In truly unpredictable fashion (or… were clownfish pants actually predictable, at this point for Mike’s wardrobe?), Phish opened the 7/2/2019 show at SPAC with their debut of The Everly Brothers’ vocal-harmony-laden hit single, “Cathy’s Clown.” Several reviews of this show indicate that this song came out of nowhere (and to be fair, they haven’t played the tune since), but as Trey noted, “We’re not gonna say if that has anything to do with the pants, but it might…”
Arguably, the song itself is essentially about calling someone out (the clown who used to date Cathy, presumably), so it seems apt for calling out Mike’s outfit for the evening, at minimum. Mike apparently didn’t say “no” to this as a show opener and assumed lead vocals for the song.
Don and Phil Everly, the two brothers from who comprised The Everly Brothers, achieved their first chart success in 1956 with “Bye, Bye, Love.” Their career took off in the late 1950s, leading to a record deal with Warner Records in 1960, after which the duo penned “Cathy’s Clown,” a song that became their best-selling hit. Their musical talent abounds on this track as it was recorded using one microphone between the brothers with no overdubs, capturing their nearly flawless, tight vocal harmonies, which became influential to rock and pop artists of the 1960s like The Beatles and The Beach Boys.
Video by Smurfstools Oldies Music Time Machine
Yet, “Cathy’s Clown” became the subject of a very non-harmonious lawsuit in 2017 between Don Everly, who claimed that he wrote the full song, and the family of Phil Everly, who contested that Phil participated in the songwriting but had been forced by Don to relinquish copyright interest. The lawsuit continued for quite some time, and was ongoing at the time of this show, but later settled in 2023, in favor of Don Everly.
Regardless of why the band chose this as the show’s opener, despite relatively low energy during the actual performance of the song, they managed to replicate the textural brilliance of the vocals. The low energy was short-lived as the band ripped into “Tweezer Reprise” which had been left unplayed two nights earlier in Camden, NJ. on 6/30/2019. While July 2nd does not appear to have major significance to the history of The Everly Brothers, June 30th does - it marks the date of their first Ed Sullivan Show performance in 1957 and then many years later, after a lengthy and dramatic breakup, they announced a reunion tour on this date in 1983.
“Cathy’s Clown” made its own brief reprise during the show as Trey teased the lyrics at the 6:25 mark in “Scent of a Mule,” a track that that is also notably dripping with timbral and textural elements (and humor), as he sang, “Here he comes…Here comes Cathy’s clown…Here he comes.” What remains to be seen is whether or not the song (or Mike’s clownfish pants) will make another appearance at future shows.
Phish.net
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