Book Review – Phish: The Biography

Much like our recent review of the Phish album Joy that weighed the merits of studio Phish vs. live Phish, the newly released Phish: The Biography (Da Capo Press) must be critically analyzed on multiple tracks simultaneously. First, does it appeal to the uber-obsessed Phish fan that is only two digits away from knowing every band member's social security number? Second, does it adequately introduce the uninformed reader to the 26-years-and-counting phenomenon that is Phish? Finally, does the book adequately capture the magic surrounding the band, especially in those halcyon early years?

For the most part, the answer is “Yes,” although there are some noticeable oversights and, for a book only running 318 pages, there certainly was room for more content and depth. Phish: The Biography was written by Parke Puterbaugh, a veteran rock journalist who had enjoyed unprecedented access to the inside world of Phish since being assigned a Rolling Stone article back in 1995, and the book opens with a brief reflection by Puterbaugh on this intimate relationship.

Phish: The Bio divides its chronological coverage of the history of the band into six segments, the first from 1983-87, the band's inception and formation at the University of Vermont. For many Phish-heads, most of this info is covering old ground, although some rarely known nuggets are revealed, including clarifying that the band's first club gigs were at Doolins in Burlington, and not the famous Nectar's.

Sure to ignite the interest (and venom?) of Phish live show completists is Phish vault archivist Kevin Shapiro's disclosure that there are entire collections of 1980's Phish shows that private collectors have demanded too much in exchange for their release, either in terms of money or “guarantees” that a given recording of a show will be officially released, which Phish cannot promise.

This chapter also explores the influences on Phish's formation – and dispelling the notion that the Grateful Dead were their primary inspiration. Of course, there are numerous sources from which Phish came to create their unique sound, but for guitarist/primary songwriter Trey Anastasio, he may have been most influenced by the Talking Heads 1980 album, Remain in Light. Anastasio said he used the album in the early '80s to more fully develop his style and jamming techniques. By contrast, Trey didn't attend his first Grateful Dead show until 1982, and even then he didn't “get” the Dead until seeing them while tripping on LSD at a later show.

The next chapter deals with the band's gradual rise to fame, including the Internet's role in transforming Phish from cult band to cultural phenomenon. While Web sites like Phish.net and PhantasyTour.com are given their proper due, Puterbaugh fails to acknowledge LivePhish.org, which has been around since 1994 (five years before Phantasy Tour); "LP" as it is affectionately known, was, is and remains one of the most vital Phish fan-sites.

The "peak years" of 1993-96 follow, including a richly detailed recollection of Puterbaugh's first live Phish experience at Colorado’s hallowed Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 1995. This section also contains perhaps the very first entry into the literary world for the terms “wookie” (dreadlock sporting, seldom bathing, often self-righteous fans), “custies” and “trustafarians” (preppy/jock/frat boy, self-centered fans not “hip to the scene”).

Puterbaugh defines the "post-peak" years as 1997-2000 (though most would assert '97 was a definite peak year), when the band changed their policies regarding self-analysis, regular practicing, backstage access, and most significantly, which drugs to consume. In the '80s, it was pot and psychedelics that fueled the Phish starship, and probably even less than that in the early '90s, as the band relentlessly toured the nation with a single-minded purpose to amaze their faithful and win over skeptics. Cocaine was introduced during the Billy Breathes recording sessions (1996) before becoming a backstage staple during the late '90s party scene. Puterbaugh insightfully notes that the youthful resilience that carried the band through the early years gave way to inevitable burnout, and thus, artificial stimulants became almost required for the older rock stars/road crew to make it through yet another tour. Drugs obviously played a hand in the band's first hiatus in 2000 and the aborted break-up in 2004 (despite Anastasio being clean for much of 2003, which showed in vastly superior live Phish performances that particular year).

Besides drugs, Puterbaugh offers various theories on the break-up, including the "bloated office" of Phish, Inc. that seemed to load added weight on Anastasio's already burdened shoulders; in order to keep everyone employed, Phish had to keep touring and producing music. This reviewer found much of this material captivating, especially as it had not appeared in earlier Phish books and biographies. This may not be the "final word" on Phish's '04 demise, but it's compelling just the same. By contrast, the chapter on the 2009 reunion covers no new ground and fails to bring the reader “into the moment,” when Phish triumphantly (miraculously?) took the stage at the Hampton Coliseum last March 6th.

Phish: The Bio gives proper due to “Gamehendge,” with an entire chapter dedicated to the “lost album” of The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday (TMWSIY).  Puterbaugh makes one of his most audacious assertions when he compares Gamehendge to the Beach Boys' lost classic LP, Smile, which was eventually officially recorded by primary Beach Boy composer Brian Wilson in 2004. Puterbaugh offers that TMWSIY deserves the same sort of treatment, to be formally recorded, so that it may join the ranks of other classic concept albums in rock history, like Quadrophenia and Dark Side of the Moon (two albums Phish has performed live).

Puterbaugh also clarifies a song issue that relates to our previous Joy review, in which it was stated the Round Room album contained a new Gamehendge song (“Walls of the Cave”). According to Puterbaugh, lyricist Tom Marshall originally wrote “Walls” for his son. Additionally, “Walls” was not overtly written for the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. It's ultimately a personal song, neither fantasy nor real-world tragedy.

There's also an exclusive, extended brand new interview with Anastasio as he discusses the 2009 reunion, throwing in a comment every Phish-head longs to hear: “There's no reason Phish couldn't go on for quite some time.”

Phish: The Bio contains the occasional contradiction. For instance, Puterbaugh writes that after the nightmare formerly known as Coventry, keyboardist Page McConnell didn't speak to Anastasio for “over a year,” and that a 2006 dinner at Trey's house was the first time they'd been in the same room since Coventry. Yet, Puterbaugh also places every member of Phish at the organization's annual Xmas party in 2004. So which is it?

Additionally, the book heaps too much praise and coverage upon the mediocre-at-best Farmhouse album, with only minimal discourse devoted to the once-in-a-lifetime Big Cypress concert held on the 12/31/99 millennium celebration. Sadly, there's nary a word on the band's December 2002 Saturday Night Live appearance, in which they practically co-hosted the show with Al Gore. Also (wisely?) ignored is bassist Mike Gordon's 2003 arrest for child endangerment after taking photographs of a (fully clothed) nine-year old girl whose father happened to be a Hell's Angel (the charges against Gordon were dropped, however, several of the bikers intimidated and physically struck Gordon at the time of the incident).

One glaring omission: No mention of The Pharmer's Almanac, the original compendium of Phish history, show recollections, set lists and statistics; a book that has since been supplanted by the politically-correct, charity-based Phish Companion. True, the Almanac was reviled by many in the scene because it was viewed as an attempt by a few Phish-heads to monetarily capitalize on the set list compilations and show reviews that had been shared by fans for free for years. Yet the Almanac stands as the defining template for all other Phish-related books that followed, including Phish: The Biography.

Still, Puterbaugh has seemingly written the definitive Phish bio, one that can be updated throughout the years as the band rolls on into 2010 and beyond. This reviewer suggests a specific band member biography to be the next most logical book written, perhaps on colorful drummer Jon "Fish" Fishman, arguably the best musician in this band of sonic stalwarts. Such a personal bio would permit one to view the Phish phenomenon through a different prism than the conventional “history of the band” approach that has been covered sufficiently, now capped off by Phish: The Biography.

Phish: The Biography receives 4 out of 5 pot leaves.