The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (album)

Infobox Album | Name = The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
Type = Live Album
Artist = Roger Glover


Released = November 1974
Recorded =
Genre = Pop-rock
Psychedelic rock
Hard rock
Length = 74:15
Label = EMI Purple TPSA 7514
Producer = Roger Glover
Alan G. Rainer
Reviews =
*"Allmusic" Rating|4|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dzfqxq85ld6e link]
Last album =
This album = "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast"
(1974)
Next album = "Elements"
(1978)|

"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 book of the same title (The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's design for the book).

It was originally conceived as a solo vehicle for Jon Lord and to be produced by Roger Glover, but 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 to perform on it, with a different vocalist for each track. 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. The song has been used recently by the Dutch political party CDA in its election ads for the 2006 Dutch General Election.

On October 16th 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 Vincent Price as narrator.

Tracklist

* 1 Dawn (Glover) 1.21
* 2 Get Ready (Glover) 2.06
* 3 Saffron Dormouse And Lizzy Bee (Glover) 1.25
* 4 Harlequin Hare (Glover/Dio/Soule) 1.26
* 5 Old Blind Mole (Glover) 1.11
* 6 Magician Moth (Glover) 1.33
* 7 No Solution (Glover) 3.28
* 8 Behind The Smile (Glover) 1.46
* 9 Fly Away (Glover) 2.22
* 10 Aranea (Glover) 1.37
* 11 Sitting In A Dream (Glover) 3.40
* 12 Waiting (Glover) 3.11
* 13 Sir Maximus Mouse (Glover) 2.35
* 14 Dreams Of Sir Bedievere () 4.09
* 15 Together Again (Glover/Dio/Soule) 2.05
* 16 Watch Out For The Bat (Glover) 1.41
* 17 Little Chalk Blue (Glover/Hardin) 3.44
* 18 The Feast (Glover) 1.48
* 19 Love Is All (Glover/Hardin) 3.14
* 20 Homeward (Glover/Hardin) 4.12

People involved

* Tony Ashton (vcl);
* Les Binks (drm);
* Helen Chappelle (vcl);
* David Coverdale (vcl);
* Ronnie James Dio (vcl);
* Jack Emblow (acc);
* Ray Fenwick (gtr);
* Mo Foster (bss);
* Kay Garner (bvc);
* Michael Giles (drm);
* Roger Glover (msc);
* John Goodison (vcl);
* John Gustafson (vcl);
* Eddie Hardin (kbr/bvc);
* Jimmy Helms (vcl);
* Glenn Hughes (vcl);
* Eddie Jobson (vln);
* Chris Karan (tbl);
* Judi Kuhl (vcl);
* Neil Lancaster (vcl);
* John Lawton (vcl);
* Mike Moran (pno);
* Ann Odell (pno);
* Mickey Lee Soule (vcl);
* Barry St. John (vcl);
* Liza Strike (vcl);
* Robin Thompson (bsn);
* Nigel Watson (saw);
* Joanne Williams (bvc);
* the Mountain Fjord Orchestra led by David Woodcock and conducted by Martin Ford, John Bell and Del Newman.

ee also

For information on the poem, which the book is based on, see The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast

External links

* [http://www.rogerglover.com/discography/butterflyball/ Roger Glover.com]
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000025452 amazon uk listing]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2yMwuLy53c Roger Glover - Love is all] on YouTube
*imdb title|id=0074260|title=The Butterfly Ball
* [http://www.discogs.com/release/690381 The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast] at Discogs.com