Spitting FrogsMerch at the shop

Lily Pad Records presents

Spitting Frogs

Spitting FrogsSPITTINGFROGSwe were there · we think

We were there. We think.

San Francisco · 1971 – 1983

  • Moss Calloway
  • Juniper Lane
  • Teddy Okamura
  • Ray Duchesne
  • Wren Haskell

A psychedelic rock band from San Francisco. Four records. Long shows in the park meadow and the ballroom. Frogs were present at many of them.

With light showAdmission free in the meadow

Read the handbillMerch at the shop
The five band members play on a low stage in a eucalyptus-lined park meadow on a hazy afternoon: a barefoot bearded singer with an acoustic guitar, a guitarist in a headband and fringed suede jacket, a bassist in a cardigan, a red-haired organist in round blue sunglasses and a grinning drummer in overalls; a green frog sits on a monitor in front; the crowd sits on blankets on the grass
The park meadow, afternoon. Frog on the monitor, front and center. Nobody brought it.

The Handbill

What the archive holds, set in the order it was printed.

Spitting Frogs formed in San Francisco in 1971, in the front room of a rented Victorian in the Inner Sunset, four blocks from the park. There were five of them. They played long. A song that was eight minutes on Tuesday was twenty by Saturday, and nobody in the band recalls deciding that.

Frogs were present at many of the shows. They were first noted in 1972, at a free afternoon concert in the park meadow, sitting on a monitor. The band did not bring them. The source of the frogs was never determined. They appeared to enjoy the music. The band recorded four albums for Lily Pad Records and played its last show in 1983. Two of the original members, Moss Calloway and Wren Haskell, still play the Northern California festival circuit, and speak warmly of the 1970s.

“We were there. We think.”

— Moss Calloway, asked about the 1970s
The band rehearses in the sunny front room of a Victorian house, bay windows with lace curtains, an organ against the wall, Persian rugs on a wood floor and plants on the amplifiers
The front room, Inner Sunset, 1971. The organ in the bay window took four people and most of an afternoon.

The Players

Five of them, from 1971 to the last show. Left to right, as they stood in the redwoods.

The five band members stand in a row on a trail between huge redwood trunks in the fog, holding worn instrument cases
  1. Moss Calloway — vocals, rhythm guitar
  2. Juniper Lane — organ, vocals
  3. Teddy Okamura — lead guitar
  4. Ray Duchesne — bass
  5. Wren Haskell — drums
In the redwoods, in the fog, 1975. Promotional photograph for The Frog Speaks. The cases are full.

No. 1

Moss Calloway

Vocals, rhythm guitar · 1971–1983

“The seventies were very good to us. We were there for most of them.”

Now. Plays the Northern California festival circuit with Wren Haskell. Still performs barefoot. Lives in Sonoma County.

Juniper Lane, waist-length red hair and round blue sunglasses, plays a walnut organ in a velvet dress while purple and gold projected light swirls across her and the wall behind

No. 2

Juniper Lane

Organ, vocals · 1971–1983

“The organ ran warm. The frogs found the warm spot before we did.”

Now. Teaches piano and organ in Petaluma. Kept the organ. It still works.

Juniper Lane at the organ, under the oil light.

No. 3

Teddy Okamura

Lead guitar · 1971–1983

“Every jam was twenty minutes. Some of them were longer.”

Now. Builds and repairs guitars in a shop in Eureka. Plays the occasional Sunday session.

No. 4

Ray Duchesne

Bass · 1971–1983

“Somebody had to know where we were in the song. Usually it was me. Usually.”

Now. Retired from teaching high school physics in Sacramento. Has the set lists. Has timed them.

Wren Haskell, short blonde shag and denim overalls, grins as she plays a worn wood-finish drum kit in a crowded hall; a small green frog sits on the bass drum

No. 5

Wren Haskell

Drums · 1971–1983

“I played hard and the frogs stayed. I took that as a good review.”

Now. Plays the Northern California festival circuit with Moss Calloway. Still plays hard. Still grins.

Wren Haskell, 1977. Playing hard. Frog on the bass drum.

The Chronicle

Four parts. Each one ran longer than planned.

  1. Part 1

    The Front Room

    In the spring of 1971 Moss Calloway rented the ground floor of a Victorian in the Inner Sunset, four blocks from the park. Juniper Lane moved her organ into the bay window in May. It took four people and most of an afternoon. Teddy Okamura and Ray Duchesne answered a card on the board at a music shop on Irving Street. Wren Haskell heard the rehearsal from the sidewalk and knocked.

    Rehearsals ran on Sunday afternoons. They were meant to end at six. The neighbors upstairs kept a log of when they actually ended. The log was returned to the band in 1983. The latest entry is 11:40 p.m.

  2. Part 2

    The Park Meadow

    From 1972 the band played free afternoon shows in a meadow in the park, on a plywood riser, for whoever was on the grass. Sets ran two hours, then three. People brought blankets and stayed.

