Little Green Bag Explained

Little Green Bag
Cover:	George Baker Little Green Bag US single.jpg
Caption:	Cover of the 1969 Dutch single
Type:	single
Artist:	George Baker Selection
Album:	Little Green Bag
B-Side:	Pretty Little Dreamer
Format:	7" -->
Recorded:	1969 at Eclipse Studios, Netherlands
Genre:	Nederbeat, pop rock, soft rock^[1]
Label:	Negram
Producer:	Luke Wiley
Next Title:	Dear Ann
Next Year:	1970

"Little Green Bag" is a 1969 song written by Dutch musicians Jan Visser and George Baker (born Hans Bouwens), and recorded by the George Baker Selection at the band's own expense. The track was released as the George Baker Selection's debut single by Dutch label Negram, the B-side being "Pretty Little Dreamer".^{[2] [3]}

Background

The track's original title was "Little Greenback",^[4] which is slang for a US dollar. However, the single was given the erroneous title "Little Green Bag", which some took to be a "bag of marijuana". The lyrics of the song add to the belief that it is about marijuana, since it describes quite similarly the confusion of trying to find the bag. The "Little Green Bag" title was then retained for all subsequently released versions of the single, as well as the group's 1970 debut album, also titled Little Green Bag.^[3]

The single peaked at No. 9 on the Dutch Top 40 singles chart and No. 3 in Belgium. In the United States, the single reached No. 16 in the middle of 1970 on the Cashbox chart and No. 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 1992, when the song was used in Quentin Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs with song writers cited as Jan Gerbrand Visser and Benjamino Bouwens, it became an international cult classic. Also that year, the song reached No. 1 in Japan after being used in a Japanese whiskey commercial.^{[2] [5]}

Charts

Chart (1969 - 70)	Peak position
Argentina (CAPIF) ^[6]	2
Australia^[7]	12
Brazil^[8]	24
France (IFOP)^[9]	48
Italy (Musica e dischi)^[10]	13
New Zealand (Listener)^[11]	15
South Africa (Springbok Radio)^[12]	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100^[13]	21
US Top 100 (Cash Box)^[14]	16

Cover versions

• In 1970, the group I Punti Cardinali released a version titled "La borsetta verde".
• In 1970, Quebec singer Bobby Le Clerc recorded a French cover titled "C'est pourquoi".
• In 1970, the Italian singer Nada recorded an Italian-language version with translated lyrics by Luigi Albertelli under the title "Un passatempo".
• In 1999, Tom Jones released a cover version of the song recorded with Canadian band the Barenaked Ladies, on his album Reload.^[2]
• In 2007, The Ventures released a version on their album The Ventures – Rocky!
• In 2008, meg released a version on her album "Serpent".
• In 2012, Garou recorded a cover for his album Rhythm and Blues.
• In 2019, Cinemax / HBO Max's Warrior (Season 1, Episode 10) features a partial Cantonese cover before the closing credits. Visuals are an homage to "Reservoir Dogs" opening credits. Musical artist is uncertain.
• In 2023, the spanish talent show Operación Triunfo covered this song with contestants Paul and Martin.

See also

• Mondegreen

External links

• Lyrics of Little Green Bag from Metrolyrics.com (copy archived March 30, 2020)

Notes and References

1. Andrew . Johnstone . A General Guide to Soft Rock . 6 February 2015 . . 30 July 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150210142138/http://www.ripitup.co.nz/music/new-article-page/ . 10 February 2015 . dmy-all .
2. Web site: George Baker biography . hollandrocks.com . 26 May 2007 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040205214120/http://www.hollandrocks.com/enc/index.html . February 5, 2004.
3. Web site: Various worldwide releases of the George Baker Selection single, "Little Green Bag" . 45cat.com . 19 December 2013.
4. Web site: Songfacts.com . Little Green Bag .
5. Web site: George Baker Biography . Georgebaker.com . 2007-05-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070928060047/http://www.georgebaker.com/website/ontwerpgb/English/biografie.html . 2007-09-28 .
6. Hits of the World. Billboard. 61. 12 December 1970. 3 June 2024.
7. Web site: Top 100 Singles . www.poparchives.com.au.
8. Brazilian Singles Sales - Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. 24 June 1970.
9. Web site: InfoDisc : Accès direct à ces Artistes > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste . fr . PHP . infodisc.fr . 3 June 2024.
10. Web site: Classifiche. Musica e dischi. it. 3 June 2024. Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "George Baker".
11. Web site: George Baker Selection. Flavour of New Zealand .
12. Web site: SA Charts 1969 - 1989 - Acts B . . June 5, 1970 . June 3, 2024.
13. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2006. 9780898201727 . 2007 . 56 . Record Research .
14. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending May 16, 1970 .