Bloodrock | Interview | Stevie Hill
Bloodrock was an American hard rock band, based in Fort Worth, Texas, that had considerable success in the 1970s.
What were some early influences for you?
Stevie Hill: I tried to memorize any music that I liked (before I owned an instrument). There are a few albums that my parents played repeatedly: ‘Ray Charles Greatest Hits’, his 1962 album ‘Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music’, and ‘Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics’, and also three soundtrack albums: ‘The Music Man’, ‘Oklahoma’, and ‘South Pacific’.
In 1963 a group called The Naturals was formed. This first lineup featured Jim Rutledge, Nick Taylor, Ed Grundy and Dean Parks. In 1965 they released ‘Hey Girl’ / ‘I Want You’. What do you know about this group of your later bandmates?
The Naturals played occasionally in night clubs, but primarily worked as a cover band, playing corporate gigs and private parties.
Shortly after they changed their name to Crowd + 1 and released three more singles: ‘Mary Ann Regrets’ / ‘Whatcha Tryin’ to Do to Me’, ‘Don’t Hold Back’ / ‘Try’, and ‘Circles’ / ‘Most Peculiar Things’. In 1967 Parks left Crowd +1 to become the musical director for the Sonny & Cher Show. He was replaced by Lee Pickens. Around this time you joined on keyboards and vocals. You continued as Crowd + 1 until 1969 when you changed your name to Bloodrock.
I remember that we were very focused on writing songs and having our own sound that would be strong and recognizable.
Around April 1970 you released your first self titled album. It was produced by Terry Knight and was released on Capitol Records. The album became a classic!
Thanks for the compliment. Feel free to fact-check, but I believe the first album sold 90,000 units in the first few months. I also seem to remember that when the third album was released, we had three albums on the Billboard charts for a while.
‘Bloodrock 2’ was your most successful album peaking at #21 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in 1971 mostly on the strength of your single ‘DOA’ which reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 6, 1971. I would like to know the story behind this incredible release.
Thanks for the compliments. By the time we began recording the second album, our sound had become more aggressive. We had been playing in larger venues, which gave us the chance to preview some of the upcoming songs in the bigger rooms and outdoor festivals. Although we were reluctantly using some songs from outside writers, the members of the band wrote the song that put us on the map. Various Bloodrock members wrote ‘DOA’, ‘Cheater’, ‘Fallin” and ‘Dier Not A Lover’ (‘Dier’ included Sam Gumult).
Not everything you write gets recorded, but fortunately I co-wrote the four songs that made the album.
What currently occupies your life?
One plan is to add content from my photo archives daily. Secondly, I would like to begin recording the second solo album as soon as possible. I am working on the next album and a short film. As most people know, I was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002. The leukemia has put a monkey wrench on my release schedule, but I have at least two albums of material ready to record.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Bloodrock standing from left Ed Grundy, Lee Pickens and Stevie Hill. Seated Nick Taylor, Jim Rutledge and Rick Cobb
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