    The first frog was noted on a June afternoon in 1972. It was sitting on the monitor in front of Moss Calloway by the second song. It stayed until the end. Nobody in the band had brought it, and there is no pond within sight of the meadow. Frogs were present at many shows after that. The band never brought them, never removed them and never announced them.

  3. Part 3

    The Ballroom

    By 1975 the band was playing a ballroom in the city on weekends, with a light show projected behind it: colored oil in water, between two glass plates, on an overhead projector, run by a friend from the Victorian. Juniper Lane's organ sat stage center. Frogs sat on it.

    The Frog Speaks was recorded in 1976. For one night the band left a microphone running beside a pond in Marin County. The sleeve says the frogs contributed. The band has never said which parts. In 1979 Lily Pad Records released We Were Definitely There, recorded across two nights in the ballroom. The title was chosen from the tapes, as a precaution.

  4. Part 4

    Semi-Aquatic

    Semi-Aquatic, released in 1982, has songs under four minutes on it. Several of them. It is the band's most accessible record, relatively. Side one is still a single suite.

    The last show was in the park meadow in September 1983. Seven frogs were present, the most on record. The band played until the light went. Moss Calloway and Wren Haskell kept playing together and still do, on the Northern California festival circuit. Juniper Lane, Teddy Okamura and Ray Duchesne went on to other work and attend when they can.

The band plays on a ballroom stage in front of a huge swirling projection of purple, gold and turquoise oil light while the crowd dances in front
The ballroom, a Saturday, late. The light show is on the wall. The second set is under way.

The light show

Colored oil and water between two glass plates, on an overhead projector, at the back of the hall. A friend from the Victorian ran it from 1975. The color moved with the organ. Nobody planned that either.

Occurrences

1972

The First Frog

The park meadow, San Francisco

A frog was on the monitor by the second song. It stayed for both sets.

Full account

The band was setting up on the riser at about two in the afternoon. There was no frog. By the second song there was a frog on the monitor in front of Moss Calloway, facing the band. Moss noticed it at the end of the song and did not stop. The frog stayed through both sets and was gone when the gear was packed. Three people in the audience photographed it. None of them saw it arrive.

1977

The House Lights

A ballroom, San Francisco

The house lights came up at 1:40 a.m. The band finished the song. It took eleven minutes.

Full account

The ballroom's manager brought the house lights up at 1:40 a.m. during the second set. The band was partway through a song. It finished the song. The song took eleven more minutes. The manager stood at the side of the stage for all eleven and, by several accounts, nodded along for the last four. A frog was on the bass drum throughout. The band was booked again the following month.

1979

The Naturalist's Report

Mendocino and San Francisco, California

A county naturalist attended three shows to find the source of the frogs. Her finding: present and calm.

Full account

In the summer of 1979 the band invited a naturalist with the county parks to attend three shows and account for the frogs. Dr. Ellen Marsh attended in Mendocino and twice in San Francisco. She counted the frogs, noted their positions and checked the gear cases before and after. Her report, two typed pages, found no pond within walking distance of either stage and no frogs in the cases. It describes the frogs as "present and calm" and the source as "not determined." The band framed the report. It hung in the Victorian until 1983.

The Records

Four long-players on Lily Pad Records. One handbill each.

  1. LPR-101 · Lily Pad Records1973Lily Pad Chronicles Vol. 1The debut. Nobody is sure how long the album is.5 tracks · Length not agreedRead the sleeve →
  2. LPR-102 · Lily Pad Records1976The Frog SpeaksThe frogs allegedly contributed.5 tracks · 42 minRead the sleeve →
  3. LPR-103 · Lily Pad Records1979We Were Definitely ThereRecorded live across two nights in a San Francisco ballroom. Both nights ran long.6 tracks · 52 minRead the sleeve →
  4. LPR-104 · Lily Pad Records1982Semi-AquaticTheir most accessible record, relatively.6 tracks · 39 minRead the sleeve →

Loose tapes

Unreleased. Held by the archive.

  • Lily Pad Chronicles (Front Room Rehearsal)—:—Cassette, both sides, 1972. The band believes it continues on a second tape. No second tape has been found.
  • Twenty-Minute Jam (Uncondensed)45:14Soundboard, a ballroom, 1978. Forty-five minutes.

Clippings

The Fog Line, a Bay Area music newsletter · Spring 1976

The Frog Speaks, and Nobody Will Say Which Part

Spitting Frogs' second record arrives three years after the first, which has not finished yet

The new Spitting Frogs record opens with a twelve-minute piece credited, in part, to the frogs. We asked the band which part. Ray Duchesne, bass, said the band was not in a position to say. Juniper Lane, organ, said the frogs had not asked for credit and the band had given it anyway.

