Gone Phishin'-Bluegrass Tribute to Phish

Gone Phishin'-Bluegrass Tribute to Phish (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 22, 2000)
• Original Release Date: August 29, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cmh Records
• ASIN: B00004W5AR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,699 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Record label CMH has spun out easy-listening bluegrass "tribute" albums by the score. Thus it seemed inevitable that Phish would eventually come into the label's musical crosshairs. Despite its seeming improbability, this transposition of spacey post-Dead improvisations into down-home bluegrass actually makes a lot of sense. Talented "newgrass" pickers thrive on the same sort of free-form musical explorations that have long typified Phish's music and made them such an immense draw as a live act. Though often delightful, these studio-musician-rendered covers of Phish phavorites like "Silent in the Morning," "Glide," and "Chalkdust Torture" tend to pale a bit when measured against the real thing. Thus the real appeal of Gone Phishin' will probably be pretty much limited to hard-core, open-minded Phish phanatics. --Bob Allen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Straight outta KTEL, September 1, 2000

By 

Prinado (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gone Phishin'-Bluegrass Tribute to Phish (Audio CD)

Phish has hauled some incredible names to stage center through the years, and, very soon, we'll see some of those names and other influential artists -- Los Lobos, Willie Nelson, Little Feat, Arlo Guthrie, Son Seals, to name a few -- pay tribute to the band in the Mockingbird Foundation's tribute album.

Until the album (and book) hit the shelves, we have this somewhat mysterious bluegrass-tinged tribute to fill the space. Why mysterious? Well, the record label -- CMH Records -- is a small entity specializing in odd compilations and tribute albums cut by faceless studio musicians. This release -- conveniently timed with Phish's strongest public exposure to date - features covers of their compositions spanning nearly the breadth of their career.

The delivery of the covers by these six slick pro studio musicians is fine...great, really. Nice pickin', some wonderful guitar work, good renditions of the album versions of the tunes. But by midway through my second listen, the novelty wore off. One thing I realized after hearing these instrumental versions was just how much power and soul the original version's lyrics pack...imagine hearing the band hum their way through 'Rift'. Sure it would be a hoot, but much of the meaning of the voice-instrument interaction would be stripped away. In the case of the songs on this CD, the already soul-less covers are even more so without words. Perhaps this CD should've stuck to bluegrass covers of instrumental Phish tunes (except for 'Sparkle'...nicely done here).

Listening to these tunes, I couldn't help but think that the recording was made between takes for car commercials and TV news theme songs. Another day in the studio -- quick listen to the album version of the song, slap the sheet music on a music stand, cue the tape, cut the track, next tune, repeat 11 more times, that's a wrap, next up -Volkswagon ad theme music....

Perhaps I shouldn't have taken a look at CMH's catalog - it's filled with these sorts of "tribute albums": SWINGIN' TO MICHAEL JACKSON / PICKIN' ON THE GRATEFUL DEAD VOL. 2 / GETTING INTO THE GROOVES: A TRIBUTE TO MADONNA / STRUNG OUT ON U2: THE STRING QUARTET TRIBUTE / PICKIN' ON ZZ TOP / THE 3 TENORS OF BLUEGRASS / PICKIN' ON JIMMY BUFFETT: A BLUEGRASS TRIBUTE

Pass the Cheez-Whiz. This CD is campy, but, still, it's a welcome addition to my eclectic collection (it fits nicely next to my CD of the London Philharmonic covering Pink Floyd). It's like the 'Stars on 45' for the new millennium, only without the constant segues and disco beat (now THAT would be a cool Phish tribute album).

The CD will make this little label some profit, for certain. But I recommend that you put your money to a good, non-profit cause...the Mockingbird Foundation's TRUE tribute will offer cover music played from the heart.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Elevator Phishin', September 8, 2000

By 

ROBERT W LAMBERT (chicago, il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gone Phishin'-Bluegrass Tribute to Phish (Audio CD)

The album contains 12 songs, 4 from each of 3 different studio albums (Story of the Ghost, Picture of Nectar, and Rift). It is my guess the folks responsible for this record caught wind of the phenomenon that is Phish, bought these 3 records randomly not knowing much about the band, picked the 4 songs from each that they felt that they could pull off, and proceeded to make this album with the intent of making a few bucks.

The music is good at times, but usually falls flat. I was hoping for at least a little jamming in the vein of Phish, but none is to be found (each song clocks in at around 3-4 minutes).

This record is a fun novelty at times, but usually comes off sounding like Phish elevator music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Bluegrass!, January 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Gone Phishin'-Bluegrass Tribute to Phish (Audio CD)

This album has gotten a lot of flak from Phish fans, "not enough jamming", "too much fiddle", etc. You need to be aware that this is not a Phish album, it's a Bluegrass album covering Phish songs. If you don't like Bluegrass but love Phish, the album still might not be for you. But, on the contrary, if you hate Phish but love Bluegrass, you may very well enjoy it. The instumental work, while not the best I've heard, is good and very musical, especially when played against Phish. It goes without saying that you'll love the album if you like Phish and Bluegrass. So konw what you're in for, but overall, it's a good buy.