Colorado '88
Encyclopedia
Colorado '88 is a 3-CD
live album from the rock band Phish
, recorded over several nights in summer 1988. Despite having only traveled outside Vermont
occasionally, in the New England
college and club circuit, Phish embarked on a tour in the west. The band played seven shows in ten days to tiny crowds in small bars and restaurants in the ski towns of Telluride
and Aspen
. Colorado '88 collects, in chronological order, the best of those shows, providing a vivid glimpse into the days before the three and four-night stands at amphitheaters and arenas that would distinguish Phish in the years to come.
Mastered from the original analog cassette tapes, Colorado '88 contains recordings of songs that had not previously been widely traded or heard with such clarity. Several of the tracks in the collection had never before appeared on an official Phish release.
According to Mike Gordon
in The Phish Book
: "My fiance Cilla Foster was responsible for our first tour. In 1988 she was waitressing in Telluride for a guy named Warren Stickney. I didn't know her very well at the time, but one day she called and said Stickney wanted us to come play in his bar. We'd never played further away from home than New Hampshire at the time, but Stickney promised to book a monthlong tour across the country. It took another six months to get him on the phone again, but I finally spoke with him about a week before we were supposed to hit the road. He said something like, 'I don't know if I can get you any other gigs, but you can play my place and I'll pay you a thousand bucks.' I couldn't get him on the phone after that, so the six of us - including Paul Languedoc
and Tim Rogers, who was doing lights - decided to go for it anyway.
"We finished playing a Nectar's gig at 2am, took a vote, and decided to head west then and there. Our friends Ninja Custodian subbed for us the next night at Nectar's, and we took off across the country with turkey ham, cheese, and apple butter. It was the middle of summer, and we were traveling in a windowless truck with only a foam mattress on the floor. We didn't even stop at a rest area for forty hours, so the truck got pretty disgusting."
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
live album from the rock band Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, recorded over several nights in summer 1988. Despite having only traveled outside Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
occasionally, in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
college and club circuit, Phish embarked on a tour in the west. The band played seven shows in ten days to tiny crowds in small bars and restaurants in the ski towns of Telluride
Telluride, Colorado
The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...
and Aspen
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
. Colorado '88 collects, in chronological order, the best of those shows, providing a vivid glimpse into the days before the three and four-night stands at amphitheaters and arenas that would distinguish Phish in the years to come.
Mastered from the original analog cassette tapes, Colorado '88 contains recordings of songs that had not previously been widely traded or heard with such clarity. Several of the tracks in the collection had never before appeared on an official Phish release.
History
When Phish arrived in the Colordao, they made the most of the opportunity, managing to improvise bookings for seven shows over the course of ten days - six of which were in the small mountain town of Telluride.According to Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon
Mike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
in The Phish Book
The Phish Book
The Phish Book is a 192-page book detailing the history of the rock band Phish. It was written by music journalist Richard Gehr in cooperation with the Phish organization. It contains in-depth stories and quotes from early fans and the band members themselves. It was released in 1998 shortly before...
: "My fiance Cilla Foster was responsible for our first tour. In 1988 she was waitressing in Telluride for a guy named Warren Stickney. I didn't know her very well at the time, but one day she called and said Stickney wanted us to come play in his bar. We'd never played further away from home than New Hampshire at the time, but Stickney promised to book a monthlong tour across the country. It took another six months to get him on the phone again, but I finally spoke with him about a week before we were supposed to hit the road. He said something like, 'I don't know if I can get you any other gigs, but you can play my place and I'll pay you a thousand bucks.' I couldn't get him on the phone after that, so the six of us - including Paul Languedoc
Paul Languedoc
Paul Languedoc was the soundman for rock group Phish prior to the band's breakup in 2004. As the band's chief sound engineer and house mixer, he recorded their double-CD A Live One, and all 27 volumes of the Live Phish Series. He also built guitars and basses for Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon. A...
and Tim Rogers, who was doing lights - decided to go for it anyway.
"We finished playing a Nectar's gig at 2am, took a vote, and decided to head west then and there. Our friends Ninja Custodian subbed for us the next night at Nectar's, and we took off across the country with turkey ham, cheese, and apple butter. It was the middle of summer, and we were traveling in a windowless truck with only a foam mattress on the floor. We didn't even stop at a rest area for forty hours, so the truck got pretty disgusting."
Disc one
- "The Curtain With" (AnastasioTrey AnastasioTrey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
, DaubertMarc DaubertMarc Daubert was the percussionist for the rock band Phish for a brief time in their early history, joining the band in September 1984 and leaving the band in February 1985....
) - 17:34 - "The Sloth" (Anastasio) - 3:08
- "Icculus" (Anastasio, MarshallTom Marshall (singer)Tom Marshall is a lyricist, keyboardist and singer/songwriter best known for his association with Trey Anastasio and the rock band Phish...
) - 4:48 - "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" (Anastasio) - 5:43
- "Fly Famous Mockingbird" (Anastasio) - 9:14
- "I Didn't Know" (Wright) - 5:38
- "Maiden VoyageMaiden Voyage (composition)"Maiden Voyage" is a jazz composition by Herbie Hancock from his 1965 album Maiden Voyage. It features Hancock's quartet – trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams – with additional saxophonist George Coleman...
