Mick Weaver (born 16 June 1944,

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England) is an English

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

, best known for his playing of the Hammond B3 organ.

Career

Weaver's band performed as Wynder K. Frog and became popular on the student union and club circuit of the mid 1960s. A brief merging of this band with Herbie Goins and the Night-Timers took his work to a higher level. Wynder K. Frogg — they are billed under this spelling — appeared on the bill at the Saville Theatre, London on 24 September 1967, supporting

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

on their first UK presentation. Also on the bill were Jackie Edwards and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. The compere was David Symonds. When

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his dis ...

left

to form

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

, Weaver was recruited to replace him and Traffic became ''Mason, Capaldi, Wood and Frog'', soon shortened to ''Wooden Frog''. They played a few gigs before dissolving three months later when Traffic reformed. After this he recorded with solo artists such as

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

, Dave Gilmour,

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

, Frankie Miller, Roger Chapman,

Steve Marriott Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English actor, musician, guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a student at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London and appeared in the West End, before taking a r ...

and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

as well as

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

and The Blues Band, also playing keyboards with Steve Marriott's ''Majik Mijits''.

Discography

As Wynder K. Frog

''Sunshine Super Frog'' (1967)

=Credits

= All tracks featured Mick Weaver as Wynder K. Frog, playing a Hammond B3 organ and were recorded in London playing over backing tapes by unnamed session musicians from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In the album liner notes Jimmy Miller noted that Weaver had "supplemented the band with trumpet, tenor sax, guitar, bass and drums, Wynder has transformed the organ into a highly enjoyable medium of sound, combining jazzy finesse with popular and commercial phrasing suitable for vast appeal".

''Out of the Frying Pan'' (1968)

=Credits

= * Mick Weaver – keyboards * Dick Heckstall-Smith – saxophone * Neil Hubbard – guitar * Alan Spenner – bass * Chris Mercer – saxophone * Bruce Rowland – drums * Ron Carthy – horn *

Rebop Kwaku Baah Anthony "Rebop" Kwaku Baah (13 February 1944 – 12 January 1983) was a Ghanaian percussionist who worked with the 1970s rock groups Traffic and Can. Biography Baah was born in 1944 in Konongo, Gold Coast. In the Akan culture of Ghana, Kwa ...

– percussion

''Into the Fire'' (1970)

''Into the Fire'' was released only in the US, after the band had dissolved. Unlike the previous albums of mostly covers, the liner notes here state that the songs were, "composed specifically for the Frog style of musical interpretation, ranging far in beat, tempo and mood".

=Credits

= * Mick Weaver – keyboards * Rocky Dzidzornu – percussion * Neil Hubbard – guitar * Chris Mercer – saxophone *

Shawn Phillips Shawn Phillips (born February 3, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, primarily influential in the 1960s and 1970s. His work is rooted in folk rock but straddles other genres, including jazz fusion and funk. Phillips has reco ...

– guitar and vocals (on "Eddie's Tune" only) * Bruce Rowland – drums * Alan Spenner – bass In 2018, RPM/Cherry Red Records released a triple-CD

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

, entitled ''Wynder K. Frog. Shook, Shimmy and Shake. The Complete Recordings 1966–1970'', including all the above recordings, plus 12 bonus tracks, previously unissued. There were four on the second CD and nine on the third CD, and a 26 page booklet with extensive liner notes and photos. The bonus tracks on the second CD are: 14. "Jumping' Jack Flash" (Mono Version); 15. "Baldy"; 16. "Dancing Frog" (Stereo Version); and 17. "Blues For A Frog" (Stereo Version). On the third CD, the bonus tracks are: 9. "Happy Jack"; 10. "We Can Work It Out"; 11. "Funky Broadway"; 12. "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever"; 13. "A Memory Of Bruce"; 14. "The House That Jack Built"; 15. "I'll Go Crazy"; 16. "Tequila"; 17. "Baldy".

As a session musician

References

Bibliography

*Joynson, Vernon. ''The Tapestry of Delights – The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963–1976''. Borderline (2006). Reprinted (2008). *Paolo Hewitt John Hellier (2004). '' Steve Marriott: All Too Beautiful...''. Helter Skelter Publishing

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, Mick 1944 births Living people English blues musicians English rock musicians English rock keyboardists English session musicians Progressive rock musicians Entertainers from Bolton Musicians from the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Island Records artists Fat Mattress members