"Came from the baby's mouth..."

So the other day my buddy Phil told me about this website where this guy has been practically doing what I have set out to do with this blog. However he goes into more detail about certain shows, posts links to song compilations he has thrown together and such. While it is a great site, I really want to focus on me. Not to sound self serving or anything, but I wanted to try to regurgitate old memories (if possible) and tell the magical tale of Me and the four from Vermont.

To do so we have to go back, way back. Now not as far back as when the band started in 1983 because I don't think a 6 yr old from Montgomery, Alabama would understand what that band was all about.

So let me begin with 1994. (Junior year of high school).

Now I was into alot of music at this point. Primarily the classics like Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Beatles, etc. Mix all of that with the average mid-90's flare of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. However I wasn't afraid to dabble in all types of music. Growing up my family's only stereo was in my room and in my parents car. I had to find my own sound and my own tastes because damn if I was going to listen to the local country station in Montgomery for the rest of my life. I mean my first cassettes were Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill and Run DMC Raising Hell. So moving right along with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, the Police, and Roger Waters in high school put me in the prime condition to prepare for Phish.

As I can recall the first song that I heard was "You Enjoy Myself". Truly the defining song that showcases the band's many talents. I think I heard it on cassette at a buddy's house just randomly and at the time thought it was good, but didn't rush out to my local music store to grab a copy. Although now that I mention it I believe someone did make me a copy of that tape. It was called Junta. Junta? What the hell does that mean? It was then that I began to realize that this band was just plain silly. I didn't pay too much attention to it at first because honestly my head was so far up into Pearl Jam that I thought I had found my band. I was wrong.

That year I got a second part time job at Blockbuster Music. For what it's worth, Blockbuster Music was originally Turtles Music, but got bought out by Blockbuster because they thought they could dominate not only the movie rental business (at the time was VHS, wow) but could also rack up in cd sales. Yes they did fail and were bought out by Wherehouse Music, but more on that later.

So as with any music store employee, a wide array of music is at your disposal and boy did I take advantage. At our store we had a cd listening bar where anyone could listen to a cd, new or used, before purchase. Granted this was before the advent of the ipod and the mp3 revolution, but it gave us a chance to get our feet wet in all genres of music.

My store manager was Jamie Kendrick. A really cool dude in his late twenties I believe at that point but we got along well none the less. During the slow hours Jamie introduced me to some really good good music and albums that I can't live without now. Things like Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and Frank Zappa's Overnight Sensation, the list goes on and on. However he never really revealed his secret weapon to me until I asked. I remember working one day and Jamie was running around frantic on the phone with his mom. Apparently Phish was playing the David Letterman show and Jamie somehow scored tickets. He was on the phone with his mom trying to book plane reservations. So I'm thinking, ok I've got to find out what this is all about.

I asked Jamie which Phish cd I should go for first and forgetting that I had Junta on cassette. I think he said "all of them" but pointed me towards Hoist. He said that it was the most "commercial" record they had done to date and the most easiest to get into. And it was at the time, but I still thought it was silly. The songs were great from start to finish. I really started to appreciate what this band was doing. The mix of genres, the different tempos and chord progressions, and the harmonies sold me. I needed another cd so I bought the rest of them. I was preparing for college as a new found Phish fan. Thanks Jamie.