I’ll admit that I’ve never been a big Phish fan. A few of their tunes interest me (mainly the instrumental passages, crazy prog epics like YEM, and funk work-outs like Meat) and many do not. But when a friend of mine forwarded me this 26 minute version of Ghost from a 1997 show, it gave me a newfound appreciation of the band.
I always heard that they were capable of “transcendant” musical moments, etc. but I rarely had the patience to get past the vocal heavy song beginnings and the many goof-ball choruses. One listen to this track caused me to revisit their 1998 album, The Story of the Ghost. Since then, I’ve learned that 1997 was the year of their “funk” sound period. And I do believe I may search out more 1997 live recordings in the future.
An audience recording of this show has been around the bootleg circuit for years (“Erotic City”, “Noon Rendezvous”, “26”), but I could never really listen to the whole thing because it sounded so bad. Now the pristine multi-track soundboard recording has leaked out into the general public and you can download it here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6LI5DCCH (the password is reggolboge)
or here: http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?t=91209.
The artwork is here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GLAL48KV (the password is dontbuypressedrehash).
Here is the accompanying “press release” (if a bootleg can ever really have a press release):
Presented here for the first time, just a month shy of 27 years, is an absolutely astounding soundboard recording of this historic show. In an unprecedented move, the two leading fan labels Free Boot Generation and 4DaFunk have joined forces with a completely anonymous benefactor in an effort to put the finest possible experience into the hands of the fans. For free. Enjoy.
Prince And The Revolution
“From The Soundboard: 1984 Birthday Show”
June 7th, 1984
First Avenue
Minneapolis, MN
1. Shortberry Strawcake (PA) / Drums check (0’56)
2. 17 Days (5’24)
3. Our Destiny (3’23)
4. Roadhouse Garden (4’45)
5. Interlude (1’20)
6. All Day, All Night (5’42)
7. Free (4’40)
8. Noon Rendezvous (9’02)
9. Erotic City (8’31)
10. Something In The Water (Does Not Compute) (10’10)
11. When Doves Cry (11’37)
12. Happy Birthday Interlude (2’27)
13. Irresistible Bitch (6’07)
14. Possessed (5’48)
Prince celebrated his 26th year with a concert at the famed Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue. Sheila E. had flown in from California along with Prince’s management team. A mobile multi-track recording truck was hired to record this show. The 85-minute set opened with ”17 Days”. It was followed by two new songs, ”Our Destiny,” which went into ”Roadhouse Garden.” ”We’ve got some stuff you’ll recognize and some you won’t,” Prince said before playing another new track, ”All Day, All Night.” Both ”Our Destiny” and ”Roadhouse Garden” remain unreleased, although they were worked on later in 1984 by Wendy and Lisa. The Latter was at one point planned for release on the stillborn 1998/99 Roadhouse Garden project. ”All Day, All Night” surfaced on Jill Jones’ 1987 album, which featured basic tracks pulled from this performance.”Free” finds Prince at the piano accompanied only by Bobby Z. on drums. Prince dedicated ”Noon Rendezvous” to “that little girl over there, that’s Sheila E.” Next on the set-list were ”Erotic City” and a dramatically rearranged version of ”Something In The Water (Does Not Compute).” An extended take on ”When Doves Cry” was followed by an audience-led rendition of ”Happy Birthday”. The b-side ”Irresistible Bitch” and the unreleased ”Possessed” close the show.
Talk about a party! Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe had Tipitina’s rocking from 2am to 5:30am on a Thursday night / Friday morning. We were in New Orleans after all, it was 2nd weekend of Jazz Fest and it was Cinco De Mayo! Well, it wasn’t actually Cinco De Mayo anymore as it was Friday morning by the time they started, but try telling that to the Professor Longhair bust in the Tipitina’s foyer: he was a sporting a huge sombrero all night!
This show had an insane amount of guests: Terence Higgins on a 2nd drum kit for the entire show, Ivan Neville, Eric McFadden, Nigel Hall, Tony Hall, Marco Benevento, Steve Molitz, Mike Dillon, Nikki Glaspie, The Shady Horns, Maurice Brown, Mark Mullins, etc… The most surprising guest was American Idol Taylor Hicks who demonstrated his harmonica skills on a wacky (at least it seemed wacky to me) cover of Wall of Voodoo’s “Mexican Radio”!
A big thanks goes out to Cosmicsoul420 for recording this audio and allowing me to use it on these videos.
This first video is a slamming cover of a Cold War Kids song that really shows the grittier side of Karl D’s voice. I can’t get this one out of my head, especially the a capella ending. Just feel that intro riff Chris Stillwell lays down on bass.
The second video is a Los Lobos cover that features Ivan Neville on organ & Eric McFadden ripping an acoustic-electric guitar like I’ve never seen.
This third video also features Ivan Neville & Eric McFadden, but don’t forget that Terence Higgins is guesting the whole show on that 2nd drum kit. This tune, Satisfied, really allows the dual drummers to show off a little with a drum breakdown near the end. We also find Karl D playing “more cowbell,” as well as a lengthy flute solo in the middle.
The fourth and final video features 8 horn players, Nikki Glaspie (Beyonce’s drummer) on one of the drum kits and Steve Molitz from Particle on organ. The horn players, in order of their solos are: Chris Littlefield on trumpet, Rashawn Ross on trumpet, Sam Kinninger on alto sax, Maurice Brown on trumpet & Ryan Zoidis on tenor sax. The video cuts here because my hand was too tired to record any longer, but the tune ended with an organ solo by Steve Molitz, a big horn blowout by everyone and a short Karl Denson sax solo. Two other horn players are present but don’t solo: Mark Mullins on trombone & Anthony Reed on sax. Of all of those horns, Maurice Brown’s solo really stands out for me.
Thanks goes out to Marc Millman Photography for the use of his images.
His site has some great image galleries, so check it out.
