Glen Phillips FAQ, ver. 0.1.1

General information about this FAQ
Glen's history
The music
Seeing Glen live
With a little help from his friends
1. Touring Partners
  1. John Mayer
2. Studio Partners
  1. Nickel Creek

General information about this FAQ
1. What and whom is this FAQ for?
  This was originally a set of questions frequently asked on the Professional Victim mailing list, but it is useful for anyone interested in Glen Phillips.
  Nowadays, the mailing list community has been all but replaced by Glen's official message board. Anyone is still free to join the mailing list, but it's not very active, anymore.
2. What has changed since last time?
  Version 0.1.0 is a major update that covers Glen's activity from 2003-2005. There are too many changes to list them individually.
3. How can I suggest a new question/answer?
  E-mail us! nick@kocharhook.com & hurtstotalktoyou@yahoo.com
  You can also post to Glen's official message board, as we read it regularly.
Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
http://comebackdownload.com/glenfaq.htm
Sources used in this FAQ
- The various postings of people on the old mailing list and Glen's message board, especially Darren P., Rob H., Jeff L., Bree C. and Chris B.
- The Toadpage website (no longer online)

Glen's history
1. Who is Glen Phillips?
  - Born Glen Richard Phillips on 29 December 1970
  - Graduated from Santa Barbara High School
  - Former Toad the Wet Sprocket lead singer
  - Married Laurel Franklin on 19 June 1993
  - Father of three daughters: Sophia Francesca (9 November 1995), Zola (1 January 1997) and another (5 September 2001)
  - Another child is on the way. (Yay, Glen!)
  - Currently lives in Santa Barbara, California
  - Website: glenphillips.com
  - e-mail address: glen@glenphillips.com
2. Who is Glenn Phillips?
  Glenn Phillips (notice the extra 'n') is a jazz singer who is the frontman for the Glenn Philips Band. His most recent recording is a 1991 CD called Walking Through Walls. There is also another album made up of GPB material from between 1975 and 1985.
  [Thanks to Rob (Vocalizer3@cs.com)]
  Friends report that he is often confused for our Glen. :-)
3. Who is Toad the Wet Sprocket?
  From 1986 until 1998, Glen was a member of Toad The Wet Sprocket. While he was with Toad, Glen was the rhythm guitarist, lead singer and chief lyricist. Toad put out five full-length studio albums, an outtakes compilation, a greatest hits compilation, a full-length live CD and countless other singles, EPs, promos and various artist appearances. They reunited in late 2002 for a brief tour, but disbanded again in early 2003. Glen has made it abundantly clear that he intends never to play with Toad again. His root cause(s) of both of Toad's breakups remain unknown. Toad FAQs are available, but beyond the scope of this document. Please take a look at the old Toadpage FAQ for answers to all your Toad questions. Please note that it is only available on the archive.org website, and has not been updated since 1999.
4. Who is flapping, Flapping?
  In 1996, Glen got together with a group named "flapping, Flapping" and put out a record called Montgomery Street. The other members of f,F at the time were: Tom Lackner (percussion), Bruce Winter (bass), Joe Woodard (guitar).
  Montgomery Street is available for sale at the Seven South website. Glen sang lead on five of the album's songs, four of which he wrote or co-wrote. He played guitar on all eleven songs.
5. Who is Headless Household?
  Headless Household is a Santa Barbara-area band consisting of: Dick Dunlop (keyboards), Tom Lackner (percussion), Chris Symer (bass) and Joe Woodard (guitar). Two of these (Lackner & Woodard) are also members of the aforementioned flapping, Flapping.
  Glen recorded two songs with them.
  
  In addition, Glen is listed in the recording credits of their album Items.
6. Who is Two-Headed Boy?
  After Toad broke up, Glen did solo performances for several years. In 1999, he started playing with four other people. They named their group Two-Headed Boy (often shortened to "2HB") after a song by Neutral Milk Hotel. During most of 2000, Glen played with 2HB on and off. Some recordings of 2HB shows exist. However, as of December, 2000, 2HB is no more.
7. Who is Lapdog?
  When the members of Toad the Wet Sprocket went their separate ways, Glen wasn't the only one who decided to stay in music. Lapdog was originally made up of Todd Nichols, Toad's lead guitarist, and Dean Dinning, the bassist. However, Dean left the band, reportedly to persue a career in voiceover work. Then, in late 2000, Randy Guss, Toad's drummer, joined Lapdog.
  Although I don't know of a Lapdog FAQ page, you can get quite a bit of info from Lapdog's website.

