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Phish: The Story of the Ghost

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Elektra Records
Released: 1997.10.29
Time:
 49:51
Category: Alternative Rock
Producer(s): Andy Wallace
Rating:
Media type: CD
Web address: www.phish.com
Appears with: Trey Anastasio
Purchase date: 2012
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Ghost (Anastasio/Marshall) - 3:52
[2] Birds of a Feather (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 4:15
[3] Meat (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 2:39
[4] Guyute (Anastasio/Marshall) - 8:27
[5] Fikus (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 2:21
[6] Shafty (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 2:21
[7] Limb by Limb (Anastasio/Herman/Marshall) - 3:32
[8] Frankie Says (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 3:07
[9] Brian and Robert (Anastasio/Marshall) - 3:03
[10] Water in the Sky (Anastasio/Marshall) - 2:29
[11] Roggae (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 2:59
[12] Wading in the Velvet Sea (Anastasio/Marshall) - 4:30
[13] The Moma Dance (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 4:28
[14] End of Session (Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/Marshall/McConnell) - 1:54

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Trey Anastasio - Guitars, Vocals, Horn Arrangement on [2]
Page Mcconnell - Keyboards, Vocals
Mike Gordon - Bass Guitar, Pedal Steel, Vocals
Jon Fishman - Drums, Vocals

Dave Grippo - Saxophone on [2]
James Harvey - Trombone on [2]
Jennifer Hartswick - Trumpet on [2]
Heloise Williams - Background Vocals on on [2,6]

Andy Wallace - Producer, Mixer
Chris Shaw - Engineer
Chris Laidlaw - Assistant Recording Engineer
John Siket - Recording Engineer
Chris Laidlaw - Assistant Recording Engineer
Steve Sisco - Assistant Mix Engineer
Howie Weinberg - Mastering
John Billingsly - Pre-Production Digital Editing
John Paluska - Management
Beth Montuori - Production Assistance
Brad Sands - Production Assistance
Paul Languedoc - Technical Assistance
Pete Carini - Technical Assistance
Kevin Brown - Technical Assistance
Brian Brown - Technical Assistance
George Condo - Paintings
Lili Picou - Art Direction
Cynthia Brown - Project Management
Jason Colton - Project Management

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Recorded in March 11-15, September 29-October 2, 1997; April-June 1998, Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York and March 4-7, April 7-11, 1997, Dave O's Farmhouse.

Recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY April - June 1998
Additional Recording Sessions: Bearsville Studios 3/11-15, 9/29-10/2, 1997
Dave O's Farmhouse 3/4-7, 4/7-11, 1998 Recorded by Phish and Andy Wallace
Mixed at Soundracks Studios, NY, NY June/July 1998



Phish's The Story of the Ghost, the ninth album from neohippieville's most proficient and clever players, is their most commercially accessible offering to date, a slinky (and slightly funky) trip through a slim conceptual piece about a life-affirming spiritual quest -- or something like that; it all gets pretty confusing midway through. But Phish has never been a very literary group; instead, its fervent cult feasts on the technical agility of the band's prime and skilled instrumentalists, which is on grand display here. Yet, whatever charm that might come through at a Phish concert still can't quite transcend itself to record. Despite some good songs (the opening story-setting "Ghost," the groovy "Birds of a Feather," the strolling "Guyute") in a typically tuneless batch, The Story of the Ghost is occasionally sloppy, a bit smug, and often quite boring. In other words, another day in the studio for Phish.

Michael Gallucci - All Music Guide



The only ones more ardent and fanatical than Phish lovers are Phish haters, and of course, both parties support their opinions based on the exact same criteria. However, as the band matures and their sound ripens, the naysayers' stance becomes increasingly difficult to defend. Ghost, their seventh studio effort, is the quartet's most balanced and well-rounded studio collection, one that finds the middle ground between their wild stage forays and their more recent toned-down records while intensifying their ever-growing "cow funk" elements. Along the way there is room for concise song craft and angular complex journeys; thick funk, high-tempo romps, and quiet reflective passages; nuggets of lyrical wisdom floating in the usual sea of nonsense; cerebral prog-rock majesty tempered by visceral one- chord grooves; simplicity and psychedelia; instrumental precision and loose rambling. The twists and turns of "Guyute" will be familiar to the congregation as will the deep funk of "Meat" and bookends "Ghost" and "The Moma Dance." "Water in the Sky" takes a classic country progression and infuses it with a propulsive, almost Latin rhythm. Early-period albums may have better (and lengthier) jams, later albums may have better songs, but no other Phish album blends both aesthetics as well.

Marc Greilsamer - Amazon.com



These are the best and worst of times for fans of the jam. More groups are noodling around on their instruments in search of transcendence (if not a record contract) than at any time since the early Seventies. But at what price? Many post-Grateful Dead pups stretch tunes because it's expected of them, not because they have anything new or surprising to say. Self-expression can be a wonderful thing, but arrangements that consist of soloists wanking away for minutes at a time while the other band members chill by the drum riser, waiting their turn, is hardly a trend worth applauding.

And then you have Phish, the Vermont-based mother ship of the jam-band nation. What sets guitarist Trey Anastasio, keyboardist Page McConnell, bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman apart is that they jam as a band — as opposed to a collection of soloists with itchy trigger fingers. They're free-form but ego free. They've got chops, but they also have a sense of humor. Here's a band that, in concert, is just as liable to play lickety-split instrumental breaks in weird time signatures as it is to cover, unembellished, the entirety of the Who's Quadrophenia.

