Friday Mix Tape: Solo Tunes That Somehow Leaked Out Of Your Cup

Yesterday, Luke “The Prophet” Sacks shared his preview of the second leg of Summer Tour and laid out the ever-shrinking list of songs that Phish could possibly bustout that they have played at least once before. Today, we’re going to have a listen to some of the best songs written by the individual members during the breakup of Phish and scratch our heads trying to figure out why they haven’t made it to the big stage yet.

The GRAB tour of Summer 2006 that featured Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon, Marco Benevento and Joe Russo had a number of originals and even more great covers that Phish should also steal at some point. But today we focus on originals. Leading off is the laid-back funky number Hap-Nappy. From the same tour there is also another tune titled Suskind Hotel, that Cactus has also played with his solo band. Speaking of Cactus, everyone seems to agree that Andelman’s Yard from the album The Green Sparrow is well-suited to have Phish give a whack at it. One song, Beauty of a Broken Heart, has successfully made the crossover from Page McConnell’s 2007 self-titled solo recording debut, perhaps Heavy Rotation could be next.

Moving on to the solo efforts of Trey Anastasio, Goodbye Head has always seemed like a Phish song with its intricate composition and Reba-esque (often not played) jam section. I’ve always thought A Case Of Ice & Snow, an honest tune Trey penned with John Cruz and “Captain Kevin” Hoffman, would make a good addition to the slow-tune rotation. Gordon’s rocker Only A Dream was at least once learned in full by Phish as they included it on their Party Time release. And finally, though not written by any member of Phish, but played frequently on the GRAB tour, we have the Benevento Russo Duo tune Something For Rockets, an anthemic instrumental that filled amphitheaters in that Summer of 2006.