The music

Discography (covers select releases since 2000)

Album	Track Listing	Information
Winter Pays For Summer Released: March 29, 2005	Duck And Cover (Phillips) Thankful (Phillips) Courage (Phillips) Released (Phillips/Wilson) Cleareyed (Phillips/Wilson) Falling (Phillips) Half-life (Phillips) True (Phillips/Wilson) Easier (Phillips) Finally Fading (Phillips) Simple (Phillips) Gather (Phillips) Don't Need Anything (Phillips)	WPFS, as it is commonly abbreviated, has been hyped as Glen's first mainstream album. The first radio single was "Duck And Cover," and although it didn't quite break into the mainstream, it did quite well on the AAA chart, peaking at #19 the week of June 6-12, 2005. Note that, although it was only officially released on March 29th, WPFS leaked to the internet on February 14th, 2005.
Toad The Wet Sprocket / Welcome Home: Live At The Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara 1992 Released: c. 2004-10-12 (website) & 2005-01-11 (retail)	Walk On The Ocean (Nichols/Phillips) One Little Girl (Toad) Scenes From A Vinyl Recliner (Toad) All I Want (Phillips) Jam (Toad) Before You Were Born (Phillips) Butterflies (Phillips/Nichols) Torn (Toad) Chile (Toad) Nightingale Song (Phillips) Brother (Phillips) Hold Her Down (Phillips/Nichols) Come Back Down (Toad) Stories I Tell (Phillips/Nichols) Know Me (Toad) Way Away (Toad) Is It For Me (Phillips/Nichols) Fall Down (Phillips/Nichols) I Will Not Take These Things For Granted (Phillips)	This is just an edited version of Toad's 1992-09-30 performance. Rumor has it that somebody at Legacy Recordings (a division of Sony) heard the show and was impressed. So, he asked Glen if it would be okay to release it, and Glen approved. I have no idea if that story is true, but it sounds very plausible. There are mixed reports as to when this was actually released online. The only thing certain is that it didn't hit retail shelves until Jan. 11, 2005.
Mutual Admiration Society / Mutual Admiration Society Released: July 13, 2004	Comes A Time (Phillip) Sake Of The World (Phillips/Brion) Windmills (Phillips) Be Careful (Phillips) Running Out (Phillips) Somewhere Out There (Phillips) Francesca (Phillips) Trouble (Brion/McGregor) La Lune (Kennedy) La Lune/Reprise (Kennedy) Think About Your Troubles (Nilsson)	While technically this is a collaboration between Glen and Nickel Creek, it's really more like a Glen solo project with Nickel Creek helping out. Glen sings lead on all tracks (except instrumentals, of course), and wrote or co-wrote the first seven tracks. The last four are covers.
Live At Largo Released: c. Feb. 17, 2003 (website version) & Nov. 18, 2003 (retail remaster)	intro Sleep Of The Blessed (Phillips) Crowing (Phillips) Thankful (Phillips) Train Wreck (Phillips) Fred Meyers (Phillips) Comes A Time (Phillips) Dam Would Break (Phillips) Drive By (Phillips) Something To Say (Phillips) Easier (Phillips) Darkest Hour (Phillips) Back On My Feet (Phillips/Northey) Whatever I Fear (Phillips) Don't Need Anything (Phillips) Political Science (Newman) Greer Zoller (Phillips) Small Dark Movie (Brown) Comes A Time, aborted (Phillips)	Live At Largo is an edited version of Glen's 2002-10-03 show. The aborted version of "Comes A Time" at the end of the disc is uncredited, a sort of ghost track. Originally, a few hundred copies of this disc were printed and sold through Glen's website. I'm actually not sure when it was released, officially. There are reports of it being delivered as early as 2003-02-17, but it may have been released a few days earlier. The show was remastered for mainstream retail sale, with the guitar being pushed up in the mix. All songs are just Glen and his guitar, without any additional musicians or instruments.
Abulum (picture) Released: Dec 29, 2000 (fan pre-release) & Apr 10, 2001 (official retail launch)	Careless (Phillips) Men Just Leave (Phillips) Back On My Feet (Phillips/Northey) Fred Meyers (Phillips) My Own Town (Phillips) It Takes Time (Phillips) Drive By (Phillips) Darkest Hour (Phillips) Professional Victim (Phillips) Train Wreck (Phillips) Maya (Phillips) Sleep of the Blessed (Phillips)	The fan pre-release had only eleven tracks, missing "Sleep Of The Blessed." Also note that the first 1000 orders from Tower.com received a signed CD insert. Abulum is no longer carried by most music vendors, and might be consistently available only through awarestore.com. A DVD-audio version of Abulum has also been released, and includes selected performances from two live shows in 2001, as well as an extensive interview with Glen.

