FROGWINGS
''CROAKIN' AT TOAD'S''
AUGUST 22 2000
75:42
1 /Kick N Bach
Oteil Burbridge/13:59
2 /Hurdy Gurdy Fandango
John Popper/5:32
3 /Pattern
Oteil Burbridge/6:24
4 /Eddie's Got a Boyfriend
Oteil Burbridge/16:09
5 /Just One
John Popper/9:53
6 /Ganja
Oteil Burbridge / Frogwings/7:57
7 /Deviant Dreams
Oteil Burbridge/9:18
8 /Among Your Pillows
Oteil Burbridge/6:30
Kofi Burbridge/Flute, Keyboards
Oteil Burbridge/Bass
Jimmy Herring/Guitar
John Popper/Guest Artist, Harp, Vocals
Marc Quiñones/Percussion
Butch Trucks/Drums
Derek Trucks/Guest Artist, Slide Guitar
REVIEW
by Brian Beatty
Just when it seemed safe to put away the one-hitters and trim the sideburns, along comes this jam band supergroup: Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, journeymen jammers Jimmy Herring and Kofi Burbridge, and more than half of the most recent (at the time) incarnation of the Allman Brothers Band (Butch Trucks, his nephew Derek, percussionist Marc Quiñones, and bassist Oteil Burbridge). The resulting album, a live set captured before an appreciative crowd, kicks off with a 14-minute instrumental called "Kick N Bach," letting listeners know that this band's really serious about their chops, in a really humorous sort of way. Too bad the joke is on the band. None of Croakin at Toad's' eight songs is anything more than an excuse for extended, indulgent soloing. Imagine a Santana rehearsal from the early '70s with a stoned Toots Thielemans sitting in on harp. Oh, this project might have been a fun distraction for the participants, but for many fans it will be merely distracting. Maybe you had to be there, like back in the '70s.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Meredith
Outside of Gregg Allman, drummer Butch Trucks is the only member of Georgia's venerable Allman Brothers Band who's still in the lineup and has appeared on every album. But during one of the Allman's lulls in activity during the mid-'90s, Trucks decided to put together a side project that would allow him to play with his nephew (and future Allman Brothers guitarist), Derek Trucks. The elder Trucks called the group Frogwings, additionally recruiting Aquarium Rescue Unit members Oteil Burbridge (bass, vocals), Jimmy Herring (guitar), and Count Mbutu (percussion), Allman Brothers percussionist Marc Quinones, plus keyboardist John Herbert and vocalist/guitarist Edwin McCain. The band performed club shows through 1997, and by the next year, Mbutu had left and Herbert had been replaced by yet another Aquarium Rescue Unit member, keyboardist/flutist Kofi Burbridge. Frogwings was becoming a hit in festivals and among the jam band circuit, yet still hadn't released a CD. But when McCain departed to focus on his solo career and Trucks recruited Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, the drummer knew he had the Frogwings lineup to record for his fledgling Flying Frog Records label.
The 2000 live CD Croakin' at Toad's showcased Frogwings at its hard-to-categorize best. Extended instrumentals like "Kick n Bach" hint at the Georgia jazz fusion of the Aquarium Rescue Unit; jamming numbers like "Pattern" show an Allman Brothers influence, and Popper's vocals and harmonica are reminiscent of Blues Traveler on "Ganja." The blazing Herring and youthful Trucks (equally adept at slide guitar and fingerpicking) blend their strengths nicely; Popper and bassist Burbridge (also with the Allman Brothers now) provide additional firepower, and keyboardist/brother Burbridge, Quinones, and Trucks man the foundation of an uncategorizable jam band for the new millennium.
DoWnLoAd
''CROAKIN' AT TOAD'S''
AUGUST 22 2000
75:42
1 /Kick N Bach
Oteil Burbridge/13:59
2 /Hurdy Gurdy Fandango
John Popper/5:32
3 /Pattern
Oteil Burbridge/6:24
4 /Eddie's Got a Boyfriend
Oteil Burbridge/16:09
5 /Just One
John Popper/9:53
6 /Ganja
Oteil Burbridge / Frogwings/7:57
7 /Deviant Dreams
Oteil Burbridge/9:18
8 /Among Your Pillows
Oteil Burbridge/6:30
Kofi Burbridge/Flute, Keyboards
Oteil Burbridge/Bass
Jimmy Herring/Guitar
John Popper/Guest Artist, Harp, Vocals
Marc Quiñones/Percussion
Butch Trucks/Drums
Derek Trucks/Guest Artist, Slide Guitar
REVIEW
by Brian Beatty
Just when it seemed safe to put away the one-hitters and trim the sideburns, along comes this jam band supergroup: Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, journeymen jammers Jimmy Herring and Kofi Burbridge, and more than half of the most recent (at the time) incarnation of the Allman Brothers Band (Butch Trucks, his nephew Derek, percussionist Marc Quiñones, and bassist Oteil Burbridge). The resulting album, a live set captured before an appreciative crowd, kicks off with a 14-minute instrumental called "Kick N Bach," letting listeners know that this band's really serious about their chops, in a really humorous sort of way. Too bad the joke is on the band. None of Croakin at Toad's' eight songs is anything more than an excuse for extended, indulgent soloing. Imagine a Santana rehearsal from the early '70s with a stoned Toots Thielemans sitting in on harp. Oh, this project might have been a fun distraction for the participants, but for many fans it will be merely distracting. Maybe you had to be there, like back in the '70s.
BIOGRAPHY
by Bill Meredith
Outside of Gregg Allman, drummer Butch Trucks is the only member of Georgia's venerable Allman Brothers Band who's still in the lineup and has appeared on every album. But during one of the Allman's lulls in activity during the mid-'90s, Trucks decided to put together a side project that would allow him to play with his nephew (and future Allman Brothers guitarist), Derek Trucks. The elder Trucks called the group Frogwings, additionally recruiting Aquarium Rescue Unit members Oteil Burbridge (bass, vocals), Jimmy Herring (guitar), and Count Mbutu (percussion), Allman Brothers percussionist Marc Quinones, plus keyboardist John Herbert and vocalist/guitarist Edwin McCain. The band performed club shows through 1997, and by the next year, Mbutu had left and Herbert had been replaced by yet another Aquarium Rescue Unit member, keyboardist/flutist Kofi Burbridge. Frogwings was becoming a hit in festivals and among the jam band circuit, yet still hadn't released a CD. But when McCain departed to focus on his solo career and Trucks recruited Blues Traveler frontman John Popper, the drummer knew he had the Frogwings lineup to record for his fledgling Flying Frog Records label.
The 2000 live CD Croakin' at Toad's showcased Frogwings at its hard-to-categorize best. Extended instrumentals like "Kick n Bach" hint at the Georgia jazz fusion of the Aquarium Rescue Unit; jamming numbers like "Pattern" show an Allman Brothers influence, and Popper's vocals and harmonica are reminiscent of Blues Traveler on "Ganja." The blazing Herring and youthful Trucks (equally adept at slide guitar and fingerpicking) blend their strengths nicely; Popper and bassist Burbridge (also with the Allman Brothers now) provide additional firepower, and keyboardist/brother Burbridge, Quinones, and Trucks man the foundation of an uncategorizable jam band for the new millennium.
DoWnLoAd
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