George Baker Selection
| Company type | Musical group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Assendelft , Netherlands |
| Products | Music albums, singles |
George Baker Selection was a musical group originating from Assendelft, Netherlands, renowned primarily for their 1969 track "Little Green Bag", the international 1975 success "Paloma Blanca" (recognized as one of the most frequently broadcast songs worldwide), and the 1985 Pan-European hit "Santa Lucia by Night".
History
In 1968, Hans Bouwens from Wormerveer became a member of Soul Invention, a soul ensemble established by Henk Kramer in Assendelft that specialized in covers of artists like Otis Redding and Sam and Dave. The lineup featured Job Netten on guitar, Henk Kramer and Eric Bardoen on saxophones, Jacques Greuter handling keyboards and flute, Theo Vermast and later Jan Visser on bass, alongside Ton Vredenburg on drums. During the summer of 1969, Visser and Bouwens collaborated to compose "Little Greenback". Their initial album was recorded in September 1969, after which the band renamed themselves The George Baker Selection, with Bouwens adopting the stage name George Baker.
Their first album, Little Green Bag (1970), quickly yielded an international hit: the single "Little Green Bag" climbed to No. 16 on the Cash Box magazine chart and reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. This single surpassed one million sales worldwide and secured a gold record. Following this achievement, Bouwens left his position at a lemonade factory to focus entirely on his music career. By mid-1970, the Selection's lineup consisted of Jan Visser, Jan Hop on drums, Jacques Greuter, and (vocals, guitar, bass). In March 1971, Cor Veerman took over bass duties from Visser.
In addition to his work with the band, Baker composed music for other acts including BZN, The Shoes, Andy Star, and Next One. The year 1974 saw the addition of singer , who enhanced the band's commercial appeal alongside Baker’s lead vocals.
The group's fifth studio release, Paloma Blanca (1975), featured the title song which achieved number one status in multiple countries and sold over seven million copies globally, ranking among the most triumphant Dutch singles ever produced.
Due to mounting pressures, The George Baker Selection dissolved in 1978 after selling more than 20 million records internationally. However, Baker revived the band in 1982; this formation remained active until 1989. Throughout their career, they released twelve albums along with numerous compilations.
The band briefly returned to international prominence in 1992 when "Little Green Bag" was featured in Reservoir Dogs, and later gained exposure in Chile through the soap opera Machos in 2003. Additionally, the song was utilized in a Motorola Moto X smartphone advertisement around 2013.
Members
- Hans Bouwens (as George Baker) – composer, vocals, guitar, mandolin, flute, piano, organ; active 1968–1977, 1982–1989
- Elly Bloothoofd – vocals, guitar; active 1982–1989
- – vocals; active 1974–1977
- Nelleke Brzoskowsky – vocals; active 1982–1989
- Willy Delano – vocals; active 1977, 1982–1989
- Pieter Goeman – organ, piano; active 1982–1989
- Jacques Greuter – vocals, organ, flute, piano; active 1967–1982
- Jan Hop – drums; active 1969–1977, 1983–1989
- Henk Kramer – saxophone; active 1967–1970
- Nathalie Más – vocals; active 1977–1982
- Job Netten – guitar; active 1967–1970
- Martin Schoen – bass; active 1974–1982
- – vocals, guitar, bass; active 1970–1977, 1983–1989
- (as Alan Decker) – bass; active 1971–1974
- Theo Vermast – bass; active 1967–1968
- Jan Visser – bass; active 1968–1971
- Ton Vredenburg – drums; active 1967–1970
Studio albums
The following albums were mainly issued on , except where specified otherwise.
| Year | Album | Highest chart rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NLD | AUT | GER | SWE | ||
| 1970 | Little Green Bag | — | — | — | — |
| Love in the World | — | — | — | — | |
| 1972 | Now | — | — | — | — |
| Holy Day (Reprise) | — | — | — | — | |
| 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 (Warner Bros.) | 1 | — | 43 | 30 |
| So Lang die Sonne Scheint | — | — | — | — | |
| 1977 | Summer Melody | 2 | — | — | — |
| 1983 | Paradise Island (Dureco Benelux) | 28 | — | — | — |
| 1985 | 'Santa Lucia by Night' (CNR Music) | '4' | '—' | '—' | '—' |
| '1987' | 'Viva America' (Red Bullet) | '8' | '—' | '—' | '—' |
| '1988' | 'From Russia with Love' (CNR) | '81' | '—' | '—' | '—' |
Compilations
- 5 Jaar Hits (1974) reached NL No. 3
- The Best Of Baker (1977) peaked at NL No. 8
- Het komplete hitoverzicht (1986) attained NL No. 12
- Dreamboat (1988) reached NL No. 21
- The Very Best Of (1999) climbed to NL No. 24
- George Baker Selection 100 achieved NL No. 67
- The Golden Years Of Dutch Pop Music reached NL No. 68
Singles
colspan=14 style= "font-size:85%; text-align:center;" | "—" signifies an EP that either failed to chart or was not officially released.| Year | Single | Highest Chart Positions |
Album | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NL | AUS | BE (Fl) | CAN | CAN AC | GER | NZ | UK | US | 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" | "—" | "—" | "Love In The World" |
| "Midnight" | "12" | "—" | "14" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| "Over and Over" | "7" | "—" | "7" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
"I Wanna Love You"
colspan=10 style= "text-align:center;" | — | |||||||||||||
| 1971 | "Nathalie" | 11 | |||||||||||
| "Mama Oh Mama" | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 1972 | "Holy Day" | "I'm On My Way" | "Marie-Jeanne" | ||||||||||
| 1973 | "Morning Light" | "Drink Drink Drink" | |||||||||||
| 1974 | "Baby Blue" | "Fly Away Little Paraquayo" | "Sing A Song Of Love" | ||||||||||
| 1975 | "Paloma Blanca" | "Rose Marie" | "Morning Sky" | ||||||||||
| 1976 | "Wild Bird" | "Silver" | |||||||||||
| 1977 | "Mañana (Mi amor)" | "Beautiful Rose" | |||||||||||
| 1982 | "When We're Dancing" | ||||||||||||
| 1983 | "The Wind (Ay, Ay, Ay, Maria)" | ||||||||||||
| 1985 | "Santa Lucia by Night" | "Manolito" | |||||||||||
| 1987 | "Viva America" | "Bella Maria" | |||||||||||