Played seemingly on a whim, this classic
James Brown instrumental jam opened up the
3/11/88 show on an atypically funky note, leading all-too-agreeably into “
Funky Bitch.” Prefacing the song, Trey remarked on the ideal nature of the James Brown tune as a show-opener, providing the impetus for the rest of the band to join him on a fun-but-White rendition.
Though seemingly destined to grace the Phish stage only once, members of Phish have performed the song in numerous other contexts. Trey and the Vermont Jazz All-Stars gave the tune a whirl on 6/8/99 and 11/16/00. Fishman surely worked up a cold sweat on the tune sitting in with the
Grippo Funk Band at Burlington’s Red Square on 10/23/00. Mike – juiced up by his own band’s performance earlier in the evening at Boulder’s Fox Theatre – sat in on this song during a late night set with “ZKJ’s Word of Mouth Experience” on 10/7/03.