I'm listening to Croaking At Toads, the only recording by these guys I have. How many shows DID they perform?
Also, if anyone wants to see a truly beautiful black and white picture, on the TTB Facebook page, there is a lovely one of Butch and Derek, two musical minds, one great family. That photo is a keeper.
I have seen a few different ones. Edwin McCain replaced Popper after a bit. [Sorry, other way around] I liked those a bit better.
Just gotta poke around, dimeadozen, sugarmeg.
[Edited on 1/26/2017 by aiq]
They did 2 short mini-tours with Edwin McCain in spring and winter (late) 1997. Not sure if that second one may have carried over into early 1998. The mini-tours were maybe 7-12 shows each...maybe (??)
As I recall, Edwin McCain's record label (RCA??) had problems with him recording as part of another band on another label, and Butch really wanted to record them and launch his Flying Frog Records label. So they brought in John Popper and some of his tunes, and re-worked some of the tunes that Edwin had written lyrics to. I want to say they also did 2 mini-tours with Popper, but think those dates were limited to the Northeast/Atlantic. This was maybe spring and fall of 1998? or late 1998 and early 1999?
The basic schedule for them seemed to be mini-tours in February-April and October-December - basically working around Allman Brothers summer tours which at that time often ran May into September.
Long-winded way of saying... something like 25-35 shows over a 2-3 year time frame.
as Butch was a Palm Beach resident. he played late 90 s maybe 98' ish at Sunfest Festival, and was awesome. was fortunate to know and catch there set...................sweet....
I preferred them way more with Edwin McCain. Wasn't Popper recovering from the motorcycle accident during all of these times?
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
I think Popper's motorcycle crash was early 1990s during the early HORDE festival time frame.
He also had gastric bypass surgery in late 90s or early 2000s and lost a ton of weight. He may have been recovering from that during the Frogwings time frame. I remember seeing him guesting with the ABB at the Beacon and I was astonished at his size, wondering where he left the other half of himself. I think that was probably early 2000s though based on when I took most of my Beacon trips, possibly 1998.
Either way, Frogwings was originally with Edwin McCain, and Popper only replaced him when McCain's label wouldn't let him record with Frogwings.
[Edited on 1/26/2017 by Zambi]
Edwin McCain is really good. I have one album of his, "Far From Over". Kind of mellow. I didn't really know much about him and I went and saw him at The House of Blues in Chicago. Knocked my socks off. That guy is GOOD!
Everything in Moderation. Including Moderation.
Also, if anyone wants to see a truly beautiful black and white picture, on the TTB Facebook page, there is a lovely one of Butch and Derek, two musical minds, one great family. That photo is a keeper.
Beautiful photo. Taken by Kirk West, and in One Way Out. Immediately knew it had to be in there when I saw it amongst thousands of photos on KW's computer.
Fun interview with Butch from March 2000 discussing Flying Frog Records and Frogwings, including the problems with scheduling singers.
I was surprised to see and hear Edwin M sing the national anthem at the steelers-patriots game.
Frogwings with Edwin McCain in 1997 and early 1998 was amazing. Here is a stream of the last show with Edwin on lead vocals from May 1998:
http://burbridge31.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=26427350&item=6
I was lucky enough to catch Frogwings shows with both McCain and Popper, and I personally preferred Popper.
I know he gets trashed here a lot for overplaying, and that's fair. But he is a true virtuoso on his instrument, something you can't say about Edwin McCain. I thought Popper added to the whole "supergroup" vibe of the band.
I also liked Popper's material more than McCain's. Pattern, Ganja, Nomad--I really love those tunes. Some of the best songwriting Popper ever put out. Nomad in particular is one of my favorite tunes by anybody ever. "Colonies and settlements, they threaten me/Burn them to the ground, and set the livestock free" is a great lyric.
It's always been a lively debate about McCain vs. Popper, I'm just glad to see some love for one of the most underrated bands ever. It's just a shame that it was provoked by such a sad event.
Just looked over my ticket stubs:
Frogwings at the Ivory Tusk,Tuscaloosa, Al 12/6/97
