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University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 22, 1977
11
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KU grads contribute to Tree Frog sound
By BILL UYEKI
Entertainment Editor
Probably no group is more a part of the Lawrence and University community than the
This popular five-piece country-cook group started about eight years ago, when three students from Wichita formed a group with their flat and barn parties around Lawrence.
Lynn Piller and Eric Elder, who both sing and play guitar, asked Jim Fey to join them on bass. Their repetition consisted of songs from Crosby, Stills and Nash, Buffalo Springfield and the Flying Burritor Brothers.
The fourth member of the group to join was singer-guitarist Scott Piper. And despite playing an increasing amount of parties and gigs, three group members who are still very involved have received a bachelor's degree in biology and Elder and received degrees in English.
ABOUT THREE YEARS ago the fifth member of Tree Frog was recruited. This was drummer Gary Durrett, who had been a member of a group called the Fabulous Filmmakers.
Now, the Tree Frog is touring extensively. Besides playing Kansas towns from Colby to Norton, it has played clubs and campuses in Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska and the Dakotas. The list of national acts with whom the group
has played it is impressive-Pure Prairie
at the Wheel and the late
Freddie King.
After seeing tree Frog perform at clubs around Lawrence and Kansas, City, it is clear that the tree is not threatened.
AT FIRST GLANCE
name the bunch of old, beer-
drinking brat buddies having a good time.
You can't knock the selection of songs they play from popular artists—Jackson Browne, the Eagles, Emmylyn Harris and even some of the old Buffalo Springfield
"TREE FROGS" original material lies much within the same vein of material they play from other artists, and from earlier days, "Meet Your Mama," was released on a local label. Other Tree Frog compositions include "Kaw Valley Girl" and "Lady Bird." A radio station
But probably what grabs you is the way they play the songs. All group members sing, so often there's four-part harmonies, showing the group's strength in vocals. And sometimes the group is Piller, bending out country licks on either six-string or guitar steel.
And by the way, some may recall last summer, when Betty Frog bumped with Tony Orlando at the Republican National Convention in Kansas City. Tree Frog was providing the music for the First Lady and her partner.
Jim Law, guitar and vocals; Andy Curry, bass and vocals; Buddy Pittel, drums, mandolin and vocals; and Jill D. Brown, vocals. Spears also plays electric mandolin. Spears also plays electric mandolin.
From page nine
OF THE BHE'S members, only Case has been with SPARE since he started. Case had attended KU for one semester, after attending Stanford University for three years as a pre-med student. He decided he needed a more intensive education with medicine, so he dropped out of school.
Besides Case, other band members haven't been with Spears for more than three years. Brown is the group's newest member, having been with Spears only nine months.
ONSTAGE at the Opera House, the band's sound is vibrant and pulsating. What it lacks in polish and finesse it makes up for in power and punch. It plays truckers' tunes, lovers' tunes and good-time music. And it mixes well with beer.
Spears band ...
Much of the band's repertoire consists of 50 tunes and rehashes of Western swing music.
Spears dictates the band's pace and feel, as he plays around instrumental breaks in 'Stay All Night. Stay a Little More'. The rest of the band trades solos smoothly.
There are some fast fiddle tunes, like "Cattle in the Corn," and "The Gold Rush," which put the crowd in a hopping fury. And, for a change of pace, there are some hard-
WHEN IT'S TIME for the band's final, the crowd knows what's coming. Orange lights suddenly flood the stage, and Spears blocks into the bluegrass standard "Orange Pop," the pop standard." This isn't foot-tapping music, it's foot-stopping music. Nobody can sit still.
Other places the band has traveled include portions of New Mexico and Arizona, and some Colorado towns like Denver, Boulder, Dillon, Vail and Georgetown.
Cole Tuckey gaining listeners
Spears says he notices a leaning toward the swing式 of dancing in Texas, while Coloradoors like the bluegrass hopping band have clearly no clear-cut way to dance to his music.
swinging tunes, like "Flip, Flop and Flip" and "Choo Choo Chb Boooge." The band even plays a swinging rendition of "Deep in the Heart of Texas."
