''Junta'' ( ) is the first studio album by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

. It was self-released by the band in May 1989 on cassette without the support from a record label, and later received a wider release when

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

reissued it on compact disc in 1992. While ''Junta'' was preceded by two demo recordings – ''

The White Tape ''Phish'' (also known as ''The White Tape'') is a demo album released by the American rock band Phish on cassette in 1986. Often cited as the first Phish "album", ''The White Tape'' was originally a collection of original material that the band ...

'' (1986) and ''

The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday ''The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday'' (often abbreviated as TMWSIY) is a 1988 concept album written by Trey Anastasio, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band Phish, as his senior thesis while attending Goddard College. Complet ...

'' (1987) – which circulated among the band's fanbase, ''Junta'' is the band's first professionally recorded album. Much of the album consists of complex, multi-part suites influenced by

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

and

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

Recording

The album was independently recorded at Euphoria Sound Studio, now known as Sound & Vision Media, in Revere, MA by engineer Gordon Hookailo. Some of the recording was documented on video tape by studio owner Howard Cook. The album is named after Ben "Junta" Hunter, the band's first official manager, whose nickname is pronounced with a

hard Hard means something that is difficult to do. It may also refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * Hard (TV series), ''Hard'' (TV ser ...

J and a short U. In addition to a few more traditionally structured songs, ''Junta'' contains symphonic-like epics and multi-part

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

suites.

Release

The recording was released on tape in 1988, and did not appear in stores officially until May 8, 1989. Phish held a release party concert for the ''Junta'' tape on May 9, 1989 at The Front club in their native Burlington, Vermont. The album was re-released by

on October 26, 1992. The album was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on October 9, 1997, and was certified platinum on July 7, 2004. In February 2009, the album became available as a download. "Union Federal", "Sanity", and "Icculus" did not appear on the original cassette release, but rather only on the Elektra version, which had extra space on the CD format. "Union Federal" was taken from a jam session, while "Sanity" and "Icculus" were recorded live on July 25, 1988. There was a mix up in adding them to the Elektra version post-date, so the May 3, 1988 date inside the album notes is incorrect. The 2009 digital download also contained these three extra tracks, while the 2012 re-releases did not contain the extra tracks, as these were not part of the original album's stereo master reels. Other songs of the recording era include "Slave To The Traffic Light" and "Alumni Blues", both of which did not make it on the album or get a studio recording, but are live staples and appeared on ''

'' (1986).

2012 vinyl reissue

On February 13, 2012, it was announced that ''Junta'' would be released on vinyl for the first time on April 21, 2012 as a limited edition 3-LP vinyl set, as part of

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

. The set was limited to 5,000 individually numbered copies. The vinyl release was created from the original stereo master reels and includes a free MP3 download of the entire album, transferred from the new vinyl master. Two digital transfers were also made from the original stereo master reels, one recorded at 24 bit / 96 kHz, and a second digital transfer recorded at 24 bit / 192 kHz. On this new release "Contact" is restored to its full length as on the original cassette release.

Track listing

Notes: *The original cassette release, duplicated in real-time on Nakamichi CR1_A cassette decks at ProtoSound Inc, Burlington VT by Nick McDougal, contains "Fee" through "Dinner and a Movie" on side one, and "The Divided Sky" through "Contact" on side two. *Tracks 4–6 on disc two are bonus tracks exclusive to CD editions of the album. *Certain pressings of the album contain an extended version of "Contact".

Personnel

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 ...

- guitars, lead vocals, producer :

Page McConnell Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963) is an American multi-instrumentalist, most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. McConnell joined Phish in 1985, and is the only member of its long-standing quartet li ...

- keyboards, vocals, producer :

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

- bass guitar, vocals, producer, lead vocals on "Contact" :

Jon Fishman Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Phish, which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit. Early life Fishman was born in Ph ...

- drums, vocals, trombone, producer Others :Gordon Hookailo - engineer :Jim Davignon - assistant engineer :Bob Ludwig - mastering :

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., hi ...

- design :Jim Pollock - artwork :Nick McDougal - cassette duplication at ProtoSound Inc.

Notes

External links

Phish's official site

Phish.com: ''Junta''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Junta (Album) 1989 debut albums Phish albums LivePhish.com Downloads