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Bloodrock
Bloodrock in 1970. Clockwise from top: Lee Pickens, Stevie Hill, Rick Cobb, Ed Grundy, Nick Taylor, and Jim Rutledge.
Background information
Also known as	The Naturals(1963–1966) Crowd +1(1966–1969)
Origin	Fort Worth, Texas,United States
Genres	Hard rock
Years active	1963–1975, 2005
Labels	Capitol
Past members	Nick Taylor Ed Grundy Jim Rutledge Dean Parks Lee Pickens Stevie Hill Rick Cobb Warren Ham Randy Reader Chris Taylor

Bloodrock was an Americanhard rock band based inFort Worth, Texas, that had success in the 1970s.^[1] The band emerged from the Fort Worth club and music scene during the early to mid-1970s.

Bloodrock initially formed inFort Worth in 1963, under the name the Naturals. This first lineup featured Jim Rutledge on drums and vocals, Nick Taylor on guitar and vocals, Ed Grundy on bass and vocals, andDean Parks on guitar. They toured the region playing at battle of the bands, opened locally for national acts likeThe Beach Boys,Paul Revere & The Raiders, andThe Five Americans, and released their first single in 1965 "Hey Girl" b/w "I Want You" (Rebel MME 1003). In 1966, they changed their name to Crowd + 1, and released the single: "Mary Ann Regrets” b/w "Whatcha Tryin’ to Do to Me" (BOX 6604), that same year they signed a deal with Capitol Records and released two more singles: "Don’t Hold Back" b/w "Try," and "Circles" b/w “Most Peculiar Things."^[2]

Despite a growing regional fanbase, the singles failed to chart and Capitol dropped the group, not long after Parks left Crowd +1 to become the musical director forThe Sonny & Cher Show (the beginning of a long career as a session musician). He was replaced by Lee Pickens on guitar. It was also at this time that Stevie Hill joined the group on keyboards and vocals. They continued as Crowd + 1 until 1969 when they changed their name to Bloodrock, a name conceived byGrand Funk Railroad manager/producerTerry Knight, who signed the band to Capitol almost within two weeks of hearing them.^[3] They also recorded their first album with Knight as producer,Bloodrock (Capitol ST-435). The album, released in March 1970, peaked at 160 on theBillboard 200chart. Knight had described the naming of Bloodrock on the back of the Capitol Cassette Tape version in 1970 as: "Get into it... Let it run through your veins... Believe in BLOODROCK!". Therefore their name was really meant to be their rock sound running through your Bloodline and not referring to any actual gory/bloody sounding music (exception was of course "D.O.A.")

Shortly after the first album was recorded, Rutledge (at Knight's behest) moved from behind the drum set to take on lead vocal duties exclusively. Austin-area drummer Rick Cobb took over the percussive duties and added his voice to the group as well.^[4] This lineup recorded their next four albums:Bloodrock 2 (ST-491),Bloodrock 3 (ST-765),Bloodrock USA (SMAS 645), andBloodrock Live (SVBB-11038).

Bloodrock opened for Grand Funk on the 1970 tour.

Bloodrock 2 was their most successful album peaking at number 21 on theBillboardPop Album Chart in 1971, mostly on the strength of their single "D.O.A.", which reached number 36 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart on March 6, 1971. "D.O.A." also gave the band considerable regional exposure throughout the Southwest and West, particularly in Texas and Southern California. "D.O.A." was probably the band's most well-known and well-remembered single. However, some radio stations would not play the song because of its explicit, gruesome description of fatal plane crash injury and the use of sirens, the latter out of concerns that the siren sound would confuse motorists. 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.^[5]

In May 1972, both Lee Pickens and Jim Rutledge left Bloodrock, with Pickens forming the Lee Pickens Group (LPG) and released the albumLPG in early 1973 on Capitol Records. Meanwhile, Rutledge released a solo album in 1976 on Capitol Records titledHooray for Good Times. Bloodrock replaced Rutledge on vocals and Pickens on guitar withWarren Ham on vocals, flute and saxophone. Stevie Hill on keyboards adjusted to Ham's presence by shifting his own style. These changes to personnel and style moved the hard rock sound of the band in a lighter direction, more towardprogressive rock, pop and jazz, alienating some fans.^[6] The subsequent album,Passage was the last time Bloodrock visited the charts. It peaked at number 104 on the Billboard 200 in 1972.

