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George Baker Selection was a pop-rock band from Assendelft, the Netherlands. The band is best-known for the 1969 song "Little Green Bag"; the 1975 world-wide hit "Paloma Blanca" (one of the most played songs in history), and the 1985 Pan European hit "Santa Lucia by Night".
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2021) |
George Baker Selection | |
|---|---|
 George Baker Selection in 1974 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Soul Invention |
| Origin | Assendelft, Netherlands |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
|
| Labels | Negram |
| Past members | George Baker Henk Kramer Jacques Greuter Jan Visser George Thé Jan Hop Martin Schoen Lida Bond |
| Website | georgebaker |
In 1968, Hans Bouwens (born 8 December 1944) from Wormerveer joined the band "Soul Invention", a soul band that had been founded the previous year by Henk Kramer in Assendelft and played covers of songs by Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. The band consisted of Job Netten (guitar), Henk Kramer and Eric Bardoen (saxophone), Jacques Greuter (born 18 August 1942 – died 17 March 2018, keyboard and flute), Theo Vermast and later Jan Visser (bass), and Ton Vredenburg (drums). Visser and Bouwens wrote the song "Little Greenback" (sic) in the summer of 1969.[1] The band recorded their first album in September 1969, after which, considering this was not soul music, they changed their name to "The George Baker Selection", Bouwens naming himself for a character from a detective novel.[2]
This first album, Little Green Bag (1970), produced an immediate worldwide hit:[2] their debut single, "Little Green Bag," reached No. 16 on the Cash Box magazine chart and No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.[3] The success came as a surprise for Baker, who remembers hearing it on the radio while he was working in a lemonade factory.[2] The single sold over one million copies globally and received a gold disc.[4] A string of singles and albums followed; the second single, "Dear Ann," was such a success that Baker resigned from his job in the lemonade factory and became a full-time musician.
Not all band members followed suit and, besides Bouwens, the "Selection" from mid 1970 was formed by Jan Visser, Jan Hop (born 21 June 1949, drums), Jacques Greuter and George Thé (born 25 June 1949, voice, guitar, bass). In March 1971 Jan Visser left the band to be replaced by Cor Veerman.[5] Besides scoring hits with his own Selection, Baker also wrote songs for others, including BZN, The Shoes, Andy Star, and Next One. In 1974, singer Lida Bond (born 30 July 1952) joined the Selection, and combining her voice with Baker's proved highly successful.[2] Three additional vocalists: Nelleke Brzoskowski (born 8 November 1958), Elly Bloothoofd (born 7 July 1956) and Pieter Goeman (born 25 December 1961), were added.
Their fifth album, Paloma Blanca, was released in 1975, and the single "Paloma Blanca" reached No. 1 on charts in several countries. It sold more than seven million copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful Dutch singles ever.[2]
In 1978, the George Baker Selection split up because "the pressure had become too much." The band has sold over 20 million records worldwide. George Baker formed a new George Baker Selection in 1982, which stayed together until 1989.[3] The band has released twelve albums and several compilation albums.
The band experienced a brief return to the international charts in 1992 when the song "Little Green Bag" was used in the title sequence of the film Reservoir Dogs and in Machos, a Chilean soap opera in 2003. The song is also featured in a Moto X smartphone commercial circa 2013.
