The B List: 10 Bands Phish Hasn’t Covered

9. Metallica

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Imagine Mike Gordon banging his head and starting For Whom The Bell Tolls on his overdriven bass. Not quite sure who would handle the vocals, but we’d love to see the boys give this one a shot.

8. Pearl Jam

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Pearl Jam got huge around the same time Phish got huge and the Vermonters actually would tease and jam out Alive back in the mid ’90s. We’d be happy to see them cover any of their tunes, but for some reason I think they’d do a really good job with Wishlist off of 1998’s Yield.

7. Tom Petty

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Back in 2006, future Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio opened a number of shows on Tom Petty’s Highway Companion Tour. As I’ve just learned today, Trey joined the Heartbreakers for a ripping version of Mystic Eyes in Detroit. There’s any number of classic Petty tunes Phish could cover, but how about Jammin’ Me? Kinda fitting.

6. U2

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Sure, Trey reference U2 at Red Rocks on August 6, 1996, but that’s about as close as we’ve come to seeing the Vermont-based quartet cover the Irish rockers. The song Desire seems to leave a little room for the band to rock out, so we’ll go with that one.

5. The Clash

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While nearly every jamband has covered The Clash, Phish has never played a song by the band that bridged the gap from Punk to New Wave. For instrumentations sake, and because it’d be fun to dance to, we’re going with Rock The Casbah. We’d also be down with London Calling, Garageland or Should I Stay or Should I Go?

4. Rush

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Considering all of the proggy influence in Phish’s music, it’s surprising that the band never covered a Rush song. We’d love to see what Phish could do with YYZ.

3. Genesis

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Another great cover for Phish’s first post-Breakup gigs would be Genesis’ Turn It On Again. Plenty of room for improv on this one.

2. Steely Dan

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Back in July, Ryan Blitstein found many comparisions between the music of Steely Dan and Phish. In fact, according to Blitstein when Trey Anastasio first put up ads at UVM looking for a bass player it says something like “guitarist and singer into Steely Dan, Allman Brothers.” We’d love to hear Phish’s take on Josie, but there are so many other perfect tunes like Show Biz Kids, the Royal Scam and The Fez.

1. Radiohead

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It’s about time that one of the biggest bands of the ’90s shows some love for one of the other biggest bands of the ’90s. Two members of Phish have covered Radiohead with their solo projects, yet the full band has never rocked one of Thom Yorke’s tunes. Trey played Knives Out at Richmond in 2005, while Page offered a brilliant cover of Subterranean Homesick Alien with Vida Blue. We’ll go with McConnell’s Subterranean Homesick Alien call.

Other Huge Bands Phish Has Never Covered: Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull, The Kinks, Chicago, Beach Boys, Billy Joel, Yes, The Cars, Styx, Pixies, R.E.M., The Ramones, Guns N Roses, Nine Inch Nails, Faith No More

Thanks to Bloo2e, T$ and all of Team HLA for their feedback on this list. What songs would you like to see Phish cover when they return next year? Let us know by leaving a comment below…

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26 Responses

  1. Uh, seriously… Metallica? GNR?

    If you switched this list to songs Primus should cover, I would feel a bit better.

    You’re right on with Tom Petty.

    To me, Wilco sounds like what Phish would sound like if they put some emotion into their lyrics. I want some tunes about being busted and having a divorce, or a DUI (passenger side might be the most clever song ever).

  2. Good topic! And yeah, flashing back to those Petty/Trey dates brought some good memories. I think it happpened only once, but Trey did sit in with the Heartbreakers for “Mystic Eyes” (8/8/06) Probably video or photos somewhere out in the tubes…

  3. The Dude: Jesus, man, can you change the station?
    Cab Driver: Fuck you man! You don’t like my fucking music, get your own fucking cab!
    The Dude: I’ve had a–
    Cab Driver: I pull over and kick your ass out, man!
    The Dude: –had a rough night, and I hate the fucking EAGLES, man!

    Me too Dude, me too

  4. They should play the Dude’s favorite band…CCR! And I’m talking “Ramble Tamble”.

    If they gotta do Eagles, I’d rather hear “Those Shoes”. That’s a good Eagles song right there.

  5. “Back in 2006, future Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio opened a number of shows on Tom Petty’s Highway Companion Tour. Sadly, the two greats never collaborated. There’s any number of classic Petty tunes Phish could cover, but how about Jammin’ Me? Kinda fitting.”

    not true, trey and tom played together at the detroit show

  6. Had this idea the other day – Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams.” It has a wordless singing part perfect for a vacuum solo, no guitar so Trey can cover drums, and lyrics about holding your head up. It seems ready-made.

    And I second the Wilco suggestion.

    How about another band that recently reunited – Ben Folds Five. I would love a rocking “Army” with Trey ripping it up instead of the horn part.

    Also I believe they only covered CSNY once (the song Woodstock). Where’s my huge 20 min. “Carry On?”

  7. Trevor/Chad – Thanks for the heads up. I replaced my erroneous text with a link to the video of Trey sitting in for Mystic Eyes. Way cool!

  8. I was lucky enough to catch Vida Blue play Subterranean Homesick Alien. I couldn’t believe they chose to cover my absolute FAVORITE Radiohead song! I think Phish could play any of RH’s songs assuming Page is on vox, his vocals were brilliant on SHA. That Knives Out from Trey’s Band is pretty rough though….

  9. out of curiousity, which fella would most likely rock the flute for a Jethro tune?

    i’d say Page.

    also, on the heels of u-melt’s moe.down Michael Jackson throwdown, i’m curious if/when the boys ever donned the solo-silver mit for some ‘king of pop’ tributes…???

  10. Goff – I think the extent of it is Black or White teases in ’92 and ’95 and all that Beat It/Thriller madness right before Halloween ’95.

  11. great post that got my mind racing on covers we’ve heard and what i’d love to hear. a few of us got to see ‘higher ground’ at higher ground before it closed, which was on my all-time wish list. (obviously they’ve covered stevie before though.) Any Major Dude by Steely would rock. The licks in Mary Jane by Petty would be nice to hear Trey shred too. My vote = Pearl Jam, Leash…

  12. The biggest baddest and best tribute they could ever pull off would be in support of the guys who helped them carve out a place in the American musical landscape –

    Widespread Panic
    (with the HOUSER sound imitated)

    I’m just saying….

  13. Hilariously enough I hate this list except for the calsh. Oddly enough another of my fav bands HAS covered almost all of the see. see umphrey’s mcgee.

  14. One of the many things I Love @ Phish is hearing the subtleties of other bands I love in their jams and small teases. They act like ear worms burrowing deeper into my brain until i figure out what it’s reminding me of. Lets call them little Piper’s. Thanks to a very knowledgeable community of Phans, I can usually get tons of help trying to figure them out.
    I wouldn’t mind hearing some Yes or The Police covered. Hell, they could jam out Brittany Spears and the crowds would still eat it up, cuz they’re Phish!
    What we need to see is these older bands covering some PHISH! Yes is touring again this summer 😉
    Thanks for the posting Scott.

    1. Just re-listened to ‘Ghost’ 12/31/10 MSG. Check @ 4:15 mark and listen to the subtle Abacab. Fine version of the song too, and on New Years at the Mecca!

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