As Fall Tour officially begins today (Can I get a WOO?!), I realized it was time for me to sit down and deliberate over these last five album choices. Earlier this week, I wrote the first half of an article speculating as to Phish’s choice for their Halloween musical costume, and chose some of the powerhouse artists of classic rock radio: The Grateful Dead, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Rush. Granted, Phish does tend to choose albums categorized under the classic rock genre, but, there are countless possibilities. Whittling these down to ten has proven to be a challenge, albeit quite the fun one. Half the fun is trying to predict what Phish will do. Of course, the other half is being surprised when you’re ultimately proven wrong.
So, without further ado, here is the second part of my top 10 choices for Phish’s Halloween musical costume.
6. The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971)
Mr. Mojo Risin! This refrain in “L.A. Woman,” an anagram of Jim Morrison, typifies the raw energy of The Doors’ sixth (and final with Morrison) studio album. L.A. Woman is a gritty, bluesy album that showcases The Doors at the height of their popularity, having emerged from the cool, up-and-coming L.A. rock scene and having found nationwide recognition. While most rock music at this time was dominated by the guitar, The Doors were the hip alternative, powered by Morrison’s eclectic vocals and Ray Manzarek’s haunting keyboard tones.
Phish has covered the title track of The Doors’ classic album, albeit only once. They had soundchecked the tune a handful of times in 1993, and part of one of these soundchecks can be heard here…
Phish – L.A. Woman (soundcheck) (4/17/93):
However, the band has only performed “L.A. Woman” once, at a concert in 2003 that featured the members of Parliament/Funkadelic, later in the set. “L.A. Woman” was coyly slipped between a dwindling funk groove of a twelve-minute “Tube” and the punctuated guitar that defines “Birds of a Feather.” Given the prominence of keyboards of L.A. Woman, Page McConnell would have his work cut out for him, but, given his recent touring with The Meter Men, it seems that Page is up for the task. With tracks like “Love Her Madly” and “Riders on the Storm,” L.A. Woman would make an excellent choice for a Halloween performance.
7. Traffic – The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971)
Light up or leave me alone, man. This marijuana-induced mentality of early Phish concerts manifested in the band’s routine cover of Traffic’s “Light Up or Leave Me Alone,” which was performed a dozen known times in the 1980s. After a gap of over one thousand shows, the band resurrected the song in 1999 at Big Cypress, and has since played it six times in the Phish 3.0 era. While the lyrics of “Light Up or Leave Me Alone” are mindless, the song is situated within a memorable album, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. Check out this ten-minute-extra-jammy version of the 1999 resurrection of “Light Up or Leave Me Alone.”
Phish – Light Up Or Leave Me Alone (12/30/99):
Led by keyboardist Steve Winwood, Traffic emerged from the British blues revival era, but ultimately cultivated a smooth jazz element in their rock ‘n’ roll style. The band hit their stride in the early 70’s, delivering classics like John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) and The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971). Low Spark has all the makings for a Halloween performance; rock-jazz fusion (“Hidden Treasures”), highly jammable rock and roll tunes (“Rock and Roll Stew”), and, well, the title track on the studio album is twelve-minutes long… who knows how long the Phish version would be…
It’s also worth mentioning that The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys album features a prominent horn section, which Phish has employed for past musical costumes. This album is well within their capabilities, and it’s right up their alley. Light up or leave me alone, man.
8. Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road opens onto a musical odyssey of cosmic synthesizers, building and building the musical tension through an intricate instrumental, “Funeral For a Friend,” until it drops into the familiar pop-rock style of “Love Lies Bleeding,” complete with the comforting-yet-emotional vocals of the master himself, Sir Elton John. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was John’s sixth studio album, and immediately rose to #1 on the US Billboard Pop Album chart. The Who’s Quadrophenia, Phish’s musical costume in 1995, occupied the #2 spot, despite being released two weeks after GYBR.
Phish has only covered two songs by Elton John: “Amoreena,” in 1997, and “Rocket Man” in 2011. These songs were only played once, each, and while neither of them appear on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, it’s safe to say that the band certainly holds a level of respect for Sir Elton.
