lee Pickens Group and Jim Rutlege just left. Rutlege was replaced by Warren Ham. the subsequent album Passages was the last time Bloodrock visited the charts it peaked at 104 on the Billborad Pop Albums Chart in 1972.

1973 brought another personnel change: Rick Cobb vacated the drummer's throne to be replaced by Randy Reader. This line up recorded two albums: Whirlwind Tongues (1973) and Bloodrock 'N' Roll (1975 SM-11417).

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

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

Discography

Albums

Bloodrock (1970) U.S. #160
Bloodrock 2 (1970) [RIAA Certified Gold January 3, 1990] U.S. #21
Bloodrock 3 (1971) U.S. #27
Bloodrock U.S.A. (1971) U.S. #88
Bloodrock Live (double album) (1972) U.S. #67
Passage (1972) U.S. #104
Whirlwind Tongues (1974)

Compilations

Bloodrock 'N' Roll (Best Of) (1975)
DOA (Budget Compilation) (1989)
Triptych (Passage, Whirlwind Tongues and Unspoken Words on two CDs) (2000)
Two Originals (Passage, Whirlwind Tongues on one CD) (2007)

Singles

"Gotta Find a Way/Fatback" (1970)
"D.O.A./Children's Heritage" (1970)
"Jessica/You Gotta Roll" (1971)
"Rock & Roll Candy Man/Don't Eat The Children" (1971)
"Erosion/Castle Of Thoughts" (1972)
"Castle Of Thoughts/D.O.A.(Live)" (1972)
"Help Is On The Way/Thank You Daniel Ellsberg" (1973)

External links

References

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=BLOODROCK&sql=11:f9fpxqr5ldte~T5 http://www.classicwebs.com/bloodroc.htm