The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast

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This article is about concept album by Roger Glover. For the poem by William Roscoe, see The Butterfly's Ball, and the Grasshopper's Feast.

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
Studio album by
Roger Glover
Released18 November 1974 (UK)
16 October 1975 (US)
RecordedSummer 1974
StudioKingsway Recorders, London
Genre
Length48:28
LabelPurple Records (United Kingdom)
UK Records (United States)
ProducerRoger Glover, Alan G. Rainer
Roger Glover chronology
The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast
(1974) 		Elements
(1978)
Singles from The Butterfly Ball
  1. "Love is All"
    Released: 8 November 1974[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera written by Roger Glover. It appeared in 1974 and 1975 respectively, and was based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's design for a 1973 book based on the poem.

Origin and production history

The work was originally conceived as a solo vehicle for

Glenn Hughes.[3]

An accompanying animated short film, The Butterfly Ball, was made by the

Halas & Batchelor company.[4]

On 16 October 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 Twiggy as singer and actress and Vincent Price as narrator. Apart from most of the musicians involved in the studio recording, the concert also featured Jon Lord. The live concert was filmed and released in 1976, produced by Tony Klinger.[5]

Later appearance

Colin Meloy of The Decemberists has used the piece as intro music for the band's shows.[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Roger Glover except where noted

Original album
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalsLength
1."Dawn"  1:21
2."Get Ready" 
John Lawton
3:44
18."The Feast"  1:48
19."Love is All"Glover, Hardin, DioRonnie James Dio3:14
20."Homeward"Glover, HardinRonnie James Dio4:12
1995 Reissue Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Love is All (Demo Version)"3:04
2."Dawn (Remix)"1:35
3."Magician Moth (Remix)"1:37
4."Harlequin Hare (Remix)"1:33
5."Magician Moth (Remix)"1:34
6."No Solution (Remix)"3:58
7."Waiting (Remix)"3:58
8."Fly Away (Remix)"2:24
9."Aranea (Remix)"1:38
Film version from the concert 16 October 1975
No.TitleLength
1."Dawn (feat Vincent Price)" 
2."Get Ready (feat
Micky Lee Soule)"
 
15."The Feast (feat Vincent Price)" 
16."Love is All (feat Ian Gillan )" 
17."Homeward (feat Twiggy)" 
18."Love is All (encore)" 
  • = Little Chalk Blue is on CD Reissue only

Charts

Chart (1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 12

Personnel (original album)

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-908724-23-6
    .
  2. Rovi Corporation
    . Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  3. ISBN 978-1-55022-618-8
    . Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  4. ISBN 978-0-498-02241-8
    . Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  5. ISBN 978-0-85170-863-8
    . Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  6. ^ Schweber, Nate, "The Making of Meloy", The Montanan, Winter, 2009. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  7. ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .

External links
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