(Formerly FNewts)
Various artists
Sounds of North
American Frogs
Smithsonian Folkways 450600908978
(1998; rec 1953-1957)
Smithsonian/Folkways has reissued a 1958 compilation of 57 of the best-ever Amphibian-American singer/songwriters. Most of the 92 tracks were recorded in the field, and feature inspiring, topnotch efforts. The album includes classic performances from well-known artists such as Acris Gryllus (whose stage name is Cricket Frog), Rana Utricularia (Southern Leopard Frog), and the legendary Bufo Terrestris (Southern Toad). Another artist who appears on a few selections is Hyla Gratiosa, known popularly as Barking Treefrog, and his doglike singing should be an inspiration to every budding folksinger who could never afford singing lessons.
Most selections are love songs by male songwriter/vocalists. A representative cut features Hyla Versicolor, and his mesmerizing, heartfelt lyrics, crooned as he calls for his lover somewhere across the slimy pond, are worth the price of the album. Other types of offerings include call and response performances and serious warning vocalizations sung to announce and defend one's personal space, but unfortunately, there are no examples of the hip-hop or jump blues genres. It's obvious that some of these performers influenced singers who followed them: 1970s star Kermit the Frog has definite musical connections to Hyla Cinerea (Green Treefrog), while both the atmosphere and musical approach from tracks by Hyla Cadaverina live on today, thanks to 1999's hottest Amphibian-American trio, the Budweiser Frogs. Speaking of multiple vocalists, this CD contains quite a few "mixed chorus" selections, which spotlight many performers simultaneously singing their own individual compositions — these cuts create the feel of a coffeehouse open mike gone berserk.
There is a dark side to this superb re-release, however, and it remains to be seen if folks such as the ACLU (Amphibian Civil Liberties Union) will demand the withdrawal of this CD because of some questionable tracks — even though a newly written introduction in the booklet attempts to deal with the insensitivity of the 50s. All the love songs were originally categorized as "mating calls," but now are more properly and warm-fuzzily denoted as "advertisement calls," thankfully removing any discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. One of the songs was unbelievably labeled a "warning chirp," and the original notes condescendingly state that it was sung by Hyla Cadaverina when he was "seized by another [male] during the breeding season." In one instance, performers were inhumanely placed in a plastic bag during their recording session, a practice now rarely used, but still recommended by some for the making of singer/songwriter albums. And it is unconscionable that a record producer would put a performer in real physical danger for the sake of the song, but that happened when blood curdling "scream songs" were recorded: This is a genre of special, usually once-in-a-lifetime songs, which the performer composes and sings when he's in the clutches of a hungry snake or raccoon. The liner notes don't specify exactly what happened to the frogs immediately after they recorded the tracks; let's hope that they weren't "snuff" folksongs. But these selections do serve an educational purpose for the neophyte singer/songwriter, illustrating what might happen if he or she ends up in the hands of a producer unsympathetic to the vision of the artist.
Even after 40 years, Sounds of North American Frogs holds up extremely well in comparison with other singer/songwriter albums released in the interim. Highly recommended to all, this disc is the Amphibian-American equivalent to another exceptional Smithsonian/Folkways reissue, Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music [6 CDs; SWF 40090]. - Lily Padd (Walden Pond, MA)
