Spotify Playlist: Phishfluence

Although cover song performances have been sparse on Phish‘s Summer Tour so far (with five shows eschewing them altogether in favor of all-original material), throughout their 30+ career the quartet has often featured the works of others while on stage. Just last night in Cuayhoga Falls, Ohio they played four covers: “Timber (Jerry),” “Ginseng Sullivan,” “Good Times Bad Times” and “Roses Are Free” – the last of which prompted guitarist Trey Anastasio to appeal to the founders of Ween to reunite. This week’s Spotify Playlist – Phishfluence – features 31 tracks Phish has covered live during their storied career, with a focus on the band’s early days.

The playlist begins with The Hollies’ “Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress” which was one of the first songs the band played live back in 1983 and which was busted out in Las Vegas on October 30, 1998.  From there the cross-genre influences on the band are represented in classic rockers like Traffic, Frank Zappa, Grateful Dead, Little Feat, The Who, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band and Jimi Hendrix, jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, bluesmen like Lightnin’ Hopkins, Josh White and Taj Mahal, the funkiness of Stevie Wonder, Mighty Diamonds and James Gang, bluegrass by Bill Monroe and The Osborne Brothers and much more.

All of the tracks have been played live at least twice and were debuted by Phish no later than 1990. It’s nearly two hours in running time of tracks that helped shape Phish’s early setlists – and are often still being covered – for your listening pleasure.