099: Phish - A Live One (1995)
“Music has always been my protection against the world, from a very young age. I feel safe inside of a jam.”
—Trey Anastasio
Phish are a band who tend to inspire extreme reactions. Their particular blend of progressive rock, funk, pop, and extended improvisation has attracted what may be the most dedicated fanbase in the world, but there seems to be a never ending supply of people who use the band as a punchline. Phil falls firmly into the “love them” category - he’s listened to hundreds of shows and counts Phish among his all-time favorite bands. He’s extremely excited to be discussing A Live One - the album that served as the world’s introduction to the sound of live Phish - with Dan and Rich.
Miscellany
A Live One draws from a variety of Phish concerts recorded in 1994, but the band couldn’t secure the recording rights from every venue at the time of release, so the songs are noted in the liner notes as having been recorded at “The Clifford Ball,” a reference to aviator Clifford Ball. When the band threw their first big festival in 1996, they actually named it “The Clifford Ball.”
The full version of “Tweezer” from Nov. 28th, 1994, that was excerpted for “Montana” can be found on YouTube. The full show is available for download or streaming on LivePhish.com.
Rich learned about “Page Side Rage Side” from this fan-curated glossary of Phish-related terms. It’s a Reddit thread, not an official list, so take it with a grain of salt.
Other links
The official Phish website (Phish.com)
Live Phish (LivePhish.com)
Phish Shreds (YouTube)
Analyze Phish podcast on Earwolf (earwolf.com)
Osiris Media (osirispod.com)
Phish on The Simpsons (YouTube)
Phish play “Watcher Of The Skies” at the 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony (YouTube)
Discord & Rhyme’s A Live One playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Phil Maddox (host)
Rich Bunnell (moderator)
Dan Watkins
A Live One tracklist
Bouncing Around the Room
Stash
Gumbo
Montana
You Enjoy Myself
Chalk Dust Torture
Slave to the Traffic Light
Wilson
Tweezer
Simple
Harry Hood
The Squirming Coil
Other clips used
Phish:
Heavy Things
Ghost (live, 11/17/97, Denver, CO)
Bouncing Around the Room (Lawn Boy version)
NO2
David Bowie
Sample in a Jar
Haunted House (live 10/31/14, Las Vegas, NV)
Chocolate Rain (live 7/28/17, New York, NY)
Chalk Dust Torture/Mirror in the Bathroom (live 11/27/98, Worcester, MA)
Chalk Dust Torture (A Picture of Nectar version)
Tweezer (live 4/4/98, Providence, RI)
Llama
Watcher of the Skies
Maze
Crosseyed and Painless (live 10/31/96, Atlanta, GA)
Piper (live 4/3/98, Uniondale, NY)
Free
Riker’s Mailbox
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (live 4/4/98, Providence, RI)
Others:
Electric Six - Getting into the Jam
Charles Mingus - Jump Monk
They Might Be Giants - The World’s Address
Little Feat - Spanish Moon
Derek and the Dominos - Layla
Weezer - The Good Life
Camel - Echoes
Band/album personnel
Trey Anastasio – guitars, vocals
Page McConnell – keyboards, vocals
Mike Gordon – bass guitar, vocals
Jon Fishman – drums, vocals
The Giant Country Horns (on "Gumbo"):
Peter Apfelbaum – tenor saxophone
Carl Gerhard – trumpet
Dave Grippo – alto saxophone
James Harvey – trombone
Michael Ray – trumpet
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Phish - Tweezer (this episode only)
You can buy or stream A Live One and other albums by Phish at your local record store, livephish.com, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing and production is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for producing the introduction and theme song. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.