FROGGIE BEAVER From The Pond LP AKARMA RECORDS 1973/2000 ITA re+180gr+7" AK 106

	€		35
	$		41

THIS IS THE 2000 ITALIAN REPRESSING on AKARMA Records. 180GR VIRGIN VINYL. SINGLE COVER + 7" (with PS).  The cover is in VG(+) condition: normal wear and without any major deterioration BUT some discolouration/wear on spines/corners, creases on edges, left spine is readable; for details see photos (with and without flashlight). The vinyls is in EX condition.

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FROGGIE BEAVER

Influenced by the mystical pop of the Moody Blues and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's keyboard-rich prog-rock, but with distinct allegiances to American commercial pop, particularly the late-sixties West Coast variety, Froggie Beaver launced its career in rock & roll-desolate Nebraska in the late 1960s. The band members--lead vocalist John Troia, keyboardist Ed Staszko, drummer Tom Jackson, and guitarist John Fischer--met in junior high school in Omaha, Nebraska. From the start they composed original songs and developed a style in which Staszko simultaneously played organ and key bass much like Ray Manzarek of the Doors. By 1971, however, the band had acquired more debts than profits because, despite having built a small, devoted following, their resolution not to play top 40 songs resulted in not landing the most important gigs and parties in the region. So in the autumn of that year, the band, tired of being broke, decided to become a commercial cover band. They christened themselves Froggie Beaver, rehearsed in Staszko's basement, and almost immediately earned the position as house band at a club in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Within three months, the club owner was forced to move into a bigger building to accomodate the crowds Froggie Beaver was drawing each night. With its newfound success, the band began again incorporating original songs into its set, and the audience instantly took to the music. All the members quit their respective universities and day jobs, rented a house together, and took their stab at being a professional band. They hired a manager and began toured throughout the Midwest, opening for national bands and occasionally headlining their own concerts. Jackson left the band in early 1973 and was replaced by Rick Brown. In July of that year, Froggie Beaver recorded their sole album, From the Pond, produced by David Sandler, who had worked previously with Brian Wilson. The band toured behind the album, even adding Steve Beedle as a second guitarist, but by autumn of 1974, Froggie Beaver disbanded.

"FROM THE POND"

<reissue, originally published 1973>

LP + 7"     AKARMA RECORDS     AK 106

MADE IN ITALY       2000 REPRESSING

180GR VIRGIN VINYL

SINGLE SLEEVE

THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode: none

LABEL: AKARMA - WHITE w/BLACK STRIPE(A) and ARTWORK(B) LABELS - BLACK TEXT

Catalog on cover: AK 106

Catalog on labels: (Side A only) AK 106

Matrix / Runout (Side A, Stamped): AK 106 LP A  33 RPM

Matrix / Runout (Side B, Stamped): AK 106 LP B  33 RPM

On labels: (Side A only) rim text "All rights.....prohibited"

Licensed by Gear Fab Records      http............Gearfab

On back cover: Tracklist + Credits

Akarma A Division Of Comet Records.....Made in Italy

tracklisting: please, for tracklist see pictures

grading

RECORD EX but (please, read above description)

SLEEVE VG(+) but (please, see pictures and read above description)

Right from the outset of their sole album, From the Pond, Froggie Beaver show that they know how to build musical tension over the course of a song. The album begins with some glistening acoustic fingerpicking on the abbreviated "Road to Tomorrow" before taking off on the tightly compacted progressive rock of "Lovely Lady," with its shifting organ-led dynamics and choppy time signature changes that sound something like a cross between Santana and the Doors with a bit of David Clayton Thomas thrown in (courtesy of John Troia's lead vocals). Of course, Froggie Beaver never achieved the heights of those artists, but the Omaha, Nebraska band created something more than pedestrian, copycat music on their only album, and to label Froggie Beaver a prog-rock band is to do the music a disservice. From the Pond is the type of album that sneaks up on you gradually. What at first seems to be run-of-the-mill progressive rock briefly touches on psychedelic balladry ("Away from Home" is vaguely reminiscent of the spaciest Spirit moments), before morphing into sunny, wistful early-'70s soft rock on "Come to Believe" and "Just for You." The music is far less grounded in the '70s than in the previous decade (the band, in fact, began in the '60s), gleaning its sonic influences specifically from the mid-'60s Los Angeles commercial pop scene. "Movin' On" sounds like a Monkees-composed song performed by Neil Diamond; "Nothing for Me Here" could easily have been rearranged for a Jackie DeShannon or Dionne Warwick hit single; and "Bring My Children Home" is a slightly polished garage burner. The album is all over the map, but it's that musical hopscotch that makes From the Pond such an interesting listen and Froggie Beaver such a curious band...(AllMusic)