" (HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
) - 9:29 - "Timber" (WhiteJosh WhiteJoshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
) - 11:23 - "HarpuaHarpua"Harpua" is a Phish song that was a staple of their live concerts, but has now become a rarity and has only been performed live. Though it always follows the same basic structure , Trey Anastasio always narrated a different story at every concert in the middle of the...
" (Anastasio, FishmanJon FishmanJon Fishman is an American drummer best known for his work with the band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 19 Phish originals, 8 of them as a solo credit....
) - 12:27
Disc two
- "Fluffhead" (Anastasio, PollakThe Dude of LifeSteve Pollak, best known by his stage name The Dude of Life, is a musician and lyricist, who has co-written numerous Phish songs, including "Suzy Greenberg", "Fluffhead", "Slave to the Traffic Light", "Run like an Antelope", "Sanity", "Crimes of the Mind", "Dinner and a Movie", and most recently,...
) - 14:54 - "Run Like an Antelope" (Anastasio, Marshall, Pollak) - 10:58
- "Sneakin' Sally Thru the Alley" (ToussaintAllen ToussaintAllen Toussaint is an American musician, composer, record producer, and influential figure in New Orleans R&B.Many of Toussaint's songs have become familiar through numerous cover versions, including "Working in the Coalmine", "Ride Your Pony", "Fortune Teller", "Play Something Sweet ", "Southern...
) - 6:47 - "Light Up or Leave Me Alone" (CapaldiJim CapaldiNicola James "Jim" Capaldi was an English musician and songwriter. His musical career lasted more than four decades. He co-founded Traffic in Birmingham with Steve Winwood, and the band's psychedelic rock was influential in Britain and the United States...
) - 7:27 - "The Lizards" (Anastasio) - 10:21
- "I Know a Little" (GainesSteve GainesSteven Earl Gaines was an American musician. He is most well known as a guitarist and songwriter for southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and is the younger brother of Cassie Gaines, who was also a member of the band...
) - 2:59 - "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday" (Anastasio) - 3:18
- "Avenu Malcanu" (Traditional) - 3:08
- "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday" (Anastasio) - 1:35
- "Flat Fee" (Anastasio) - 2:22
- "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters" (Anastasio, Marshall) - 9:32
- "Alumni Blues" (Anastasio) - 4:32
- "Letter To Jimmy Page" (Anastasio) - 1:00
- "Alumni Blues" (Anastasio) - :44
Disc three
- "Camel Walk" (HoldsworthJeff HoldsworthJeff Holdsworth was a founding member of the rock band Phish. He was their first leader, singing lead vocals and playing guitar. He co-founded the band in the fall of 1983 with Trey Anastasio while living in the Redstone campus dormitories of the University of Vermont...
) - 5:39 - "Wilson" (Anastasio, Marshall, Woolf) - 5:47
- "No Dogs Allowed" (Anastasio) - 13:50
- "Mike's SongMike's SongMike's Song is a song by the jam band Phish. Originally written in 1985, and debuting that year on October 17, bass player Mike Gordon's song has been played a total of 378 times , the second most played song in Phish history ..-"Mike's Groove":Mike's Song is the first song in a series of three...
" (GordonMike GordonMike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
) - 4:55 - "I Am Hydrogen" (Anastasio, Daubert, Marshall) - 2:06
- "Weekapaug Groove" (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, McConnellPage McConnellPage Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
) - 4:20 - "You Enjoy MyselfYou Enjoy MyselfYou Enjoy Myself, commonly abbreviated to "YEM" is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio. It is the band's most frequently played song, having been featured —as of August 2011— at about 36% of their 1,496 shows. The song is also one of the oldest in Phish's catalog, having been first performed...
" (Anastasio) - 17:31 - "Cities" (ByrneDavid Byrne (musician)David Byrne is a musician and artist, best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the American new wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1975 and 1991. Since then, Byrne has released his own solo recordings and worked with various media including film, photography,...
) - 4:44 - "Dave's Energy Guide" (Abrahams, Anastasio) - 1:25
- "Cities" (Byrne) - :41
- "AC/DC Bag" (Anastasio) - 10:06
- "Corinna" (DavisJesse Ed DavisJesse Edwin Davis was an American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist. His death in 1988 is attributed to a drug overdose.-Biography:...
, Taj MahalTaj Mahal (musician)Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
) - 4:33 - "Thank You" - 3:37
Bonus tracks
- "Sanity" (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, McConnell, Pollak) - 7:41
- "Dog Log" (Anastasio) - 4:30
- "Big Black Furry Creature From Mars" (Gordon) - 3:52
- "Slave to the Traffic Light" (Abrahams, Anastasio, Pollak) - 10:27
- "Harry Hood" (Anastasio, Fishman, Gordon, Long, McConnell) - 13:39
Personnel
PhishPhish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
- Trey AnastasioTrey AnastasioTrey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
- guitars, vocals - Page McConnellPage McConnellPage Samuel McConnell is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as a songwriter and keyboardist with the American rock band Phish....
- keyboards, vocals - Mike GordonMike GordonMike Gordon is a bass guitar player and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish. Gordon is also an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano, guitar, harmonica and percussion...
- bass guitar, vocals - Jon FishmanJon FishmanJon Fishman is an American drummer best known for his work with the band Phish. He is credited with co-writing 19 Phish originals, 8 of them as a solo credit....
- drums, vocals