What Is The Harry Hood X-Factor?

In revisiting some of the widely regarded best Harry Hood’s ever played, there’s often a common denominator that goes largely unnoticed, which is a layer of thick distortion during the final ascent to madness. It’s not as though Trey’s playing as of late without it (or at least, significantly less of it) is uninspired, but it’s simply that when he’d stomp that distortion pedal in a great version from 1993 or 1994, you could literally feel him get mad. The instant that tone kicked in, it became clear that the Languedoc was about to take a beating.

As an example, let’s take a look at the final climax of our resident Phish librarian, Scotty B’s all-time favorite version, which took place on October 20th, 1994 at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Mahaffey-Hood-10.20.94.mp3]

During this segment, as with many Hoods from the era, it’s so clear how the change to the thick, raw distorted tone instantly boosts the energy of the jam, and concurrently riles up the fans. Now, compare that to the final segment from the most recent rendition played, which took place in the third set of Halloween in Atlantic City this past fall.

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Atlantic-City-Hood-10312010.mp3]

This later version is interesting as a point of comparison, because Trey actually plays rather flawlessly and implements some unique melodies, but it just doesn’t quite reach the pinnacle that the song strives to achieve in its finest moments. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with this version, but something is missing versus a really memorable one like the one provided above. It’s sort of like, cold pizza is good, but hot pizza is delicious.

Generally speaking, the more modern versions seem to emphasize gentle, reverb-heavy improvisations throughout the duration, which do build, just not to the same extent as the machine gun versions. In the past, you’d typically see the band start with the trickling, softer material, but work itself into a feverish, roiling boil. Now, it only warms to a simmer before cooling down with the outro.

Now, it’s naive to assume that simply switching the tone of the guitar unearths the secret to the song, as there’s many other factors at play, not the least of which are the actual phrasings and the interplay with the rest of the band, but I do think there is something to this. It’s a common theme in a lot of the best versions, and anyone who has ever played an electric guitar with a fat layer of distortion will attest that it provides an extra level of confidence, instant balls. And that extra boost seems to be an integral part of what takes a good Harry Hood and turns it into a great one.