Phish – Rocket Man (8/9/2011):
The opening itself, “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” makes this a tempting album to consider. When you account for the joyous, sentimental pop songs like “Candle in the Wind” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” as well as the rockin’ and rollin’ tunes of “Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll)” and “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” Goodbye Yellow Brick Road would make an excellent musical costume. Sure, it may be hard to sing like Elton, but, considering they’ve pulled off singing like Roger Daltrey and Lou Reed, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road definitely has the potential. B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets! Bennie!
9. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) hit their peak in the late-60′s and early-70′s, delivering swampy, blues-infused rock music with the edge of John Fogerty’s powerful vocals. Fogerty, who wrote, sang, and played guitar on every track of the album, really defined his abilities as a musician on Willy and the Poor Boys, CCR’s fourth studio album. The title for the album comes from the first track, “Down on the Corner,” which gleefully depicts a group of street-corner musicians (Willy and the Poor Boys) scraping out a living.
Quite aptly, the first time Phish played a CCR song, they too were scraping out a living. In 1983, Phish played what is considered their first live performance, in a cafeteria at the University of Vermont. The band only played covers, including CCR’s “Proud Mary,” and were ultimately cut short by some partygoer turning up the Michael Jackson house music. Fortunately, Phish began to master their craft of original compositions, and the rest is history. Phish has played “Proud Mary” twice since this 1983 performance, though both versions were a capella, coming from the ending vocal jam of the Phish original, “You Enjoy Myself.”
Phish – You Enjoy Myself Vocal Jam with Proud Mary and Get Back (7/2/2010):
Though “Proud Mary” is not on the album, Willy and the Poor Boys would make an excellent choice for a Halloween costume. There are many familiar tracks, including “Down on the Corner,” “Cotton Fields,” “Feelin’ Blue,” and “Fortunate Son,” the well known protest song that has come to define the anti-Vietnam war movement. The songs rock, and Phish could adapt them to their style, using the loose chord structures as launching points for extended jamming. As the album is highly energetic, it is easy to imagine a Phish cover of Willy and the Poor Boys sending Boardwalk Hall into a frenzy.
10. Boston – Boston (1976)
Last, but certainly not least, comes Boston, a Boston-based band that gained popularity for their brand of radio-friendly progressive-rock music. Though their self-titled debut album was released in 1976, lead guitarist Tom Scholz had written all the material years prior. Additionally, he played most of the instruments on the album, engineered the band’s equipment, and worked very closely on the album’s production. Talk about an overachiever!
Phish has only played one song by Boston, the prog-rock saga of “Foreplay/Long Time,” which is on the Boston album. “Foreplay/Long Time” remains near the top of the list of Phish songs we’d love to hear, but don’t cross our fingers for. The song was played 16 times in 1994, all of which were acoustic performances. It was revived once in 1999, in its standard electric album form, but has subsequently disappeared from the rotation. Here is the audio from Phish’s bluegrass-inspired arrangement:
Phish – Foreplay/Long Time (Acoustic, Audio only) (11/12/1994):
And here is the audio from the electric version:
Phish – Foreplay/Long Time (Audio only) (7/12/1999):
Boston would make an interesting selection for the Halloween musical costume. The album contains many recognizable songs, including “More Than a Feeling” and “Smokin’,” which Phish fans would undoubtedly enjoy. While these tunes may be considered a bit too “Top 40s,” they’re fun songs that would translate well in the Phish Halloween experience. The album has a good balance of instruments for Phish, and a horn section could be incorporated with ease. I know I would personally love to see what Phish could do with Boston, as the album is well within their reach, and would be very well received.
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Well, there you have it: ten amazing albums by ten revered artists. In shaping this list, I tried to find albums that are both conceivable for Phish to play, and albums that would be well-received. I received a lot of input, and I am eternally grateful for every last discussion/comment/e-mail. I really, really wanted to include Close to the Edge by Yes, but I know it’s a pipe dream. Obviously there are innumerable choices that I have excluded, so feel free to state your cases in the comments below! And, once again, Phish, if you’re out there reading, thank you for all the wonderful music and concert experiences.
–David Melamed (@DMelamz)