| The Story of the Ghost | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 27, 1998 (U.S.) | |||
| Recorded | March 11–15, September 29 – October 2, 1997; April–June 1998,Bearsville Studios (Bearsville, New York, U.S.) Additional sessions: March 4–7, April 7–11, 1997, Dave O's Farmhouse | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:51 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Andy Wallace | |||
| Phish chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Story of the Ghost | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [3] |
| Rolling Stone | [4] |
The Story of the Ghost is the seventh studio album by American rock bandPhish, released byElektra Records on October 27, 1998. The album features an emphasis on thejazz-funk influenced "cow-funk" style, which the group had been experimenting with in concert throughout 1997 and 1998. The album's first single was "Birds of a Feather", which was a Top 20 hit onBillboard magazine'sAdult Alternative Songs chart.[5] The album's cover was painted by visual artistGeorge Condo.[6]
Much of the album originated during large-scaleimprovisation sessions. The band then took favorite moments from those in-studio jams and wrote songs around them, adding lyrics from a book of writings by long-time Phish lyricistTom Marshall.[7] Additional excerpts from the improvisational "Ghost Sessions" were also later released asThe Siket Disc. Theprogressive rock song "Guyute" is the only track on the album to pre-date 1997, having first been performed by Phish in 1994.[8]
A few of the album's songs reflect the band's 1997 "cow-funk" sound, with bass guitaristMike Gordon taking a more prominent role. Anastasio had coined the "cow-funk" term in the band's 1997 official biographyThe Phish Book, observing that "What we’re doing now is really more about groove than funk. Good funk, real funk, is not played by four white guys from Vermont."[9] Much of the album, however, is defined by whatRolling Stone called an "unhurried vibe ... with airy, uncluttered grooves and relaxed vocals."[10] Unlike Phish's previous albums,The Story of the Ghost does not include any instrumentals. "End of Session" was performed live for the first time on July 25, 2017.[11]
Early incarnations of several tracks from the album can be heard on the 2000 releaseTrampled by Lambs and Pecked by the Dove, a collection of song sketches recorded by frontmanTrey Anastasio and lyricist Tom Marshall.
The album was recorded over the course of several sessions atBearsville Studios in the village ofBearsville, New York, where the band had also recordedBilly Breathes.[8] The band choseAndy Wallace to produce the album because of his work onReign in Blood bySlayer,Nevermind byNirvana andGrace byJeff Buckley.[12]
"Birds of a Feather", "Frankie Says", and "Shafty" (the latter song a reworking of Phish original "Olivia's Pool") were all debuted live during the "Island Tour", a brief run of shows the band played while taking a break from recording the album in April 1998. All four nights of the "Island Tour" were later released as part of theLivePhish Series.
In 2000, during the promotion forFarmhouse, many interviews saw Anastasio citing a certain disdain for the process of creatingThe Story of the Ghost. He was critical of the band's "socialistic" approach to the song selection for the album. "There were songs I thought should have gone onThe Story of the Ghost album, that were better than the songs that got on there", Anastasio said in a 2000 interview. "If anyone didn't like a song it was out. But what happens with that approach is the material gets watered down. You end up with songs that everyone is fine with, but the best songs are usually those where one person is passionately for and one person really hates, because the best songs are those that arouse strong reactions".[13]
Tom Marshall recalls that one of these stronger songs was omitted in favor of what he felt was a weaker track in "Fikus".[14] Anastasio named "Bug" and "Twist" as two songs he was disappointed were cut from the album, and both later appeared onFarmhouse.[12] In 2018, Marshall had Anastasio as a guest on hisUnder the Scales podcast to discuss the 20th anniversary ofThe Story of the Ghost, and both conceded they were now happy with the album as it was released, with Marshall revising his opinion of "Fikus" to a more positive one.[12]
In February 2009,The Story of the Ghost was made available as a download inFLAC andMP3 formats at LivePhish.com.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ghost" |
| 3:52 | |
| 2. | "Birds of a Feather" |
| Anastasio | 4:15 |
| 3. | "Meat" |
|
| 2:39 |
| 4. | "Guyute" |
| Anastasio | 8:27 |
| 5. | "Fikus" |
|
| 2:21 |
| 6. | "Shafty" |
| Anastasio | 2:21 |
| 7. | "Limb by Limb" |
|
| 3:32 |
| 8. | "Frankie Says" |
| McConnell | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Brian and Robert" |
| Anastasio | 3:03 |
| 10. | "Water in the Sky" |
| Anastasio | 2:29 |
| 11. | "Roggae" |
|
| 2:59 |
| 12. | "Wading in the Velvet Sea" |
| McConnell | 4:30 |
| 13. | "The Moma Dance" |
|
| 4:28 |
| 14. | "End of Session" |
| Anastasio | 1:54 |
From the band's website:[15]
Additional musicians and production staff
Recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY April – June 1998
Additional Recording Sessions:Bearsville Studios 3/11-15, 9/29-10/2, 1997
Dave O's Farmhouse 3/4-7, 4/7-11, 1998Recorded by Phish and Andy Wallace
Mixed at Soundtracks Studios, NY, NY June/July 1998
Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk July 1998
Pre-Production Digital Editing: John Billingsly
Management: John Paluska/Dionysian Productions
Production Assistance: Beth Montuori, Brad Sands
Technical Assistance: Paul Languedoc, Pete Carini, Kevin Brown, Brian Brown
Paintings by George Condo
Art Direction: Lili Picou
Project Management: Cynthia Brown and Jason Colton
