Frijid Pink

Infobox musical artist
Name = Frijid Pink


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Origin = Detroit, Michigan United States
Genre = Hard rock, blues-rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock
Years_active = 1967-1975 2001 2007-present
Label = Parrot, Deram, Lion, Fantasy
Associated_acts = The Tidal Waves
The Unrelated Segments
Teezer
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/frijidpinknow]
Current_members = Rick Stevers Phil "Mac" Mcllvenna Joe Gillis Brent Austin Ricky Houke
Past_members = Kelly Green Gary Ray Thompson Tom Harris Larry Zelanka John Wearing Craig Webb Jo Baker Larry Popolizio Rockin' Reggie Vincent David Ahlers

Frijid Pink was a Detroit hard rock band formed in 1967, best known for their version of "House of the Rising Sun."

The band (according to rock historian Wayne Jancik, the musicians once explained their name as "cold excellence") was composed in early 1967 of high school buddies drummer Richard Stevers, guitarist Gary Ray Thompson, bassist Tom Harris, lead singer Kelly Green, and, later (after their second album), Larry Zelanka as off-staff-keyboardist.

Career

Frijid Pink spent their first two years touring relentlessly throughout the Southeast Michigan (USA) area. The group, with Tom Beaudry (aka: Kelly Green) replacing Harris on bass, eventually signed with Parrot Records in 1969; although their first two singles, "Tell Me Why" and "Drivin' Blues", failed to attract much attention, their third effort for the company, a distorted guitar-laden rendition of House Of The Rising Sun reached the Top Ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies. Ironically, the song was literally "filler", helping to round out the final time slot at the end of a recording session. A big hit in the States (raised at #7 in February 1970), it became an even bigger hit overseas. Although the song was in the public domain, the band never received a penny for the huge hit due to shady lawyers for the record company. Fact|date=July 2007They were so popular in Detroit at the time that the fledgling Led Zeppelin (who at the time was just getting started from the remnants of the Yardbirds) opened up for them.

Frijid Pink's self-titled debut LP followed in 1970, as did the follow-up "Defrosted"; subsequent singles including "Sing A Song For Freedom" and "Heartbreak Hotel", however, failed to match earlier successes, and after 1972's "Earth Omen" the group did not re-enter the studio until recording 1975's "All Pink Inside", disbanding soon after its release.

There have been many personnel line-ups for Frijid Pink, some with nary an original member in sight. One such version of the band formed in 2001. They recorded one album, "Inner Heat", which was set for release in 2002 but their record company pulled the plug at the last second. The album was never released, and will likely remain so for the time being.

In January 2007 the founding member and drummer Rick Stevers began auditioning musicians for the reformation of Frijid Pink. This version of the Pink has been recording a new album and playing club dates and public functions. This new line-up seems to be returning to the blues-based hard rock sound, but with some arrangement, instrumentation, and backing vocal augmentations.

Discography

U.S. singles

* "Tell Me Why" / "Cryin' Shame" (Parrot 334) 1969
* "Drivin' Blues" / "God Gave Me You" (Parrot 340) 1969
* "House of the Rising Sun" / "Drivin' Blues" (Parrot 341) 1969, #7 on Billboard Hot 100 (February 1970), #3 in Canada, #1 in Germany, #4 in U.K.
* "Sing A Song For Freedom" / "End Of The Line" (Parrot 349) 1970, #55 on Billboard Hot 100 (July), #22 in Canada
* "Heartbreak Hotel" / "Bye Bye Blues" (Parrot 352) 1970, #72 on Billboard Hot 100 (December), #38 in Canada
* "Music For The People" / "Sloony" (Parrot 355) 1971
* "We're Gonna Be There" / "Shortly Kline" (Parrot 358) 1971
* "I Love Her" / "Lost Son" (Parrot 360) 1972
* "Earth Omen" / "Lazy Day" (Lion 115) 1972
* "Go Now" / "Lazy Day" (Lion 136) 1972
* "Big Betty" / "Shady Lady" (Lion 158) 1973

Foreign singles

* "House Of The Rising Sun" / "Drivin' Blues" (Deram 17044) 1970 France
* "Sing A Song For Freedom" / "End Of The Line" (DM 309) 1970 France
* "We're Gonna Be There" / "Shortly Kline" (DM 336) 1970 France
* "House Of The Rising Sun" / "Crying Shame" (EPDM 1014) 1970 Portugal
* "Heartbreak Hotel" / "Bye Bye Blues" (SDM 117) 1971 Portugal
* "Rainbow Rider" / "Earth Omen" (MGM 2006130) 1973 Germany

U.S. albums

* "Frijid Pink" (Parrot 71033) 1970 #11 in USA
* "Defrosted" (Parrot 71041) 1970 #149 in USA
* "Earth Omen" (Lion LN-1004) 1972
* "The Beginning Vol. 5" (Deram) 1973. German compilation, very rare and import only.
* "All Pink Inside" (Fantasy 9464) 1975
* "Inner Heat" (Dynasty) 2002 (unreleased)
* TBA 2008

Foreign albums

* "Frijid Pink" (Deram SML-R 1062) 1970 France, U.K.
* "Defrosted" (Deram SML-R 1077) 1970 France, U.K.

External links

* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=t40INnb6DnY House of the Rising Sun on Youtube]