62. “The Story of the Ghost” (1998)

The Story of the Ghost was recorded in a unique fashion, though not entirely unique to the band. As keyboardist Page McConnell describes their recording process for the album in an October 1998 interview with David Byrne, “The book of lyrics [by Tom Marshall] we had was a couple hundred pages thick of just everything he’s written for the last 10 years. And what would happen is, we would have these little bits of jams that we liked, and we would just pull one and say ok let’s listen to this bit, and someone would be looking through the book and say oh this could go over that, and we’d get up to the mic and we’d sing a version of it. And that happened for about four days, ya know, we probably came up with 15 or 20 things that were lyrics on top of this jam session stuff. And we didn’t know we were recording our final vocals at the time but a lot of the time these actually were the vocals that were going on the album.”

This was, of course, different from their recording practice they called “The Blob” from the Billy Breathes sessions and not quite like the extensive Oh Kee Pa Ceremonies of jamming from the band’s early years. This was something altogether different.

The result?

An instant-classic album of 14 tracks totaling 50 minutes. Cohesive, collaborative, anything but cautious, The Story of the Ghost, whether you like the songs or not, exemplifies an incredible success of a four-person jam band: let’s head into the studio and play.

This album, more than any other studio album, includes song credits for every band member on eight of the 14 tracks. Sure, some of the album’s songs started as drafts by Anastasio, but even those jelled together over a series of four-day recorded jam sessions.

With a few sessions at Bearsville Studios and Dave O’s Farmhouse in the spring of 1997, another session in the fall, and then further recording and mixing sessions in the spring of 1998, The Story of the Ghost was told.

Spooky and spacey, serene even at times, the overall sound is somewhat funky, but less funky than funk—that is to say, it’s more jazz-funk than funky-funk. It’s not just about the musical notes but what’s between them as well—what’s not played. To me, that’s The Story of the Ghost.

The gentle chorus of “Wading in the Velvet Sea”? That “oohhhh oh ohhhhhh” over McConnell’s tender organ? “Roggae”?

These soft-hearted songs are damn fine songs. And as most critics will gladly elaborate on, Phish isn’t exactly known for writing damn fine songs.

Of course, it’s also the mega songs like “Ghost,” “Moma Dance,” and “Birds of a Feather” that make this album in regard to live performances. In fact, Phish couldn’t wait to play some of these songs, and between sessions announced a short, four-show run dubbed the Island Tour hitting Providence, Rhode Island, and Uniondale, New York, where they premiered “Birds of a Feather,” “Frankie Says,” and “Shafty” at Nassau Coliseum (April 2, 1998).

Rumors are that after these now-fabled Island Tour shows, Phish was so energized and inspired that they returned to the studio and set forth on completing the album. The Story of the Ghost would drop seven months later as the first Phish album available simultaneously both in stores and digitally online.

The album’s cover art is the work of contemporary American painter George Condo, born 1957. He has exhibited prolifically in prestigious museums and galleries around the world. And aside from Phish’s album, he has produced album cover art for the acclaimed pianist Martha Argerich, composer Danny Elfman, and perhaps most notably, rapper/producer Kanye West.

Released on October 27, 1998, Phish’s seventh studio album kis a rhythm-heavy collection of 14 tracks obviously influenced by their historic “cow-funk” jams of the now-seminal 1997 tours.

The Story of the Ghost peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard charts.

The Siket Disc

The Siket Disc, released in 1999, is effectively B-sides, excerpts of the Ghost session jams that didn’t make it on the album. But wow—a stellar collection of jams there, too! It was mixed and mastered by Page McConnell, and named for prolific mixer/engineer and Phish studio engineer many times over John Siket.