Art is a mirror held up to nature, according to Shakespeare. Looking at the art, the vessel -the artist is reflective of some type of influence, a conduit, with the source, its derivation. When Phish looks into the mirror, what is their reflection? There is an amalgam – a globular collective, all congealed around Phish’s image. You have Zappa, King Crimson, Hendrix, The Dead, Zeppelin, Allman Bros. Admittance from the band is that they bring major influences into their music, to cultivate an original sound from the derivation. These are the reflections, yet there is the glass that reflects itself. In my opinion, the glass can be galvanized through four members from Liverpool, a band with an obviously successful career, coupled with an unerring library of music. The story of Phish and the Beatles can be quizzically comparable when looking into each band’s career. The initial meetings within their own city they adored. The beginnings in small local bars, the early exposure, the uproarious popularity, the success – all stemming from each band’s irrefutable talent. The bands also relate behind the scenes – the ambition to redirect their own sound, and succeeding thusly. There were the storming tensions from success, the drugs, and the feuds between their own production companies, The familial aspect, the bond that was formed early on, this is what makes these two bands relative, to stabilize an inner connection with each member, devoid of ego, driven to become one in the same despite personality conflicts. This is the fun part of gleaning on both bands, to delve into their similarities.

To start, both bands hail from waterfront harbor towns. Burlington, ensconced along Lake Champlain, it is a hub of Northeastern music, bustling with economy and live music. According to NY Times writer Katie Zezima:

“It is no surprise that Burlington, a city whose biggest exports include the jam band Phish and Ben & Jerry’s, has a chill, socially conscious vibe. But for all its worldliness — antiglobalization rallies and fair-trade products abound — Burlington has lately turned an eye to the local. The Lake Champlain shoreline has undergone a renaissance in recent years, with gleaming new hotels, bike and sailboat rental shops and parks with sweeping views of the Adirondack Mountains. But perhaps the strongest emphasis on local can be found in the city’s developing restaurant scene, where menus are now filled with heirloom tomatoes and grass-fed beef from (where else?) Vermont. And you’re practically required to wash it all down with a local microbrew.” (2008)

Phish flourished in this ambiance. They cultivated a love of music and culture through this town.

Liverpool, nestled next to the Mersey estuary, dons a social cap, roiled with soccer success and musical propensities. Many venture to the inner city to enjoy the thriving nightlife, and bask in the cornucopia of live music.

The story of how the band members from both bands met can be found in both bands’ lore, but what is significant is that they all met in their own hometown. They also formed their prospective band in their own hometown – and with slight augmentations, especially in their band name, an ambiguity with animals should subsist. Phish, with the “Ph” represents the drummer’s name, but it also represents the sound they make when they are in a jam. A Phsssssssssshhhh sound, as Trey references it, is something conscious within the band as they enter a jam, but that title was too weird, so they stuck with Phish.

With the Beatles, most of the bands in Germany touring in the late 50’s were respectively named after animals. This is what got attention, and especially business. So, they were initially called the Silver Beetles, then the Beetles, then “The Beatles,” riffing off the ambiguous title.

Both bands corralled an immediate following, especially in their home bars – Phish’s Nectar’s and Beatles’ Cavern Club. Both bands had a member that, for one reason or the other, left on equivocal terms, then replaced – making that replacement a solidified and remaining member. Both bands became subsequently successful when they left their home city – Phish went to Boston, while the Beatles went to Hamburg. Both bands found success through a particular manager– Brian Epstein and John Paluska. And finally, both bands paid much respect to their influences by covering their songs. Beatles infused a very Buddy Holly skiffle sound while Phish infused their classis rock/jazz sound with Zeppelin, Zappa, and Ellington.

So what’s the big deal? You can really compare any successful band to the Beatles, since so many bands emulated them. Why Phish? In February 1997 Trey said that Phish is about transition and change, something that the Beatles’ career was built upon, and resonated throughout all musicians careers. Re-branding one’s image through the music has been a staple of success in bands, however the Achilles Heel has been: “Is the music good enough?” There are some bands that have altered their sound and mostly ruined the band (I’m not talking about sound alteration to personal preference distaste, like Aerosmith, Metallica, or Weezer, I’m talking about a paradigm shift in sound that was the downfall of the band, like the Byrds or Roxy Music. Now I’m not saying these bands suck, I’m just saying that their alteration changed their image, and therefore destroyed the band. Oh, and Roxy Music and the Byrds have wonderful music toward the end of their subsistence.) The Beatles were the first to experiment with sound alteration, from a bebop-y kid sound to a mature, authentic paragon of modern rock. Phish kept this in mind when they altered their sound in 1994 from an esoteric prog rock band to a stadium band. Hoist emboldened Phish’s array of their already robust library, and paved the way to new heightened approaches toward music. Hoist was Rubber Soul.

Now, the historical implications between both albums are immeasurably and insurmountably different, but paralleling their careers, you can see an arc that is forming, an arc beginning with each band’s acknowledgement for change, adaptation based off of each member’s musical talent, and risk the band is willing to take. When you watch Tracking, Gordon’s mini doc on the recording of Hoist, you can see the band elevating their already complex sound to a paradoxically simplistic, more open-ended jam vehicles, like Down with Disease and Wolfman’s Brother. To pay tribute to this transformation, Phish performed The White Album on their first musical costume, capturing the Beatles’ spirit within their own image.

One of the most popular similarities is the shift to psychedelia. In 1995, Phish decided to take their improvisational game to another level, opening up the floodgates, and welcoming in an inundated assortment of abstract sound, akin to Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (it’s not a surprise that A Day in the Life made its debut summer of 95.) For they were capitalizing on their own sound, and, shifting from a diversified sophistry to a variegated sound. The syncopation shifted to abstraction. Soundscapes were being formulated.

Phish one-upped their idols by welcoming in groove and funk into their repertoire. Phish’s image was escaping the Beatles, and turning into the Dead. They had to appease the masses, and pedantic musical strictures weren’t going to cut it. When the groove and funk was familiarized, the bond that initially formed the band was waylaid. Each component that formed the band, Phish and the Beatles, were now becoming their own self, the separate from the group. Whether it was outside influences, drugs, ego, money, fame, they crept in unannounced, and reduced the band to what they most feared – individuality.

After the White Album, The Beatles only grew downhill – and it wasn’t until Abbey Road that they wanted to give it one more go-around – secluding all outside influences, and just make beautiful music. Phish did this in 2003, calling it “The sober tour,” where beautiful music was made throughout the year (ironically, no Abbey Road tunes were played on this tour.) And in the fashion of the Beatles, Phish decided to call it quits right afterwards.

From the Phantasy Tour scrolls, lot rumors, and other online discourse, Phish were unhappy in 2003. They were making glorious music throughout the 2003 tour, which condoned the discontent within the band. When the Vegas 2004 debacle happened, it incited Trey to call it quits, even though the damage had already been done. With Phish’s final album of 2.0, they paid tribute to Let it Be, covering the album in similar fashion with the four-cornered layout of the members, as well as the variegated randomness within the album. Darkness, beauty, absurdity – all like their predecessors.

In 2009, they let all demons go, and began their new route, and even though they tend to relive their past with their sound, the Beatles influence and comparison will carry over throughout their career.