Bloodrock

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Bloodrock
Origin Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Genre(s) Blues rock, Hard rock, Psychedelic rock, Heavy metal, Progressive rock
Years active 1969 - 1975
Website www.bloodrock.net
Members
Jim Rutledge (vocals)
Lee Pickens (guitar)
Ed Grundy (guitar)
Stevie Hill (keyboards)
Nick Taylor (bass)
Rick Cobb (drums)

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

Contents

[edit] Career

The band was discovered by Grand Funk Railroad record producer Terry Knight and signed to Capitol Records. Knight produced the first three, and most popular, Bloodrock albums.

Bloodrock was best known for the song "D.O.A." (Dead On Arrival), about the victim of a gory airplane crash which became their only hit single, reaching #36 on the music charts in January 1971. They were only marginally popular in the United States and were essentially a cult band, but reportedly became a favorite among troops in Vietnam.

The band was technically competent but offered little that was unique and was unable to sustain any real success. The group was noted for hard pulsed bass, biting guitar solos and a haunting organ sound.

The early albums featured a heavy metal sound reminiscent of other hard rock bands at the time, such as Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath. The lyrics were unusually cynical for the time, exploring such themes as alienation and revenge, which would later be found in abundance in the punk rock scene, but seemed out of place in the post-Woodstock period of the early 1970s. Songs which were fan favorites included "Kool-Aid Kids," "Gotta Find a Way", "Castle of Thoughts", "Breach of Lease", "Cheater", "D.O.A.", and "Lucky in the Morning."

Before the late 1972 album Passage, their original lead vocalist (Jim Rutledge) and lead guitarist (Lee Pickens) had left and were replaced by vocalist Warren Ham (a born-again Christian who would later perform with Kerry Livgren's Christian rock band A.D. in the 1980s). Bloodrock took a major turn away from hard rock on the last two albums, turning toward progressive rock, pop, and jazz, reminiscent of such artists as Jethro Tull, Todd Rundgren, and Traffic. During live performances in the Warren Ham era, the band often refused to play their earlier songs with morbid or cynical themes such as "Whiskey Vengeance" and "D.O.A.". Interestingly, though, the lyrics on the later albums often had leftist or even Marxist themes on songs like "The Power".

The 2000 CD release Triptych includes their last two albums (Passage & Whirlwind Tongues) plus an additional, previously unreleased album, Unspoken Words, recorded by the band in mid 1974 before their official breakup.

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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] 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)

[edit] Singles

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

[edit] External links