1973 brought another personnel change: Rick Cobb left the band, he was replaced by Randy Reader. This lineup recorded one album:Whirlwind Tongues (1974).

Nick Taylor quit the group, and he was replaced by Warren's brother, Bill Ham, and Randy Reader was replaced by Matt Betton, an album, later titledUnspoken Words, was recorded, but Capitol rejected the material due to the group’s waning popularity, and the recordings would go unreleased until 2000 when it was included as part of the CD releaseTriptych (along with cuts fromPassage andWhirlwind Tongues).

The band would break-up not long after they were dropped by Capitol, they performed their last gig on April 14, 1974 inFlint, Michigan.^[7]

After the breakup, Rutledge, Pickens, and Taylor hired a rhythm section and briefly formed a Bloodrock spinoff group, performing in small clubs for about a year.

In 1976, Capitol issued a greatest hits album, Bloodrock N Roll, which featured only tracks from the first three albums and the live set.

Around the same time, the original lineup temporarily put their differences aside and attempted a comeback. Initially led by Rutledge, the group lasted long enough to record some demos, including a cover ofHeartbreak Hotel, Rutledge eventually dropped out, and was replaced by Rusty Robertson, a friend of Pickens, but due to lack of label interest, and the departure of Cobb, the band called it quits.^[8]

A reunion concert featuring all five members of the original lineup (Jim Rutledge, Lee Pickens, Ed Grundy, Nick Taylor, and Stevie Hill), plus Chris Taylor (Nick's son) in place of drummer Rick Cobb III from the classic six-member lineup, was held on March 12, 2005, in Fort Worth, for thebenefit of their keyboardist Stevie Hill, to help with medical costs related to his combating leukemia. The reunion concert was filmed and released on DVD.

Nick Taylor (born Doyle Taylor inTexas on October 29, 1946) died on March 10, 2010, after a car accident inCleburne, Texas, at age 63.^[9]

Stevie Hill died on September 12, 2013, from leukemia.^[10]

Bloodrock's music has been categorized primarily ashard rock.^[1] Bloodrock's1970 self-titled debut album was described in the context of hard rock and earlyheavy metal byAllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco.^[11]Bloodrock 2 was not as gloomy (except for "D.O.A.") and heavy, and more of a chart success,^[12] whileBloodrock 3 andBloodrock U.S.A. saw the band introduceprogressive rock elements.^[12][13] The band's 1972 personnel changes shifted them toward prog rock (like Jethro Tull),jazz andpop music.^[6]

• Jim Rutledge – lead vocals(1969–1972, 2005), drums(1969–1970)
• Lee Pickens – lead guitar, backing vocals(1969–1972, 2005)
• Nick Taylor – rhythm guitar, backing vocals(1969–1972, 2005), lead guitar(1972–1974; died 2010)
• Stevie Hill – keyboards, backing vocals(1969–1974, 2005; died 2013)
• Ed Grundy – bass guitar, backing vocals(1969–1974, 2005)
• Rick Cobb – drums, percussion(1970–1974)

• Warren Ham – lead vocals, saxophone, flute(1972–1974)
• Randy Reeder – drums(1974)
• Matt Betton – drums(1974)

• Bill Ham – lead guitar(1974)
• Chris Taylor – drums(2005)

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related toBloodrock.

• Bloodrock atAllMusic
• Bloodrock discography atDiscogs
• Bloodrock early history on ClassicWebs.com

• Hard rock musical groups from Texas
• Capitol Records artists
• Musical groups established in 1969
• Musical groups disestablished in 1975

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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