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John "Rabbit" Bundrick | |
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![]() Bundrick at a performance in Hyde Park, London, 1974 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | John Douglas Bundrick |
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. | November 21, 1948
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1971–present |
Formerly of | |
Website | rabbitwho |
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948) is an American keyboardist and vocalist. He is best known for his work with the rock band the Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show . In the mid-1970s, he was a member of the short-lived group Mallard, formed by ex-members of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. He is also known as a composer and has recorded solo albums. He was also a member of the Texas group Blackwell, who had a hit single in 1969 entitled "Wonderful". [1] [2] [3]
In 1971, Bundrick recorded and wrote five tracks for the album Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit with guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Tetsu Yamauchi. [4]
Bundrick toured and recorded with Texan vocalist Johnny Nash. Bundrick played on Nash's hit single and album "I Can See Clearly Now" (1972). [5] He met Bob Marley while in Sweden, while working on the soundtrack to the Swedish film Vill så gärna tro . Marley, Bundrick, and Johnny Nash became roommates there during the stay. Sometime after their return to London, Bundrick was brought in to collaborate on arrangements for Marley's Catch a Fire album, adding keyboards to the original Jamaican recordings to make the record more accessible to listeners. [6] Around this time, Bundrick also worked with Chris Blackwell of Island Records, appearing on recordings by the company.
In 1972 the members of Free reformed joined by Bundrick on keyboards. They recorded Free's final album Heartbreaker , which included "Muddy Water" and "Common Mortal Man" by Bundrick, who was also credited for collaborations on two other tracks. After a brief period of touring Free broke up. [7]
Bundrick first worked with Pete Townshend in 1977 when he performed on Rough Mix , Townshend's collaboration with Ronnie Lane, former bass player for Small Faces and Faces. He was invited to play on the Who's album Who Are You (1978), but broke his arm falling out of a taxi at the studio door and was unable to participate in recording sessions. Bundrick toured with the Who from 1979 to 1981 along with drummer Kenney Jones and played on their album Face Dances (1981), then briefly parted with the band during the recording of It's Hard (1982) and the subsequent tour. Bundrick later rejoined the band performing with them at Live Aid in 1985 and played live with them until 2012. [8] [9]
Bundrick played on the Who's single "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Old Red Wine" in 2004, and on their album Endless Wire (2006) and joined the band for The Who Tour 2006–2007, appearing in the summer and fall concerts. He missed the start of the second leg of the North American tour due to the illness of his wife Sue; keyboard technician Brian Kehew took keyboard duties. Townshend said at the time that Sue was "very close to the end, and [Rabbit] will be back with us when she's gone".[ citation needed ]
In the spring of 2008, Bundrick married Canadian Jody Ahern. On July 12, 2008, he performed at the recording of VH1 Honors the Who in Los Angeles. He then worked with English alternative folk band Small Engine Repair and played on their track "This Whole Setup Is A Lie". In December 2009, it was announced he was working with the band Night Parade on their new album.
Bundrick performed with the Who for their Super Bowl XLIV halftime show in 2010. He played with the group in 2011 at a charity show [10] but was replaced in the subsequent tours. Pete Townshend has commented that there ".. was an issue between Roger Daltrey and Rabbit." [11]
Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke. They are best known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well". Although renowned for their live performances and non-stop touring, their music did not sell well until their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people. In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played in more than 700 arenas and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a staple of R&B and rock, and has entered ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Who Are You is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 21 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it was a commercial success, peaking at number 2 on the US charts and number 6 on the UK charts.
Endless Wire is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Who, released on 30 October 2006 in the UK through Polydor Records and the following day in the US by Universal Republic. It was their first new studio album of original material in 24 years following the release of It's Hard in 1982, as well as their first since the death of their founding bassist John Entwistle. It was originally due to be released in early 2005 under the working title WHO2.
Simon Frederick St George Kirke is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and co-founder of Free.
Back Street Crawler were an English rock band formed in 1975 by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. They were signed to Atlantic Records in 1975. The band took the name from Kossoff's solo album, Back Street Crawler. Terry Wilson, Mike Montgomery and Tony Braunagel had played together in the short-lived Bloontz, whose only album was released in 1973 and included versions of the Mike Montgomery songs, "Jason Blue" and "Long Way Down", both of which featured on Back Street Crawler's album The Band Plays On.
