Bathtub Gin in United Airlines Comm
Benjamin Gardner
On 18 Mar 1997, david michael dimatties wrote:
> While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
> commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
> I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
> Anyone else notice this?
>
I've ripped on people before about this because it is such a sign of
incredible intellectual devastation and the future destruction of the
world, but I realize this may not entirely be your fault, and will merely
try to provide the facts. The "riff" you heard *is not Bathtub Gin*. It is
often played by Page during Bathtub Gin, but it was written more than 60
years ago, before Page was born, by George Gershwin, one of the greatest
American composers. It is called Rhapsody in Blue, and it is considered
significantly among the classical music canon, though it certainly could
be called jazz or pop. Some have wondered if the structure of Bath Gin was
built off of that riff.
Hope this helps. Go take a basic music history course - it will help you
appreciate all music, but especially Phish, much more.
Ben Gardner
(212)853-7854
bd...@columbia.edu
http://www.columbia.edu/~bdg11
Brad
On 18 Mar 1997, david michael dimatties wrote:
> While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
> commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
> I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
> Anyone else notice this?
>
> Destiny Unbound...
> Dave
>
dave,
that is simply because Page "borrows" that riff in bathtub gin from some
classical composer (i think) and so does AA.
peace, brad
david michael dimatties
While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
Anyone else notice this?
Destiny Unbound...
Dave
--
Marston
Benjamin Gardner wrote:
>
> On 18 Mar 1997, david michael dimatties wrote:
> incredible intellectual devastation and the future destruction of the
> world, but I realize this may not entirely be your fault, and will merely
> try to provide the facts. The "riff" you heard *is not Bathtub Gin*. It is
> often played by Page during Bathtub Gin, but it was written more than 60
> years ago, before Page was born, by George Gershwin, one of the greatest
> American composers. It is called Rhapsody in Blue, and it is considered
> significantly among the classical music canon, though it certainly could
> be called jazz or pop. Some have wondered if the structure of Bath Gin was
> built off of that riff.
>
> Hope this helps. Go take a basic music history course - it will help you
> appreciate all music, but especially Phish, much more.
>
> Ben Gardner
> (212)853-7854
> bd...@columbia.edu
> http://www.columbia.edu/~bdg11
check out http://www.ionet.net/%7Ejcj/gerswin/gershsnd.html
it's got a "Rhapsody In Blue" midi file and a few others
Jon Marston
benjy eisen
On 18 Mar 1997, david michael dimatties wrote:
| While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
| commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
| I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
| head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
| befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
| Anyone else notice this?
|
| Destiny Unbound...
| Dave
|
| --
You ARE, in-fact, hearing things....George Gershwin's "Rhapsody In
Blue" to be precise. I don't use words like "Rhapsodic" or "reverts
back to Gershwin" in my BathtubGinFiles for pure word-play: Page's
opening "jumping in the tub" and both of his fills during the lyrics
segment are based on "Rhapsody in Blue" at least 90% of the time...
There are exceptions, but they are few and far between.
The usual course, over the past few years anyway, has been for Page
to use "Rhapsody in Blue" as a spring-board or launch-pad: That is, he
starts either with the literal or implied Rhapsody theme and
improvises from there.
He *rarely* sticks exclusively, note-for-note, to the Rhapsody just as he
rarely excludes Rhapsody references altogether...
Of course, he only does this while carrying a martini made of Bathtub Gin.
:)
Walk with light my friends,
Benjy
pHiL
On 18 Mar 1997 22:09:16 GMT, dima...@wfu.edu (david michael
dimatties) wrote:
> While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
>commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
>I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
>head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
>befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
>Anyone else notice this?
dave- i'm glad you posted this. i've been saying the EXACT SAME THING
for years. i first noticed it as i was walking down what my friends
and i affectionately call "the acid trip walkway" at chicago's ohare
airport (this "acid trip walkway" takes you to the united terminal.
anyone who's flown united from/to ohare knows it well.)
anyway- i can't offer up the more-informative "its from a classical
composer" garble, but i'll be happy to say:
me too
pHiL
Nate Walker
> While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
>commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
>I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
>head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
>befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
>Anyone else notice this?
>
>Destiny Unbound...
>Dave
The keyboard part after the first set of lyrics does sound like the
United Airlines keyboard part on thier commercials. I am not sure
which came first, though, because I've seen the commercial a long time
ago.
Stuart Nadler
In <5gn3qc$t...@f1n1.spenet.wfu.edu> dima...@wfu.edu (david michael
dimatties) writes:
>
> While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
>commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune
playing.
>I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
>head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
>befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing
things!
>Anyone else notice this?
>
>Destiny Unbound...
>Dave
>
>--
People really need to start expanding their horizons here! There is
other music out there besides Phish you know.
