I remember clifford free#

There were early versions of Phish concert staples, such as Harry Hood, Wilson, Divided Sky, You Enjoy Myself, Possum, Slave to the Traffic Light, David Bowie, Run Like an Antelope, and Lizards.ĭuring the show, lead guitarist and vocalist Anastasio likened the Family Park to Gamehenge, the mythical setting for an early Phish song cycle. In fact, an advance blurb in the Brattleboro Reformer called it a “family concert.” The gates opened at noon and coolers and camping were allowed. Billed as ”Summer’s ONLY Outdoor Show,” it was an all-ages event.

I remember clifford free#

Parking was free at the nearby Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys store. Tickets were $6 at the gate, children 12 and under got in for free. Townshend in the summer of 1989 was far different. Their “Baker’s Dozen” run at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in 2017 drew a total of 227,385 in attendance, and promoter Live Nation reported gross ticket sales of more than $15 million for the 13-show run.

These days, of course, Phish routinely sells out huge arenas, amphitheaters and stadiums, with tickets ranging from $45 to $100 a pop. That first Townshend show was also later profiled in an edition of Rolling Stone magazine as a perfect snapshot of the band’s early live performances. It is also seen as a precursor of sorts to the band’s outdoor festivals of later years, such as Clifford Ball, IT and Lemonwheel. It is one of only two live recordings from the 1980s released officially by the band (Live Phish, Volume 9), and is seen by many as a defining record of the band’s tightly-structured progressive rock period. They played to even bigger crowds at the same park in the summers of 19, and by that time had started to gain a large following throughout the Northeast.īut it was that first Townshend show in 1989 that has achieved legendary status among Phish fans over the years. Turns out the fans and Paluska were right, as was Evans’ hunch about “something different.” Phish drew more than 3,000 fans to that first show in Townshend in 1989, one of their biggest crowds since the group was formed by friends Trey Anastasio, Page McConnell, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman in 1983 at the University of Vermont. I just wanted to do something different.” “I remember their manager (John Paluska) looking right at me and pointing his finger in the air, and he said, ‘I’m going to take these guys to the top,’” Evans said. But when he was approached by concert promoter Schleifer Productions with the idea of putting on a much bigger “festival-style” event, he was skeptical. Evans, who owned Townshend Family Park - an amusement park off Route 30 along the West River which included a campground, miniature golf, a kid-friendly train ride, and swimming - had previously hosted a few smaller concerts. John Evans had also never heard of Phish at the time. Later versions of the song include one by Sonny Rollins, an instrumental, included on his 2000 compilation entitled The Best of Sonny Rollins: The Complete RCA Recordings, as well as a vocal rendition by Ernestine Anderson on her 2000 compilation for Concord Jazz entitled Ballad Essentials.“They were saying, ‘They’re going to be a huge band,’” Wilson recalls. It is written in standard jazz compositional structure: head in, solo, head out. The instrumental version features sections for an emotive woodwind, brass, or piano and is underscored by a sensitive rhythm section.

The version with lyrics features two verses with chorus and a section for improvising instrumental solos. The song ends with the composer/lyricist thinking he cannot fathom the trumpeter as departed and will always remember him. The latter has been included on at least seven albums since 1959 and tells the story of the warmth of Clifford Brown's trumpet tones, his phrasings, and the songs he played. There are actually two different versions of the song: one an instrumental and one with lyrics added by noted songwriter Jon Hendricks. The song appears on over 100 albums and CDs and has been recorded by such jazz luminaries as Stan Getz, Dinah Washington - former bandmember of Clifford Brown - the tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, pianist Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman, Quincy Jones, Arturo Sandoval, and Ernestine Anderson. The song pays the composer's respect to 'Brownie' who was killed in a car crash in June 1956 along with pianist Richie Powell, a member of the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet. 'I Remember Clifford' is a tender ballad written by Benny Golson in 1956 and is a homage to the hard bop jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown.