Phish (The White Tape)

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Phish (The White Tape)
Studio album by Phish
Released	1986, 1998
Recorded	various locations, 1984-1986
Genre	Rock
Label	Self-release, BMI
Producer(s)	Trey Anastasio
Phish chronology
	The White Tape (1986)	The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (1987)

In mid-1986, Phish released an extremely experimental self-titled cassette sometimes referred to as The White Tape. The album contained mostly avant-garde experimental pieces, long instrumental passages, electronic noise, and studio trickery, along with four standard full-band tracks. The album was widely circulated in bootleg circles for over a decade before finally being released in 1998.

It was recorded over a period of three years, and includes many outside musicians performing on certain songs. Only "Alumni Blues," "You Enjoy Myself," "AC/DC Bag," "Dog Log," and "Letter to Jimmy Page" feature the four bandmembers together. These tracks were recorded in the summer and fall of 1986, shortly after the departure of guitarist/vocalist Jeff Holdsworth. "You Enjoy Myself" is performed a cappella, with the band members singing the opening guitar lines.

"Alumni Blues" was, for a time, Phish's signature song. ^[1] The song combines "call-and-response lyrics, a catchy melody and a pounding jam segment. Its lyrics are often rhyming non-sequitors:

"Woke up this mornin', and I had those walkin' blues Wasn't walkin' nowhere, 'cuz I didn't have no legs!"

The song was rarely performed after 1991, but made a one-verse appearance April 15, 1994, at New York City's Beacon Theatre and another July 24, 1999 at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.

All instruments and vocals on "Fuck Your Face," "N02," "He Ent to the Bog," and "Minkin" are performed solely by Mike Gordon.

All instruments and vocals on "Run Like an Antelope" and "And So to Bed" are recorded solely by Trey Anastasio.

"The Divided Sky," "Ingest," and "Fluff's Travels," are performed by Anastasio, Phish lyricist Tom Marshall, and their friend Marc Daubert on percussion.

"Aftermath" features Anastasio and Roger Holloway on guitar.

"Slave to the Traffic Light" features Anastasio, Tom Marshall on keyboards and Pete Cottone on drums.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Alumni Blues"
2. "And So To Bed"
3. "You Enjoy Myself"
4. "AC/DC Bag"
5. "Fuck Your Face"
6. "The Divided Sky"
7. "Slave to the Traffic Light"
8. "Aftermath"
9. "Ingest"
10. "NO2"
11. "Fluff's Travels"
12. "Dog Log"
13. "He Ent to the Bog"
14. "Run Like an Antelope"
15. "Minkin"
16. "Letter to Jimmy Page"

All songs recorded 1984-1986

[edit] Personnel

Phish

Trey Anastasio - guitars, vocals

Page McConnell - keyboards, vocals

Mike Gordon - bass, vocals

Jon Fishman - drums, vocals

Source: Liner notes

[edit] References

1. ^ Budnick, Dean (1996). The Phishing Manual: A compendium to the music of Phish. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-8203-4.