What other albums is Glen's music included on?

Date	Artist	Album	Track(s)	Other Info
1998	Billy Ward	Two Hands Clapping	2	"Be Careful"

What other albums does Glen perform on?
Glen has performed and written with other artists on several occasions. These albums aren't in the category above because, while Glen may have written some of these songs, the work was more of a "team effort."

Year	Artist	Album	Track(s)	Information
2001	Sean Watkins	Let It Fall	2	"Let It Fall," the title track, is sung by Glen. Sean wrote the song, however.
1994	Headless Household	Inside/Outside USA	2	"Woe to Him (Who Builds His House on Salty Sand)"
1998	Headless Household	Free Associations	6	"Honey, I'm Home"

Which songs has Glen released on his web site?
These were released several months before Glen had a site. Glen gave Michael Mazur a demo CD and asked him to put these up on his (Michael's) website.
- It Takes Time (early mix)
- Train Wreck (demo)
- Darkest Hour (demo)
Michael also put up a copy of a live version of Marigolds, which is sometimes confused as being an official release. It is actually a bootleg soundboard recording from the 2001-05-12 show, which is available in full through trading.

Since glenphillips.com has been in operation, these songs have been available, in roughly chronological order:
- Fred Meyers (Live Acoustic)
- Back on My Feet (early mix)
- Professional Victim (demo)
- Easier (demo)
- Darkest Hour (Acoustic version with Nickel Creek)
- Everything Matters (demo)
- Something To Say (Live Acoustic at Fez, 5.31.00)
- Back On My Feet (Live Acoustic)
- Chapel Perilous (demo)
- Marigolds (demo)
- Reincarnation Song (Live Acoustic at Largo)
- Fred Meyers (Acoustic version with Nickel Creek)
- My Own Town (early mix)
- Gabriel (Live Electric at Largo, 6.17.00)
- Jam (Live Acoustic at Largo, 8.3.00)
- Maya (Live with Ethan on electric guitar, 8.3.00)
- Brain Trust Kid (WPFS outtake, music video)
- Far Away (live 2001-07-27)
- Brother (live 2001-07-27)
- Courage (Tornillo version)
- The Hole (Tornillo version)
- Garage (demo)
- Darkest Hour (Fields "radio" version)
- Don't Need Anything (demo)
- Thankful ("Happy Edit" demo)
In addition to all those, a demo of "Greer Zoller" surfaced some time in 2004, but was not an official release nor available through Glen's website.

[Thanks to Rob (Vocalizer3@cs.com) for the clarification of this info.]
What are the lyrics to Glen's songs?
Many different people have decided to write down Glen's lyrics. Below are listed a few of the sites I know about:
- Nick Kocharhook's lyrics site
- Cindy Bochna's lyrics site
Where can I find guitar tabs for Glen's songs?
Currently the only person hosting Glen tabs is Michael Mazur. However, you can find tabs for nearly every Toad song at Walter's page.

What do the songs mean?
The idea of this section is to collect information about Glen's songs that may not be readily apparent. Stories about/behind the songs, lyrical changes and song histories are all fair game.

