The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast

About

A project assembled to musically support William Plomer's (1903-73) book of poems called 'The Butterfly Ball and Grasshoppers Feast'; in which Alan Aldridge had provided the illustration. British Lion had secured the right, and commissioned Glover, through Tony Edwards (the Deep Purple manager), to add the musical dimension that it required if it were to be made into a 26-part animated cartoon serie, suitable for TV. After over-coming his initial doubt, Glover set about assembling the personnel he felt he needed in order to bring such a commission to fruition. He began recording in the summer of 1974, and by the time it was completed he had involved over 30 individual musician, and an orchestra. Glover decided to assign a musical identity to each of Aldridge's illustrated character, and to this end he wrote motifs for all of them. To further enhance this identity he assigned each lead vocalist to a specific role. It was released in December 1974, to a lukewarm reception in the UK, though the single 'Love Is All', and accompanying animation, was well-received in continental Europe. Unfortunately, they failed to find any financial backing for the animated serie, or film, and the project wa, metaphorically, put on the back-burner. Glover resolved to produce it as a stage musical, and on 16th October 1975, it was performed at the Royal Albert Hall. British Lion took the opportunity to film the concert, and released it in March of the following year - The Butterfly Ball (A Fun Musical Extravaganza). Credits: Accordion – Jack Emblow Artwork – Alan Aldridge, Harry Wilcock* Backing Vocals – Barry St. John, Helen Chappelle, Joanne William, Judi Kuhl, Kay Garner, Liza Strike Bass Guitar, Double Ba, Performer – Mo Foster Bassoon – Robin Thompson Drums – Les Bink, Mike Giles Engineer – George Sloan, Lou Austin Guitar – Ray Fenwick Leader – David Woodcock Mastered By – Pecko, Porky Piano – Ann Odell, Mike Moran Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Eddie Hardin Producer, Synthesizer, Piano, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Percussion, Backing Vocal, Written-By – Roger Glover Saw – Nigel Watson Tabla – Chris Karan Violin – Eddie Jobson Vocal – David Coverdale, Glenn Hughe, Ronnie James Dio Adapted by Roger Glover for a full colour animated television series produced by British Lion Films Limited in association with Aurelia Enterprises Limited from the design and illustrations of the book “The Butterfly Ball” by Alan Aldridge first published 1973 by Jonathan Cape Limited and Times Newspapers Limited in association with Aurelia Enterprises Limited. Recorded at Kingsway Recorder, London, during the summer of 1974. © Copyright : Glove Music Ltd. and British Lion Music Ltd. 1974. .

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