Birds of a Feather (Phish song)

"Birds of a Feather"

Cover of promo single
Single by Phish
from the album The Story of the Ghost
Released 1998 (1998)
Format CD single
Recorded March 11–15, September 29-October 2, 1997; April–June 1998, Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York and March 4–7, April 7–11, 1997, Dave O's Farmhouse
Genre Rock, Funk rock
Length 4:14
Label Elektra PRCD 1191-2
Writer(s) Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, Tom Marshall, Page McConnell
Producer(s) Andy Wallace
Phish singles chronology
"Character Zero"
(1997)		 "Birds of a Feather"
(1998)		 "Wading in the Velvet Sea"
(1998)

"Birds of a Feather" is a 1998 song by the American band Phish. It is the second track from their 1998 album The Story of the Ghost and was released as their twelfth promotional single by Elektra Records. The song is a funk rock song written by the entire band and lyricist Tom Marshall.

First descending from the rafters of the Nassau Coliseum on the first night of the Island Tour and mercilessly strafing the unsuspecting crowd, "Birds of a Feather" is pretty obviously a product of Phish's fascination with Talking Heads (and, in particular, "Crosseyed and Painless") following their recreation of Remain in Light on Halloween 1996. The tune's uptempo-but-funky rhythm, and especially Trey's guitar lick, strongly evoke "Crosseyed."[1]

The song premiered on April 2, 1998 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, the first of the four shows in the "Island Tour". This show is available as Live Phish 4-2-98. Musically, it was one of the more upbeat tracks from the predominantly slow and funky The Story of the Ghost album.

"Birds of a Feather" is one of the few Phish songs to be performed three times on U.S. national television. The song was first performed at the 1998 Farm Aid concert, on October 3, 1998, and shown live on CMT. It was also played at PBS's Sessions at West 54th on October 20, 1998 which was broadcast on PBS affiliates starting on January 9, 1999. The third performance was on the October 27, 1998 episode of CBS's Late Show with David Letterman.

The song also was featured on the October 7, 1998 episode of the WB teen drama Dawson's Creek, entitled "The Kiss".

Track listing

  1. "Birds of a Feather" (Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon, Tom Marshall, Page McConnell) - 4:14

Personnel

Musicians

Trey Anastasio – guitars, vocals
Page McConnell – keyboards, vocals
Mike Gordon – bass guitar, vocals
Jon Fishman – drums, vocals

Also appears on

Notes

  1. ↑ Birds of a Feather History Online. Accessed: May 18, 2014.
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