That piano part in Bathtub sounds remarkably like Rhapsody in Blue by
George and Ira Gershwin, which is in the musical Porgy and Bess ( or is
it Bess and Porgy - I always get that mixed up.) I think people have
been realizing that for quite some time now. It would be pretty cool
if, during a United Airlines Commericial, we heard Trey whip out "the
lick" though.
Just a thought.
Stu
X-Treme
On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, pHiL wrote:
> On 18 Mar 1997 22:09:16 GMT, dima...@wfu.edu (david michael
> dimatties) wrote:
>
> > While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
> >commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
> >I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> >head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> >befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
> >Anyone else notice this?
>
> dave- i'm glad you posted this. i've been saying the EXACT SAME THING
> for years. i first noticed it as i was walking down what my friends
> and i affectionately call "the acid trip walkway" at chicago's ohare
> airport (this "acid trip walkway" takes you to the united terminal.
> anyone who's flown united from/to ohare knows it well.)
>
> anyway- i can't offer up the more-informative "its from a classical
> composer" garble, but i'll be happy to say:
>
> me too
>
> pHiL
>
>
Yes, bathtub gin has "united airline commercial from classical composer
Garble" tease. It's only 10 sec long though.
I kinda what the artist who built was thinking when he built "The acid trip
walkway". Yes, that walkway is a very interesting walkway.
Casey Logan
> > While I was watching NCAA basketball weekend, a United Airlines
> > commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
> > I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> > head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> > befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
> > Anyone else notice this?
> that is simply because Page "borrows" that riff in bathtub gin from some
> classical composer (i think) and so does AA.
Gershwin (sp?) is rolling in his grave as we write.
Peter Logan Fishman
Oh my God! how stupid can you be?!?!
Page took that small part of his solo from another piece!
i believe it's rhapsody in blue
Peter Fishman ****************************************
GVSU Pew 207 * You've gotta run like an *
Allendale, Mi * Antleope, *
49401 * out of control *
616-895-1787 * -Phish *
****************************************
Peter Logan Fishman
How stupid can you be?!?!?
Page took that piece of his solo from an already existing piece.
i believe that it's rhapsody in blue
Samuel Benson Shaw
Folks,
This conversation is downright embarassing. Listen, I have been
seeing shows, trading tapes, etc. for a long time, and I love Phish,
but they are not remotely on the same level of musicianship as George
Gershwin. Send all the flames you like my way, but I guarantee you
that Page would be loth to hear people crediting him with authorship
of Rhapsody in Blue, one of the undisputed treasures of American
Music. This thread is nothing short of pathetic.
One reason why Phish sound so strangely familiar to so many of us
when we become initiated into the world of their music, is that their
compositions are LOADED with references (and here's where those who
disparage rap musicians for sampling may want to prick up their ears)
to other compositions. Some might call it stealing -- I think it is a
nice way of weaving their own works into the fabric of music history.
If the ending of "Foam" sounds catchy to you, that's because it is
lifted clean from "The Entertainer." The chords progression from
"Possum" that evokes "Big River" or "Mystery Train" for so many
listeners is a traditional country blues figure, the foundation of
literally hundreds of popular songs. The piano figure that begins
"Landlady" is a latin music cliche that you will hear on virtually
any recording by Paquito D'rivera or Tito Puente that you find in the
jazz section of Tower Records. If you want a really shocking example
of Phish's tendency to lift prewritten material, compare "Flip"/"Glide
2" to a track called "Passing Through Passadena" on the Bill Frisell
album, "Go West" (an album to buy, for any jazz guitar fan).
Phish are even more prone to quoting familiar compositions in
improvisation. "Rhapsody in Blue" is clearly not written into
"Bathtub Gin," although Page does quote the melody extremely
frequently in performance. Likewise, the "Spider Man Theme" isn't a
written into "Antelope," although Trey made musical reference to it at
a Capital Theatre, Portchester show I saw a while back. This system
of quoting has been practiced by jazz musicians forever. Buy "'58
Miles" and note Miles's fairly developed quote of "When the Saints go
Marchin' In" during his "Straight no Chaser" solo.
Please people, realize that Phish is not a bottomless well of music.
They are a great band. But don't underestimate the extent to which
they have been influenced by and are repackaging musical ideas that
have been around for a while. Feel free to send responses in my
direction.
sam
Nate Walker wrote:
>
> On 18 Mar 1997 22:09:16 GMT, dima...@wfu.edu (david michael
> dimatties) wrote:
>
> >commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune playing.
> >I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> >head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> >befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing things!
> >Anyone else notice this?
> >
Wil...@aol.com
The composition that you hear in United Airlines ads, and the source of
Page's fill in Gin, is called Rhapsody in Blue. Rhapsody in Blue was
composed by George Gershwin in 1924. It's a separate composition from Porgy
& Bess, which was written in 1935.
