Little Green Bag

"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".^[3][4]

"Little Green Bag"
Cover of the 1969 Dutch single
Single by George Baker Selection
from the album Little Green Bag
B-side	"Pretty Little Dreamer"
Released	October 1969 (1969-10)
Recorded	1969 at Eclipse Studios, Netherlands
Genre	Nederbeat pop rock[1] soft rock[2]
Length	3:17
Label	Negram
Songwriter(s)	Jan Visser Hans Bouwens
Producer(s)	Luke Wiley
George Baker Selection singles chronology
"Little Green Bag" (1969) "Dear Ann" (1970)

Background

The track's original title was "Little Greenback",^[5] 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.^[4]

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, the song was used in Quentin Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs with song writers cited as Jan Gerbrand Visser and Benjamino Bouwens.^{[citation needed]} Also that year, the song reached No. 1 in Japan after being used in a Japanese whiskey commercial.^[3][6]

Charts

Chart (1969–70)	Peak position
Argentina (CAPIF) [7]	2
Australia[8]	12
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9]	3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[10]	12
Brazil[11]	24
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12]	16
France (IFOP)[13]	48
Italy (Musica e dischi)[14]	13
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15]	9
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16]	6
New Zealand (Listener)[17]	15
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[18]	7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[19]	21
US Top 100 (Cash Box)[20]	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.^[3]
• 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