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The George Baker Selection
- George Baker – vocals, guitar, mandolin, flute, piano and organ (1968–1977, 1982–1989)
- Jacques Greuter – vocals, organ, flute and piano (1968–1978)
- Jan Visser – bass (1968–1971)
- Ton Vredenburg – drums (1968–1970)
- Job Netten – guitar (1968–1970)
- Henk Kramer – saxophone (1968–1970)
- Jan Hop – drums (1969–77, 1983–1989)
- George Thé – vocals, guitar and bass (1970–77, 1983–1989)
- Alan Decker – bass (1971–1974)
- Martin Schoen – bass (1974–1982)
- Lida Jonkman-Bond – vocals (1974–1977)
- Willy Delano – vocals (1977, 1982–1989)
- Nathalie Más – vocals (1977, 1982)
- Elly Bloothoofd – vocals, guitar (1982–1989)
- Nelleke Brzoskowsky – vocals (1982–1989)
- Pieter Goeman – organ and piano (1982–1989)
Soul Invention
- Jacques Greuter – vocals, organ, flute and piano (1967–1968)
- Job Netten – guitar (1967–1968)
- Henk Kramer – saxophone (1967–1968)
- Theo Vermast – bass (1967–1968)
- Ton Vredenburg – drums (1967–1968)
- George Baker – vocals, guitar (1968)
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Studio albums
| Year | Album[6] | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLD [7] |
AUT [8] |
GER [9] |
SWE [10] | ||||
| 1970 | Little Green Bag | — | — | — | — | ||
| Love in the World | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1972 | Now | — | — | — | — | ||
| Holy Day | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1974 | Hot Baker | 2 | — | — | — | ||
| 1975 | Paloma Blanca | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||
| A Song for You | 1 | — | — | 15 | |||
| Morning Sky - Mein Lied für Sie | — | — | 22 | — | |||
| 1976 | River Song | 1 | — | 43 | 30 | ||
| So Lang die Sonne Scheint | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1977 | Summer Melody | 2 | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | Paradise Island | 28 | — | — | — | ||
| 1985 | Santa Lucia by Night | 4 | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | Viva America | 8 | — | — | — | ||
| 1988 | From Russia with Love | 81 | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes an extended play that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||
Compilations
- 5 Jaar Hits (1974) NL No. 3
- The Best Of Baker (1977) NL No. 8
- Het komplete hitoverzicht (1986) NL No. 12
- Dreamboat (1988) NL No. 21
- The Very Best Of (1999) NL No. 24
- George Baker Selection 100 NL No. 67
- The Golden Years Of Dutch Pop Music NL No. 68
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL [11] |
AUS | BE (Fl) [12] |
CAN | CAN AC | GER [13] |
NZ [14] |
UK [15] |
US [16] |
US AC |
US Country | |||
| 1969 | "Little Green Bag" | 9 | 12 | 3 | 16 | — | — | 15 | — | 21 | — | — | Little Green Bag |
| 1970 | "Dear Ann" | 2 | 37 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | — | 93 | — | — | |
| "Midnight" | 12 | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Love In The World | |
| "Over and Over" | 7 | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Wanna Love You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 103 | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "Nathalie" | 11 | — | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Now! |
| "Mama Oh Mama" | 9 | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "Holy Day" | 10 | — | 11 | — | — | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I'm On My Way" | 7 | — | 2 | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Marie-Jeanne" | 9 | — | 9 | — | — | 49 | 14 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1973 | "Morning Light" | 20 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hot Baker[17] |
| "Drink Drink Drink" | 18 | — | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974 | "Baby Blue" | 8 | 29 | 30 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |
| "(Fly Away) Little Paraquayo" | 2 | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Sing A Song Of Love" | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1975 | "Paloma Blanca" | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 26 | 1 | 33 | Paloma Blanca |
| "Rose Marie" | — | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Morning Sky" | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | 2 | 19 | — | — | — | — | A Song for You | |
| 1976 | "Wild Bird" | 3 | — | 5 | — | — | 7 | 25 | — | — | — | — | River Song |
| "Silver" | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "Mañana (Mi amor)" | 5 | — | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Summer Melody |
| "Beautiful Rose" | 3 | — | 3 | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "When We're Dancing" | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Paradise Island |
| 1983 | "The Wind (Ay, Ay, Ay, Maria)" | 19 | — | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | "Santa Lucia by Night" | 7 | — | 12 | — | — | 31 | — | — | — | — | — | Santa Lucia by Night |
| "Manolito" | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Viva America" | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Viva America |
| "Bella Maria" | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes an extended play that did not chart or was not released. | |||||||||||||
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