Gershwin was only 25 years old when he wrote Rhapsody, which has been
identified as one of the first jazz-oriented classical pieces (at least one
of the first to gain popular attention). I've probably gone way beyond what
people want to know but here's what Gershwin had to say on this wonderful
piece of music:
"I had no set plan, no structure. The Rhapsody, you see, began as a purpose,
not a plan. I worked out a few themes, but just at this time I had to appear
in Boston. It was on the train, with its steely rhythms, its rattly-bang (I
frequently hear music in the very heart of noise) that I suddenly heard--even
saw on paper--the complete construction of the Rhapsody from beginning to end
. . . . I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America--of our vast
melting-pot, of our incomparable national pep, our blues, our metropolitan
madness. By the time I reached Boston I had the definite plot of the piece,
as distinguished from its actual substance."
You may be wondering how this has to do with phish, besides the Page fill
during Gin. Well, to me what Gershwin is describing is in many ways what
Phish does with improvisation, taking a feeling or a sound and using it as a
theme from which to expand. And here's the kicker: when the time rolled
around for Gershwin to perform Rhapsody in Blue for the first time, he still
hadn't ironed out most of the structure. So he improvised entire sections of
the piece on the spot (on piano). The conductor had to take cues from
Gershwin in order to have the orchestra come in at the right places. Wonder
if they used hand signals . . .
HTH (or maybe HTWTB--Hope This Wasn't Too Boring)
Shawn
Joshua T. Harvey
Stuart Nadler (st...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: People really need to start expanding their horizons here! There is
: other music out there besides Phish you know.
: That piano part in Bathtub sounds remarkably like Rhapsody in Blue by
: George and Ira Gershwin, which is in the musical Porgy and Bess ( or is
: it Bess and Porgy - I always get that mixed up.) I think people have
: been realizing that for quite some time now. It would be pretty cool
: if, during a United Airlines Commericial, we heard Trey whip out "the
: lick" though.
Not to rip you either, but I think YOU need to expand your horizons here.
Rhapsody in Blue was never a part of Porgy and Bess--it is a seperate
entity written at least 7 years before Porgy and Bess. The lick is used
by many piano players throughout music since it is so compatible to rock
and jazz. Ben Folds uses it in one of his solos on The Five's first album
(I can't remember which one right now). If you are interested in
Gershwin, might I recommend any of the biographies by Edward Jablonski.
Later on.
Josh
Joshua "Knuckles" Harvey
P.O. Box 97
462-4802, Room GL-103
30 Sellers Avenue
(540) 463-2444
Lexington, VA 24450
"Grinning smugly I laugh out
in clear conviction at America
the low-rate modern whore..."
--The Agents of Good Roots
Benjamin Gardner
On Wed, 19 Mar 1997, Samuel Benson Shaw wrote:
> One reason why Phish sound so strangely familiar to so many of us
> when we become initiated into the world of their music, is that their
> compositions are LOADED with references (and here's where those who
> disparage rap musicians for sampling may want to prick up their ears)
> to other compositions. Some might call it stealing -- I think it is a
> nice way of weaving their own works into the fabric of music history.
> If the ending of "Foam" sounds catchy to you, that's because it is
> lifted clean from "The Entertainer." The chords progression from
I think you're one off. That part of Foam is traditionally referred to as
"Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits" and I believe is a motif older even than
the entertainer which interprets it the way Page does Rhapsody in Blue,
however, I don't think it uses it in a traditional sense. Am i wrong?
Benjamin Gardner
On 19 Mar 1997, Stuart Nadler wrote:
> In <5gn3qc$t...@f1n1.spenet.wfu.edu> dima...@wfu.edu (david michael
> dimatties) writes:
> >commmercial came on and I heard a very recognizable piano tune
> playing.
> >I couldn't place it right away but as I worked through the song in my
> >head, I realized that it sounded eerily like Page's piano part in Gin
> >befores Trey rips THE RIFF. Please tell me that I'm not hearing
> things!
>
> George and Ira Gershwin, which is in the musical Porgy and Bess ( or is
> it Bess and Porgy - I always get that mixed up.) I think people have
> been realizing that for quite some time now. It would be pretty cool
> if, during a United Airlines Commericial, we heard Trey whip out "the
> lick" though.
>
or at best an operetta.
kevin cassels
Samuel Benson Shaw wrote:
>
> Folks,
> This conversation is downright embarassing. Listen, I have been
> seeing shows, trading tapes, etc. for a long time, and I love Phish,
> but they are not remotely on the same level of musicianship as George
> Gershwin. Send all the flames you like my way, but I guarantee you
> that Page would be loth to hear people crediting him with authorship
> of Rhapsody in Blue, one of the undisputed treasures of American
> Music. This thread is nothing short of pathetic.
> Phish are even more prone to quoting familiar compositions in
> improvisation. "Rhapsody in Blue" is clearly not written into
> "Bathtub Gin," although Page does quote the melody extremely
> frequently in performance.
>
Sam,
I like your attitude definitely, but I think you're wrong on this one.
The members of Phish have talked openly before about the riff on
"Bathtub Gin" being an "intoxicated" version of "Rhapsody in Blue".
Kevin