John "Rabbit" Bundrick | |
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Bundrick at a performance in Hyde Park, London, 1974
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Background information | |
Birth name | John Douglas Bundrick |
Born |
Houston, Texas, United States |
November 21, 1948
Genres | Blues-rock, hard rock, blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter, Producer |
Instruments | Keyboards, piano, vocals |
Years active | 1971–present |
Associated acts |
Free The Who Johnny Nash Bob Marley Mallard |
Website | rabbitwho |
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is an American rock keyboardist, pianist and organist. He is best known for his work with 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.
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.
Bundrick toured and recorded with Texan vocalist Johnny Nash. Bundrick played on Nash's hit single and album "I Can See Clearly Now" (1972). 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. Around this time, Bundrick also worked with Chris Blackwell of Island Records, appearing on recordings by the company.