It is a warmer record than the first. The organ is forward. The guitar goes a long way out and comes back. Side two ends at a reasonable length, which we note for the record.

Festival program, Mendocino County · Summer 2019

Saturday, Redwood Stage: Moss & Wren (of Spitting Frogs)

Moss Calloway and Wren Haskell played the San Francisco park meadow and its ballrooms from 1971 to 1983 as two-fifths of Spitting Frogs. They play acoustic guitar and a small kit, and they are happy to talk about the seventies between songs. Set length is listed as one hour. Plan accordingly.

Sleeve notes

  • The Running Time

    The sleeve of Lily Pad Chronicles Vol. 1 gives the album as 41 minutes. The record label gives 52. The test pressing is marked 47. Ray Duchesne has timed it four times and declines to publish the results.

  • The Frogs

    The band never brought frogs to a show and never removed one. It never mentioned them from the stage. Frogs were noted at shows from 1972 to 1983 and once more in the present day. Their source was never determined. They appeared to enjoy the music.

  • The Organ

    Juniper Lane's organ was a walnut cabinet model, bought used in 1970. It ran warm. Frogs favored the top of it. It still works and is in her front room in Petaluma.

  • The Van

    The band painted its van by hand in 1974, in blue and green swirls, over one weekend in the driveway of the Victorian. It made every tour on the coast highway. It did not make the return leg of the last one.

  • Bare Feet

    Moss Calloway has performed barefoot since 1971. He says he can feel the bass through the riser. He still does it on the festival stages.

The Frog Log

Sightings at shows, as recorded. The band did not bring them.

Plate IV

Common name
Frog
Species
Not determined
Source
Not determined
Habitat
Monitors, organ tops, bass drums
Disposition
Appeared to enjoy the music
Close-up of hands playing an old wooden organ; a green frog sits on the ledge above the keys among coiled cables
Sighting, 1976. On the organ, above the stops. It remained for the set.

Sightings

YearWhereCountPositionRemarks
1972The park meadow, San Francisco1On the monitorFirst sighting. Stayed for both sets.
1974The park meadow, San Francisco3Beside the organMoved closer during the long songs.
1976A ballroom, San Francisco2Organ, on the music deskSee photograph.
1977A ballroom, San Francisco1Bass drumPresent through the house lights and after.
1979Mendocino, California4Front of stageCounted by the county naturalist. Present and calm.
1983The park meadow, San Francisco7VariousLast show. Largest count on record.
2024A festival in the redwoods1On the speakerPresent day. Moss and Wren. See photograph.

Frogs on record 19

Source of frogs: not determined.

they stayed every time

The Road

One tour, up and down the coast highway, in the painted van.

The band sits on the open back of a hand-painted swirled van parked beside the coast highway at sunset, cliffs and ocean behind them; Moss plays an acoustic guitar and Juniper holds a tambourine
The coast highway, 1979. Somewhere south of Big Sur. The van was painted in the driveway.

On the coast highway

We Were Definitely There Tour

1979

  1. 01San Francisco, CATwo nights. Both recorded. Both long.
  2. 02Bolinas, CACommunity center. Fog by the encore.
  3. 03Mendocino, CAFrogs: four. The naturalist attended.
  4. 04Arcata, CA
  5. 05Eureka, CATeddy Okamura's first visit. He moved there later.
  6. 06Santa Cruz, CA
  7. 07Monterey, CAPlayed facing the bay.
  8. 08San Luis Obispo, CA
  9. 09Santa Barbara, CASouthernmost date. The band was uneasy without fog.
  10. 10San Francisco, CAHomecoming. The park meadow. Frogs: three.

Lily Pad Records · All ages · Doors when the van arrives

Now

Moss and Wren still play. They speak warmly of the seventies.

Present day: a gray-haired, barefoot Moss Calloway sings with an acoustic guitar and a laughing gray-haired Wren Haskell plays drums on a wooden stage in a redwood grove; a frog sits on the speaker; the audience sits on blankets
Moss and Wren, a festival in the redwoods, present day. Frog on the speaker, third song.

“Nobody brought the frogs. Nobody asked them to leave.”

— Moss Calloway

“Best decade I ever had. I'd do every minute of it again, and some of those minutes were long.”

— Wren Haskell

Letters to the archive

  • ✿✿✿✿✿

    I was on a blanket in the park meadow in 1974. There was a frog on the monitor. I remember the frog better than the songs, and I remember the songs very well.

    — D. Okafor, Daly City, CA

  • ✿✿✿✿✿

    Lily Pad Chronicles Vol. 1 is either forty-one minutes or fifty-two. I have timed it four times. I have enjoyed all four.

    — P. Lindqvist, Oakland, CA

  • ✿✿✿✿✿

    Saw Moss and Wren at a festival in the redwoods last summer. A frog came up onto the speaker during the third song. Nobody on stage looked surprised.

    — T. Ruiz, Arcata, CA

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