If there's a weak spot in Phish's arsenal, it has always been the songs themselves. Most of the band's early studio albums sound stiff, the tunes a muddle of half-baked ideas that didn't fully come alive until they were roasted under the stage lights. But with Billy Breathes (1996), the strained cleverness of the quartet's previous five studio releases gave way to a relaxed, bucolic groove in which melody reigned. The Story of the Ghost picks up that simpler, song-oriented thread in a most appealing fashion; it's a jam-band album for people who hate jam bands.

Story consists of fourteen relatively concise snippets culled from hours of studio workouts. There are hints of funk and jazz that never quite morph into either. That's no great loss, because the foursome has always sounded a bit clumsy when it has tried to swing. Instead, Phish exploit their subtlety like never before, with airy, uncluttered grooves and relaxed vocals that sound as if they were delivered between catnaps.

You want rock flash? Consult Dave Matthews or Blues Traveler. With the exception of the popping bass lines that drive "Birds of a Feather" and the guitar solo that darts out of "Limb by Limb," The Story of the Ghost traffics in mellowness. Even the frantic, Dixie Dregs-like boogie that erupts midway through "Guyute" is preceded by the sound of a Phisherman whistling a wan melody.

Because of this unhurried vibe, some may be tempted to dismiss Ghost as a song cycle for bong huggers. But once the buzz wears off, Phish still sound fresh. Among the disc's abundant charms: the loveliness of the melodies; the intricate but understated interaction of the instruments; and the life-affirming glow of the lyrics, as Phish continue their relentless attack on post-grunge self-pity.

Not everything works. In trying to make a kind of pop music that is tuneful, graceful and reassuring without actually resorting to verse/chorus pop structure, Phish sometimes fall short. "Fikus" and "Shafty" are more like fragments than actual songs, experiments that never quite coalesce. Mike Gordon sings "Fikus" in a high, soft voice that evokes the elfin mumble of British prog rocker Robert Wyatt, while percussion left over from a Tom Waits record clatters in the background; "Shafty" sounds like a low-key outtake from a blaxploitation-movie soundtrack.

Much more developed are "Meat," with its Hammond-organ hip sway, and the twisting acrobatics of "Guyute" — at eight and a half minutes, it's the sole track to break the five-minute barrier. On these tunes, Phish's fluid interplay is the primary attraction. But the soul of Story reveals itself during the album's second half, where simplicity, directness and brevity prevail. "Limb by Limb" layers voices into a call-and-response dialogue with a hint of reggae in the simmering syncopations. "Brian and Robert" suggests the Beach Boys at their most hymnlike with its wordless harmonies and gentle assurances aimed at loners and misfits.

"Water in the Sky" has the buoyancy of bluegrass; notes sparkle as complementary streams of melody cascade from Anastasio's guitar and McConnell's piano. It's a sound that joyously reflects the song's healing message: "Hear the voices flutter through/The barriers arranged by you." An even more soothing balm is applied by "Wading in the Velvet Sea," a psychedelic chantey that quietly builds into an anthem. It completes a string of songs in which the music pulls listeners in rather than knocking them back.

Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon and McConnell have nothing left to prove as instrumentalists, and they've moved beyond fancy finger exercises as their primary means of expression. With The Story of the Ghost, Phish affirm that songs, and not solos, are the soul of the jam.

Greg Kot - October 5, 1998
RollingStone.com



The Story of the Ghost is the seventh official studio album by the American rock band Phish. It was released by Elektra Records on October 27, 1998.

Much of the album originated during large-scale improvisation sessions. The band then took favorite moments from those in-studio jams and wrote songs around them, adding lyrics from a book of writings by long-time Phish lyricist Tom Marshall. Additional excerpts from the improvisational "Ghost Sessions" were also later released as The Siket Disc.

A few of the album's songs reflect the band's 1997 "cow-funk" sound, with bass guitarist Mike Gordon taking a more prominent role. Much of the album, however, is defined by what Rolling Stone called an "unhurried vibe ... with airy, uncluttered grooves and relaxed vocals." Unlike Phish's previous albums, The Story of the Ghost does not include any instrumentals. "End of Session" is the only song on the album to have never been performed live.

Early incarnations of several tracks from the album can be heard on the 2000 release Trampled by Lambs and Pecked by the Dove, a collection of song sketches recorded by frontman Trey Anastasio and lyricist Tom Marshall.

"Birds of a Feather", "Frankie Says", and "Shafty" (the latter song a reworking of Phish original "Olivia's Pool") were all debuted live during the "Island Tour", a brief run of shows the band played while taking a break from recording the album in April 1998. All four nights of the "Island Tour" were later released as part of the LivePhish Series.

In 2000 during the promotion for Farmhouse, many interviews saw Anastasio citing a certain disdain for the process of creating The Story of the Ghost. He was critical of the band's "socialistic" approach to the song selection for the album. "There were songs I thought should have gone on The Story of the Ghost album, that were better than the songs that got on there" Anastasio said in a 2000 interview. "if anyone didn't like a song it was out. But what happens with that approach is the material gets watered down. You end up with songs that everyone is fine with, but the best songs are usually those where one person is passionately for and one person really hates, because the best songs are those that arouse strong reactions".

Tom Marshall recalls that one of these stronger songs was omitted in favor of what he felt was a weaker track in "Fikus". In February 2009, The Story of the Ghost was made available as a download in FLAC and MP3 formats at LivePhish.com.

Wikipedia.org
 

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