Not a complete reply by any means, but Yarmouth Road is on one of Mike Gordon’s solo albums. And Roll Like A Canteloupe is just Run Like An Antelope with the title line changed. They played it that way a few times in the very early days. Edit: I take that back. Canteloupe has some different lyrics, based on the fruit & vegetable aisle at the supermarket. Recommended.
Plant bluffed his way through "Misty Mountain Hop" live. Zeppelin vocals are malleable in a way Yes is not. I think the band instrumentally would do a great job with it though.
Just listened to the 3/20/92 Reba thanks to you fine folks, wow! Think I’ll stick around for the whole show.
At the 3/20/92 show, Trey teases Roundabout before Mike's Song. He's definitely a Yes fan! Who sang it when Umphrey's played it?
Check out the video. Mine was 3/12/11 at the Fillmore but it was more or less like this version. The weird thing about Umphrey's is that their drummer is actually the best singer in the band. (It's a jam band, so that's not saying much, but still). Like Phish, they're not great singers either, but they do a better job on covers vocally than Phish does, IMO. You could tell they spent some time getting this one right.
That's why I asked who sang it. Pretty much everyone in that band has taken a lead on a song. The members of Phish actually used to be better singers. Back in '92 - '93, the 4 of them took barbershop quartet singing lessons, and sang quite well. Page actually sang in tune most of the time then, and Trey didn't do the whispery vocals he does now. It was full on projection with his voice. Mike is the only one who pretty much sounds the same.
Yeah. I've grown to be a big UM fan over the years, but the only thing that irks me is that I just don't particularly care for Brendan's voice, and of course he sings seemingly virtually all of their original tunes. I wish they'd kept up that commitment to vocals over time, but alas. I suppose they realized it didn't really matter to most of their audience, unfortunately.
Trey has had formal vocal training since the band's '09 return and that is apparent in many more recent performances. Listen to his vocals on the Halloween 2016 cover of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust." He nails it - especially on "Rock 'n Roll Suicide" and "Moonage Daydream."
I agree that Brendan's voice is bit weak, and I think he tends to sing the songs he mainly wrote, while Jake sings the ones he mainly wrote. Jake's voice isn't all that appealing to me either, but UM are a great band! I used to trade shows with them when I played in my main band here in the late 90's into early 2000. They would open for us here in Nashville, and we would open for them in Cincinnati and Columbus. My band ended before they got Jake into the band, but I still followed them. Anchor Drops really got me in a good way!
Yes, but something is still permanently damaged with Trey's voice. It's better than it was in '09, but he still doesn't have the strength behind it that he did in the early to mid 90's. He used to be able to hit some seriously high notes with quite a bit of power (Suzy Greenberg for example). There's no way he could sing Brother with the intensity that he used to.
Call me crazy but I like Trey's voice at the end of the MSG NYE run in 95. It's got some soul to it as it's completely gone/trashed. Kinda like Neil Young circa Tonight's The Night. The older I get, I struggle with Phish vocals in general. My Aussie grandmother's comment on Trey when she saw the Heavy Things 12/31/99 broadcast: "Not what I was expecting, pretty wimpy".At this point I largely agree. I don't like syrupy sweet/pretty crap overproduced pop vocals, but I do dig soulful vocals, and great voices. I don't think I appreciated/listened for the voice as an instrument or really thought about it until I was in my 20s outside of the service of the song. Certainly not as a teenager when I spent most of my days listening to Dead bootlegs. But then again when you listen to the last 4 minutes of that Hood I posted yesterday it seems a bit silly to complain about anything when they are (were) such inspiring musicians. Put me down in the Gordo/Fishman (seriously) camp when it comes to Phish vocals. Page had his moments in the peak 90s era. Check out his cover of Sea and Sand, I still recall being bowled over by his vocals in person that night, don't remember if it was the Rosemont or MSG version that did it for me.
I agree with you that Trey's voice was good in '95. I honestly prefer his voice pre Billy Breathes. It was stronger, and he could hit much higher notes. Not as breathy. Powerful. Page did have his moments, but he still sounds like Kermit The Frog when he trades verses with Trey on Rift. Phish, to me, were very inspiring as musicians up through Rift. That's when things started to really water down (with the exception of the song Guyute). The virtuoso type moments were gone, and never came back after that.
They're one of those bands where I don't really listen to them much at home...I think they've got an infinite supply of cool riffs and ideas, but not a lot of really great actual songs, which I think is what keeps them from reaching the level of either Phish or Rush (I describe the band as sort of a combination of those two). But man, I would go see them every month if they played here that often. Every single show I've ever seen (seven, at last count) was absolutely mind-blowing in its own way. Although unfortunately it seems they've reached amphitheater level, which is a bummer...they're definitely an indoor/theater band for me.
I agree. I usually listen to them while driving. It's a different experience than Phish for sure. I listen to the dual guitar work the most. Once they hit Mantis, I started hearing a definite Van Halen influence (Hagar years). The one album of theirs that I just can't listen to is "Death By Stereo". It doesn't have anything interesting on it. Anchor Drops is an album I just love. Plunger is a serious achievement in composition!
There's one song on the Umphrey's double live CD from the 00's with a repeated realistic sound effect of a car with a siren driving by. That turned me off playing that CD in the car.
I liked Anchor Drops a lot when it came out. After that I liked each new album less than the one before, so I fell off the train after a while. I should check UM out again.
I would say their low point was "Death By Stereo". Similar Skin and the two new albums are alright, though. They also have the Abbey Road Sessions album which I really like.