Subject: *You Can Feel Good About 8/21/87 Hood*
Date: 6 Feb 1997 03:26:37 GMT
From: zachary.[...]@yale.edu (Zachary [...]) My posting
to usenet right now is extremely unreliable (I've tried to post this particular
review twice already), so I'm currently e-mailing my posts to the phish@phish.net
mail-to-news address. I'm telling you this because when using this address
it often takes awhile for mail to get posted, and it's sometimes posted
out of the order that it was received. So, in case you notice me referring
to a Harry that I say I've already reviewed when it hasn't ever been posted
to rmp, you know why. 8/21/87 - Ian's Farm - Hebron, NY This
is show is widely spread, so it's not necessary to go into its details.
Due to some rarities (including a Harpua->Bundle of Joy->Harpua) and some
funny stage banter, this show is definitely a must have. There are lots
of HQ copies out there, so if you don't have one, go out and get one. On
to the Harry... 0:00 - This opening is much slower than usual. I wouldn't
call it sloppy, but it's definitely loose. Remember when I said that early
Harry openings were groovier and never as sparse as recent Harry openings?
Well I lied. This opening is _sparse_. Mike plays some excellent "walking"
bass throughout this whole intro. Reminds me of Scott LaFaro from the Bill
Evans Trio. 0:50 - Trey starts playing around with his effects. Not nearly
as cool as 10/23/94, but then again, he doesn't have nearly as many effects.
1:08 - Page is actually soloing here. Nice. It must be a sparse intro if
Page can get a solo in. 2:10 - Mike is going up and down the bass, just
taking his time. I like it. 3:15 - Marley gets in a couple of barks here.
My dog loves it, he's just cocking his head looking at the speaker. 3:30
- Trey plays a little ska rhythm! This leads right into... 3:43 - Harry
verse. Wow, that was a LONG intro! I'd be surprised if that wasn't one
of the longer ones ever. Maybe it's the laid-back atmosphere of parties
at Ian's Farm :-) 4:15 - Composed section. Slight flub from Trey at the
beginning. Actually, this whole section doesn't sound quite right. They're
just not all on the same page. 6:00 - Marley jumps in with some well-timed
barking. Perfect counterpoint to the melody ;-) 6:45 - Heavy metal Mr.
Minor. This is a "modern" era Harry Mr. Minor section complete with "Thank
you Mr. Hood" (as opposed to the strange Mr. Minor section of 4/1/86).
I wonder if there's a distinct transition there... it will probably be
hard to find out considering the scarity of shows between the two dates...
7:40 - Jam section begins. Everyone's just easing into it. 8:25 - Trey
starts taking charge a little. He's playing nice little melodies, but they're
not linked together at all. Sounds a lot like the beginning of a Reba build-up.
He's feeling out what line he wants to take for his soloing. 9:15 - Nice
work from Trey here. Even Marley likes it! Marley joins in with some barking.
9:45 - Slight flub from Trey. 10:30 - Trey gets ahold of a theme that he
likes and is milking it. Soars over it and then comes back to it. Plays
a little variation, then speeds it up. 11:10 - Arpeggios from Trey. Not
much happening from the rest of the band. I bet they're listening to Trey
(just like me). 11:40 - Somehow this jam has lost intensity. Trey just
isn't carrying this one the way we know he can. 12:00 - Some Bowie-esque
fifths from Trey. 12:30 - Fishman starts speeding up, Trey gets the idea
and follows suit. Fishman is making some "runs" on the drums. Trey makes
some runs on the 'doc. Definitely not an all out ending, but... 13:20 -
"You can feel good..." Total time = 13:45 Grade: D+/C-. I only give
it the C- because it's slightly better than the 4/1/86 Harry that I gave
a D+. If I could be a revisionist rater I would give that a D and this
a D+... oh well, if that's my life's only regret I'll die a happy man.
I like the intro to this version, but that's about it. Trey never reaches
any kind of high gear in the jam section and frankly, that's disappointing.
Get this show, but don't expect much from the Harry. In fact, the Clod
that I'm listening to right now is more worth it. They're jamming it! Much
more than I've heard them jam it when it's in the middle of Fluffhead.
That's a different story though. I'll leave that for the guy who's writing
Clod Files. Until then... Zach
-------------
From: Charlie Dirksen
8/21/87 Ian McLean's Farm, Hebron, NY
I noticed that before this Hood, one of the voices
heard is a guy who was also present on the 5/28/89
Ian's show tapes.. rather loud and easily
discernable. I wonder if this is Ian himself.. ;)
Harry begins very slowly and mellowly, in typically
reggae-ish fashion. Marley is barking a bit in this
opening segment, and you can hear talking (this is
definitely a SBD, but the mics simply pick up a lot
of the ambient sounds). There's unfortunately a lot
of muffled rumbling sounds from the Bass.. Trey
starts a ska sort of groove just before the first
HARRY line. This bass is terrible.. agh. It is all
fudgy.. the reverb is painful. This SBD is otherwise
really good. Oh well. Marley goes OFF barking on
the "Where do you goooo" line.. quite well-timed! ;)
AGH, IF ONLY THE BASS WEREN'T IN A FUCKING TUBE!!
AGH!! The jam segment starts at about 7:45.. really
nice, long drawn out jamming in this great opening
segment. If only the bass wasn't in a fucking tube.
Agh. Mike is jamming away, too, in the opening of the
jam, along with Trey. Page is using some weird
bells-effect on the keyboard (sounds really chimey
and cheesy.. like a music-box). Marley barks a bit
here and there, not really in time, unfortunately.
She'll get it one of these days. Indeed, it starts
distracting one from Trey's very melodious noodling.
SHUT UP YA DAMN MUTT!!! ;) Sorry I couldn't help
that.. (I'm almost certain Trey won't see this, so I
have nothing to fear.. as punishment he'll play Rift
at every NYE run show.. ;). Ooooooooo .. Trey really
starts wailing around 11:20 or so.. noodling in fine
form. Because of the bass reverb, it is hard to
clearly MAKE out Mike, but judging from the reverb
tones, he is wailing, too. Page is just kinda
tooling along, still using that cheesy chimey effect
(Fish is doing the same sort of drumming that he's
still known for.. strong, tight, jazzy accompaniment
with a BITE here and there). There was a very solid
build in this Hood, btw, much moreso than the two
earlier versions reviewed above. This ending is also
Very Serious, with Trey strumming away. Ends at
13:55. (I'd also like to mention that all the talking
in the background stopped when the jam segment
started smoking (which was cool!) Also, Fish goes
"That's why I'm in the band" after this version..
then someone goes 'SSSSSSsss' into the mic (probably
Mike), and then Trey says "That's why we don't give
Fish the microphone." Then someone says, that's
right, just says, but doesn't yell, "Harpua" ... then
Trey goes "This one starts with the word 'Swift.'"
Then Trey goes 'SWIFFT' and Clod starts (the early
form of Fluffhead.. it is basically the opening
segment of Fluffhead, before the "Fluffhead" lines
would ordinarily be sung, and before Bundle of Joy
... this is really jammed out, btw, and sounds
great.. the bass reverb ain't so bad here.. Marley
starts barking again.. BAD DOG!! NO BARK DURING CLOD!
;)