Song Name	Information
"Back on My Feet"	Live, Glen usually sings "like a Wilco song" instead of "like an old bar song." Also, at the end of the song, he tends to say "back on my feet before you know it" at least once.
"Darkest Hour"	This song is about the death of Glen's father. Glen was alone with him when he passed on. The experience has been described as "uplifting."
"Drive By"	This song is mostly a true story. The boy in the song was actually Ben Folds, formerly of the group Ben Folds Five. Unfortunately, in the real version, the dog died. :-(
"Easier"	Glen has two versions of the first several lines of this song. The demo released on his website used these lyrics: I am the son of a soap opera town Mayberry rebel and middle-class clown You were the back-flipped, doe-eyed, tree-climbing angel From heaven who finally came down However, when Glen sings this song live, he often uses an alternate set of lyrics, namely: I was eighteen, so were you I was that Birkenstock, geek-rock dude You were the back-flipped, doe-eyed, tree-climbing Earth-mama Beautiful evergreen girl
"Far Away"	"This is one of Glen's first solo tunes written after Toad when he was working on the 'slightly r&b-ish' material he spoke of in early interviews, the material we've yet to see surface, except for 'Far Away' (which Glen has stated live is the tentiative title), he's only played it a few times." [Thanks to Rob (Vocalizer3@cs.com)]
"Sake Of The World"	This is a song Glen wrote with Jon Brion, it's set to be released on the Mutual Admiration Society CD. [Thanks to Rob (Vocalizer3@cs.com)]
"Fred Meyers"	This song is about what happy lives everyone will have in post-apocalyptic America. Taken from Glen's site on MP3.com: "I like the idea of all the big-box stores turning into affordable housing," Phillips explains. "Today we don't know the people who live right next door to us. To bring people back together, it might take what everybody in America fears the most: the loss of our gadgets and our money. I love the idea of tight communities in the former temples of consumerism." [Thanks to Steve Averett (saverett@mindspring.com)]
"Gabriel"	This explanation is paraphrased from a 2000 show in Annapolis, MD: "Glen (who is Jewish) had a (presumably Christian) friend in his younger years who once told him 'Glen, I'm so sad. You're such a nice person, and it hurts me to know you'll burn in hell for all eternity.' (that's from my memory--not an exact quote). Glen's quip to that? 'It's a nice sentiment, if taken the right way.' "He goes on to say that he thinks everyone, no matter how adamant in their religious beliefs, must occasionally walk down the street and see people of some other faith and wonder whether THEY'RE the ones with the right idea. The song, then, is about arriving at the gates of Heaven and being 'denied access,' (to use Glen's words) on the basis of religious denomination. "Incidentally, Glen later went on to point out that it's actually supposed to be St. Peter, not the angel Gabriel at the gates of heaven, but the song remains as is." [Thanks to Rich (rbs4655@ksu.edu)]
"Garage"	"Glen's dad was a scientist, and used to spend all his time puttering around in the family garage. He had dozens of boxes of knick-knacks in the garage, all marked with his initials, D.T.P. (David Turner Phillips). After David's death, his body was cremated, and for a brief time his ashes rested in a box (actually unmarked, despite a contrary lyric in the song) in the garage. Glen liked the idea of the ashes sitting in the garage just being 'D.T.P.'--he thought it was a fitting resting place for his dad. Later, Glen built a studio in his own garage, so his children would always know where to find him when they needed him, just like he did with his dad." [Thanks to Rich (rbs4655@ksu.edu)]
"My Own Town"	"In various explanations, Glen has traced this song's roots to two different sources. The first is a report he once heard on National Public Radio (late at night and sleep-deprived, he says) on the potential dangers of the bacterium Anthrax. "The second is a Twilight Zone episode entitled "Time Enough at Last" (which, for a time, was the song's subtitle). In that episode, an avid reader is the only survivor of the apocalypse. He is thrilled to finally have time to read to his heart's content without interruptions from the rest of the world. His happiness is quickly ended, however, when he drops and breaks his glasses, leaving him all alone without even his books. Some combination of the two things (I'm not sure which was the bigger influence) got Glen thinking about the idea of being the last man left alive on earth, which is the crux of the song." [Thanks to Rich (rbs4655@ksu.edu)]
"Train Wreck"	In the second verse of this song, the acronym SAG stands for "Screen Actor's Guild."
"Wrapped in Water"	This is an old Toad song. One of the first known recordings is from 1992. It was recorded for both Pale and Dulcinea, but didn't make it on either album. In some versions, Glen played the mandolin. Glen has recently begun playing "Wrapped in Water" again, to the delight of his live audiences.

Who covers Glen?
- Pedro the Lion
- Nickel Creek
Mislabeled on P2P (Kazaa)
- "See You Again" - This song is by Lapdog, not Glen.

