The B List: 10 Phish Songs That Got Away

7. Take The “A” Train – This cover, popularized by Duke Ellington, is the song that the Vermonters have played most in their career that I haven’t seen yet besides the throwaway gimmick Big Ball Jam. It’s not like I missed it as they haven’t played it since two shows before I saw my first Phish concert, yet I have no doubt that out of nowhere the boys will pull out this jazz standard in the middle of a first set at some random show in Ohio. Odds: 275 to 1

6. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide… – Phish debuted their cover of my favorite song about monkeys with the rest of The Beatles’ White Album in Glens Falls on Halloween ’94. This one stayed on the shelve until 9/25/2000 when they busted it out as one of the more randomly awesome openers of all-time. Odds: 450 to 1

5. Highway to Hell – When I first started seeing Phish in 1994 they were rockin’ this AC/DC cover all the time, but within a few years it had disappeared from the band’s setlists. How could they not want to tear the shit out of this tune on a regular basis?Odds: 75 to 1

4. Leprechaun – Before Phish headed out on arguably the most important tour of their career – Summer 1993 – they worked up a gorgeous Trey-written instrumental that featured all sorts of wonderfully complex changes. Leprechaun has been criminally overlooked by the band since being played three times that summer. Odds: 800 to 1

3. Mock Song – There’s no mistaking Mike Gordon’s songwriting style and this quirky song with nonsensical lyrics could only have been by the Cactus. The quartet treated fans at The Gorge shows in 2003 to their only live version of this tune that they had originally recorded for Round Room. Odds: 60 to 1

2. Demand – When Hoist came out in 1994 it contained rockers (Sample), ballads (Lifeboy), throwaway studio songs (Riker’s Mailbox) and one proggy gem that was more in line with the complex masterpieces Trey had written in college than anything else on the album – Demand. On Hoist, they tacked part of the Split jam from 4/21/1993 onto the end of Demand and in concert they would usually segue from Demand into one of their big jam songs, but they quickly abandoned the tune. Odds: 175 to 1

1. The Ballad of Curtis Loew – Page McConnell’s bold but beautiful voice is the perfect tone for many songs, but you’d never think The Chairman of the Boards would do a good Ronnie Van Zant. Yet Leo fucking p’wned his delivery of the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd song The Ballad of Curtis Loew. Add that to the ripping licks Trey liked to interject and you get one of Phish’s best played covers. Sadly, the band hasn’t dusted this one off in concert since 1993, but they have soundchecked it a few times. Bastards! Odds: 100 to 1

How does this compare with your list? Post your list of what songs you’d like to see Phish play that you’ve never seen before in a comment below…