The band had come from Houston, and it didn't stay in Lawrence much after the weekend show. By Tuesday the band was on its way to Kentucky.
By BILL UYEKI
"JUST GIT out there and have a good time," he said. "do even more, any day. be honest when you get into trouble."
Spears' immediate plans are to keep traveling, to build a follow-up, and then start work on an album in about two months.
Entertainment Editor
For little more than a year, there's been a talk about the local band Cole Tackey on RBH.
This very special band with an unusual name has been making a name for itself all over the world. It's the Kansan Lawrence, Manhattan, Kansas City, Columbia and nearly everywhere it plays. Music reviewers have been impressed with the originality and its vitality on-stage.
One reason the band's increased exposure is that it has been more than willing to open shows for various national acts, such as Bonnie Raitt, Lynnry Skynyrd, Jimmi Spheres, and most recently, Taj Mahal and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
Some of Cole Tuckey's original material had elements of jive lyrics and some genuine swing, which prompted comedians to label him "The Hickory Playboys and to Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. But Weis says he wrote much of the material he never heard of either Wills or Hicks.
THE CORE of the popular quintet is a pair of companions who live on a farm near LAKESIDE, CA. Their singer-fiddler Janet Jameson, who met while pursuing their musical careers in the area. Weiss, fresh from the Los Angeles house operator, songwriter and performer,
"Only in Lawrence will we allow people to dance to our music," he says.
Weiss, a tall, slender, extremely outgoing and taliative character, who has a master's degree in counseling psychology, recently moved to Florida, band—its origin; its music and its future.
met Jameson, who had played with local bands Morningstar and Billy Spears.
Since the day it started, Weiss says, the band has maintained its philosophy on what music it plays—mostly original songs (the band's albums), playing it to sit-down, not dancing, crowds.
band would perform songs that caught the nostalgia lover's fancy, such as Duke Ellington's "Don't Get Around Much anymore."
THE FORMATION of the band was nearly accidental; Weiss called it "almost a fluke." Somebody was needed to play with us. It was when the Celebration at KU, so an impromptu band was organized, and nine songs were hastily rehearsed. Cole Tuckey has come a long way.
THE SWING imitation wasn't intentional, he said, and now the band has dropped all a couple of swing songs from its album. "And that it still plays is 'Jitterbug Cowboy.'"
**WHAT IS THE Cole Tuckey sound? In the past, the band was labeled a throwback to the big band days. Weilas would wear long sleeves, the black skirts of long sleek, black dresses of the '60s. The
Although he hasn't been around the University often the past two years, Spears has observed a great deal of changes in the University and its people over the years. Last month was the first time he had seen the remodeled Union. He liked it.
Besides swing, there's a quieter side to Cole Tuckey's music, which consists of soft, folksy arrangements featuring harmonies between Weiss and Jameson.
The band also dips into some bluegrass and blues. And being a spitty female vocalist, Jameson can reverse your exertion by singing along with them listen to her wall through "Noble Kids"
See COLE TUCKEY page 13
When asked about the turmil of the late sake, he jokingly replied, "You mean the ROMAN."
THEN HE swigged his bottle of beer again, and passed as though he were laughing.
"I was caught on both sides," he said. "I was playing music so I was associating with a lot of radicals. Some of their beliefs were all right, but it got out of hand.
"I had my job with the University, which
was a responsible position, and I could
recommend me to you."
"I think the fire at the Union made everybody realize that tyranny takes things away."
What Spears would rather remember are the good times, the parties he's played.
"Ive really played some fine parties around here in barns. They get four kegs of beer, throw some frisbees and bring all the dogs they got."
AND THE MOOD of the campus during the late '70 suits him, too.
"Later it's great right now," he says.
"Let that night, he jokes with the crowd on one side."
"Every time I come back I see a few more beards shaved and some more hair cut. I can't recognize anybody anymore," he, jokes.
"I've always liked the middle part of the United States," he says. "The trends, good or bad, don't quite get here as fast as they hit the coasts."
So Spears will keep traveling, and keep coming back to Lawrence, the place he calls home, for a breath once in awhile. And what keeps him here?
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