A Picture of Nectar is the third studio album by the American rock band Phi… Read Full Bio ↴A Picture of Nectar is the third studio album by the American rock band Phish. The album was released on February 18, 1992, by Elektra Records and was the band's debut release for a major record label.
The album is dedicated to Nector Rorris, the proprietor of Nectar's in Burlington, Vermont, where Phish played their first bar gig followed by a series of monthly three-night stands, saying that the experience "taught us how to play".
There are two versions of the album's cover. The first printings of the CD were issued in longbox format, and the title of the album was not printed on the CD insert itself. Later printings came in shrink-wrap format and had the band's name and album title printed directly on the insert.
The songs on A Picture of Nectar explore a variety of musical genres, including jazz, country, calypso, rock and roll and neo-psychedelia.Tracks 2, 8, 9, and 14 are instrumentals. The song "Manteca" is a cover of the song by jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie; in Phish's short version, the melody line is sung as a goofy nonsense phrase. "Poor Heart" is written in bluegrass style. The Latin jazz instrumental "The Landlady" is performed in concert as both a segment of the longer piece "Punch You in the Eye" and as a separate song.
All songs on the album have been performed live by the band, though the instrumental tracks have become relative rarities after the mid-1990s. The short instrumental, "Faht", written by drummer Jon Fishman, has only been performed live twelve times, the last in 1995.
The album was certified gold by the RIAA on November 15, 2001.
After its vinyl reissue in 2014, A Picture of Nectar charted on the Billboard 200 for the first time (22 years after its release), peaking at number 110.
Allmusic staff writer Jim Smith gave the album four and a half stars out of five, noting the variety of musical genres explored on the album and calling it "a surprisingly tight record for a band that built its reputation on endless concert jams".
In an April 2, 1992, review, Billboard magazine raved that A Picture of Nectar "...should be required on all college listening lists. The songs are all over the place from whacked-out rock to bluegrass to jazz. The constant is the high quality of musicianship and spirit that runs from track to track."
The album is dedicated to Nector Rorris, the proprietor of Nectar's in Burlington, Vermont, where Phish played their first bar gig followed by a series of monthly three-night stands, saying that the experience "taught us how to play".
There are two versions of the album's cover. The first printings of the CD were issued in longbox format, and the title of the album was not printed on the CD insert itself. Later printings came in shrink-wrap format and had the band's name and album title printed directly on the insert.
The songs on A Picture of Nectar explore a variety of musical genres, including jazz, country, calypso, rock and roll and neo-psychedelia.Tracks 2, 8, 9, and 14 are instrumentals. The song "Manteca" is a cover of the song by jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie; in Phish's short version, the melody line is sung as a goofy nonsense phrase. "Poor Heart" is written in bluegrass style. The Latin jazz instrumental "The Landlady" is performed in concert as both a segment of the longer piece "Punch You in the Eye" and as a separate song.
All songs on the album have been performed live by the band, though the instrumental tracks have become relative rarities after the mid-1990s. The short instrumental, "Faht", written by drummer Jon Fishman, has only been performed live twelve times, the last in 1995.
The album was certified gold by the RIAA on November 15, 2001.
After its vinyl reissue in 2014, A Picture of Nectar charted on the Billboard 200 for the first time (22 years after its release), peaking at number 110.
Allmusic staff writer Jim Smith gave the album four and a half stars out of five, noting the variety of musical genres explored on the album and calling it "a surprisingly tight record for a band that built its reputation on endless concert jams".
In an April 2, 1992, review, Billboard magazine raved that A Picture of Nectar "...should be required on all college listening lists. The songs are all over the place from whacked-out rock to bluegrass to jazz. The constant is the high quality of musicianship and spirit that runs from track to track."
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A Picture of Nectar
Phish Lyrics
Catapult (Doctor Davis, telephone please, Doctor Davis, telephone ple…
Cavern Your time is near, the mission's clear It's later than we…
Chalk Dust Torture Come stumble my mirth beaten worker I'm Jezmund the family b…
Glide And we're glad glad glad that you're alive And we're glad…
Guelah Papyrus Aboard a craft bereft of oar I rowed upstream to find…
Llama (Many years after the overthrow of Wilson, a rebel soldier…
Manteca Crab in my shoemouth Crab in my shoemouth Crab in my shoemou…
Poor Heart You won't steal my poor heart again You won't steal my…
Stash I'm pulling the pavement from under my nails I brush past…
The Mango Song Spasm waiter dropping to his knees, sees Slander on wrap pap…
Tweezer Won't you step into the freezer Seize her with a tweezer Wo…
Tweezer Reprise Won't you step into the freezer Won't you step into the…