Seeing Glen live

What's Glen's policy on bootlegging?
Taken directly from Glen's website:

On Bootlegging:

Toad always had a pro-taping policy, and I continue to allow taping of my shows. Why? Well, that way you get a self-regulating trading network setup by and for fans, and there's no room for the bootleg sharks to sell poor quality tapes at exorbitant prices. It kills the predatory element of the bootleg market by encouraging fans to keep it free, fun, and in their own control.

There are two kinds of taping I am not into, though:

1) Video. It simply makes me nervous. I always get a little embarrassed when I see a video camera in the audience, and I think it negatively affects the show. Beyond that, they never look very good.

2) Board tapes. To enable me to be able to sell at least slightly better quality tapes of my shows than are available for free, I reserve the exclusive right to board tapes. Aside from that, knock yourself out.

So there you have it. Tape away!
All right, so where can I get bootlegs?
P2P programs such as Morpheus, LimeWire and AudioGalaxy are good sources for Glen bootlegs, although you need to be careful that they're properly labeled. Glen releases songs on his site every so often. People on the Victim list have bootlegs in many different formats (CD, tape, MP3 and MiniDisc among them). And then there's the glenp3 project and and the new Toad Traders, version three.
Which songs does Glen often play live?
Glen often plays his current crop of Abulum songs. He also tends to play a wide range of Toad songs, as long as they were his songs, and not Todd's. Popular choices include:
- "Back on My Feet" - Abulum
- "Comes A Time" - unreleased
- "Crowing" - Dulcinea
- "Darkest Hour" - Abulum
- "Drive By" - Abulum
- "Easier" - unreleased
- "Everything Matters" - unreleased
- "Professional Victim" - Abulum
- "Rings" - Coil
- "Sleep of the Blessed" - unreleased
- "Something's Always Wrong" - Dulcinea
- "Throw It All Away" - Coil
- "Train Wreck" - Abulum
- "Walk on the Ocean" - Fear
- "Whatever I Fear" - Coil
- "Windmills" - Dulcinea
Which songs does Glen cover live?
Glen has quite a varied musical taste, and he brings that with him to the stage. Glen often plays between two and four covers every show. This is a list of songs he has been known to cover. Due to the liquidity of the web, finding the lyrics to these songs is left as an exercise for the reader.
- "Between the Bars" - Elliott Smith
- "Cat's in the Cradle" - Harry Chapin
- "Crazy Love" - Van Morrison
- "Dirty Old Town" - Traditional
- "Jesse's Girl" - Rick Springfield
- "King of Carrot Flowers" - Neutral Milk Hotel
- "Levi Stubb's Tears" - Billy Bragg
- "Love is Stronger Than Death" - The The
- "Marie" - Randy Newman
- "Old Man" - Randy Newman
- "One More Dollar" - Gillian Welch
- "Political Science" - Randy Newman
- "Rainbow Connection" - Muppet Movie
- "She" - Gram Parsons
- "Sir Duke" - Stevie Wonder
- "Star Trek" - Gene Roddenbury
- "The Grapevine" - Richard Thompson
- "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" - Bob Dylan
- "The Longer I Lay Here" - Pedro the Lion
- "Think About Your Troubles" - Harry Nilsson
- "Thinking Out Loud" - Ron Sexsmith
- "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1" - Neutral Milk Hotel
- "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2" - Neutral Milk Hotel

List of common venue information

Name	Address	Phone number	Notes
Largo	432 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, CA	(323) 852-1073
Soho	1221 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA	(805) 962-7776	Seats fill up quickly, so get a table if you can. Be warned, though: the food, while delicious, is quite expensive

With a little help from his friends
1. Touring Partners
  - John Mayer
    John toured with Glen in March and April of 2001. You can find out more about John at his web site.
2. Studio Partners
  - Nickel Creek
    A bluegrass group from Southern California, Nickel Creek is made up of three artists whose talent far surpass their age. All of them are in their mid-twentys, but they already have a hot self-titled album and several singles on the CMT (Country Music Television). Nickel Creek is made up of a fiddle player, a mandolin player and a guitarist. Glen describes their relationship with him as a "Mutual Admiration Society."
    Nickel Creek and Glen have recorded an album together which should be released around fall of this year.

Created with Vim
Last Updated: 13 January 2003