Free at Last is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Free. It was recorded between January and March 1972, and released in May that year. After breaking up in May 1971 due to differences between singer Paul Rodgers and bassist Andy Fraser, the band had reformed in January 1972.
Heartbreaker is the sixth and final studio album by the English rock band Free, that provided them with one of their most successful singles, "Wishing Well". It was recorded in late 1972 after bassist Andy Fraser had left the band and while guitarist Paul Kossoff was ailing from an addiction to Mandrax (Quaalude) and features a different line up from previous albums. Tetsu Yamauchi was brought in to replace Fraser, while John "Rabbit" Bundrick became the band's keyboard player to compensate for the increasingly unreliable Kossoff. Both Yamauchi and Bundrick had played with Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke on the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit during that period in late 1971 when Free had broken up for the first time. Also, several other musicians were used on the album. The album was co-produced by Andy Johns as well as Free themselves.
Crawler was a British heavy rock band formed in the late 1970s as an offshoot of Back Street Crawler, following the death of guitarist, Paul Kossoff.
Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit is a collaborative studio album by guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke, bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, released in 1972. The album is the only release by them as a collaborative effort.
Tetsu Yamauchi is a retired Japanese musician. In the 1970s, he was a member of several popular rock bands, including Free, where he replaced original bassist Andy Fraser before the band's final album Heartbreaker, and Faces, where he replaced Ronnie Lane and appears on the band's final single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", as well as touring with them and playing on the live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. He also recorded various solo albums and did extensive work as a session musician before retiring from the music sometime in the late 1990s.
"Real Good Looking Boy" is a song written by the guitarist of the British rock band The Who, Pete Townshend. It was originally released in 2004 on the compilation album Then and Now, and was one of two new songs on that album, the other being "Old Red Wine". Together, they were the first new songs released by the Who for 15 years. It was later released as an edited single backed with the aforementioned song. "Real Good Looking Boy" was later performed in the 2007 rock musical The Boy Who Heard Music. The song peaked at #28 on the Heritage rock chart. Bassist Greg Lake and drummer Zak Starkey, as well as keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick played on this song.
Back Street Crawler is the debut studio album by English guitarist Paul Kossoff, released in 1973; the same year Kossoff's band Free disbanded, Kossoff was able to moderate his drug addiction to record the album, which featured contributions from his former Free bandmates, as well as Yes drummer Alan White and Cat Stevens Keyboardist, Jean Roussel.
The Band Plays On is the debut album from Back Street Crawler, fronted by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. Keyboard player Mike Montgomery composed six songs and co-wrote two others on the album, in addition to singing lead vocals on "All the Girls Are Crazy" and "Survivor". He dueted with Terry Wilson-Slesser on "New York, New York". Montgomery subsequently left the band and was replaced by John "Rabbit" Bundrick.
2nd Street is the second studio album by the English rock band Back Street Crawler and was released on the Atco Records label. It was released after Paul Kossoff's death in March 1976, and is dedicated to him. The album is regarded as a considerable advance on their 1975 debut The Band Plays On, but Kossoff's involvement in it is limited to lead guitar lines over the completed tracks.
Quadrophenia is a stage musical based on the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who, released on 19 October 1973, and a film of the same name, released in 1979. The album was the group's second full-length rock opera, and the story reveals social, musical and psychological events from an English teenager's perspective. The music and songs were composed by Pete Townshend and the story is set in London and Brighton in 1964 and '65.
Robert Terry Wilson is an American bass player, record producer and composer.
The Who Tour 2012–2013 was their third to feature the 1973 album Quadrophenia. Billed as "Quadrophenia and More", the band played Quadrophenia in its entirety, followed by a selection of their greatest hits. Before starting the tour, the group gave a special performance at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, composer and producer. He is best known as a session drummer and/or percussionist of over 200 albums including those of Otis Rush, Eric Burdon, Johnny Nash, Coco Montoya, Lucky Peterson, as well as Grammy winning albums of Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy (percussion) and for performing live with dozens of music icons including Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, and Taj Mahal to name just a few.