Broken Heart Attack

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History

Unless you’re a serious scholar of country music, you probably hadn’t heard Jerry Reed’s “Broken Heart Attack” before Phish’s lone performance of the song at Alpine Valley on August 14, 2022. For that matter, unless you’re a devout Phish Tour completist, you might not even have heard Phish play the song, as it’s nestled near the back end of an oddball second set. 

Provided to YouTube by RCA Records Label Nashville

But you have heard Jerry Reed before. If you watched Smokey and the Bandit (1977), he wrote and performed the theme song “Eastbound and Down” (don’t pretend like you didn’t love that movie) and played opposite Burt Reynolds as The Bandit’s trucker accomplice, Cledus "The Snowman" Snow. If you didn’t see Smokey and the Bandit, you might have heard “Guitar Man,” “Amos Moses,” or “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” (which won the Grammy Award for “Best Country Vocal Performance, Male” in 1971) among many others.

“Broken Heart Attack” dates from earlier in Reed’s career, the third track on his third album, Alabama Wild Man (1968). It features many of the elements that defined his music: a crisp rhythm section straddling rock and country, nifty guitar work, rapid-fire vocals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics (if there was a Phish song that was actually secretly a Jerry Reed cover, it would be “Possum”). 

The song tells the story of a man who has been dumped so coldly by his lady that he suffers an actual heart attack, and Reed does a masterful job of mixing country music sorrow with clinical medical terminology. Heartbreak is the first page in the country music playbook, and the visit to a doctor is a songwriting common trope (see “Good Lovin’”), but only Jerry Reed could incorporate “thrombosis,” “capillaries,” and “fibrillations.”

While many of Reed’s songs come across as less-than-serious, his guitar playing is very serious: Reed could go toe-to-toe trading licks with legends like Chet Atkins and Glen Campbell. A masterful fingerpicker, he knew all the country music “chicken pickin’” licks, and delivered them with a showman’s flair despite considering himself more of a songwriter.

The one-off performance is relevant to Phish history in two ways: First, it was the only time all Summer that Jon Fishman stepped out from behind the drum kit to sing lead vocals. Fishman’s star turns have indeed become more scarce in recent years–it does seem prudent to use the schtick sparingly when you’re 60 rather than 30. 

During Phish’s early years, Fish singing lead, playing vacuum cleaner, and running around like a fool was a regular occurrence. Post-hiatus, it became a once-a-tour event. Post-COVID it has become even rarer. In 2023, Fishman unveiled another country song, Reba McIntyre’s “The Night the Lights Went Down in Georgia” and subjected MSG to a lyrically challenged “Cracklin’ Rosie,” but 2024 and 2025 went by without any appearances from Henrietta, Bob Weaver or any of Fish’s other aliases.* 

Second, Broken Heart Attack also instantly found itself in the “One-Time-Only Club,” currently a list of over 350 songs which Phish has only performed once. The list includes rock and roll heavyweights (“Burning Down the House”), Halloween album tracks (“The Great Curve”) sit-in vehicles (Jay-Z on “99 Problems,” Phil Lesh on “Viola Lee Blues”), Phish originals which failed to launch (anyone remember the Fishman original “Tomorrow’s Song?”), and a dizzying variety of oddities (“Rhinoceros,” “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” and…”Broken Heart Attack”). Since “Broken Heart Attack,” the club has so far welcomed two new members: “The Night the Lights Went Down in Georgia” and Prince’s “Cream.”

Video by shinepigeon

The performance itself is far from great, and seemingly preceded by minimal rehearsal. Which raises curious questions: How exactly does Fish pick out new songs? Is he actually a huge Jerry Reed aficionado? Did he watch Smokey and the Bandit at the hotel the night before and find himself down a Jerry Reed rabbit hole? Had he just been to see his cardiologist? Was it a dedication to some unknown friend for some unknown reason? Some serious heartbreak of his own?

Stepping back, how does Fish decide it’s the night to sing? Had he been waiting all tour to spring it at just the right cosmic moment? Does Trey say earlier in the day “we need to blow off some steam, will you please sing one tonight?” Or does Trey say, “OK OK OK, will you please stop bugging me if I let you sing that ridiculous Jerry Reed song?”

What we do know is that on the night of August 14, 2022, in the Wisconsin countryside, thanks to the unique genius of Jon Fishman, a few attendees said “Oh gawd, does he mean to sound like that? Can we please leave now?” Thousands laughed with glee as the Sunday show took a silly and unexpected turn. Others crossed their arms and waited patiently for the band to get back to proper jamming. But, you can be sure there was one guy jumping up and down out on the lawn screaming “Oh my God! I can’t believe they’re playing this! It’s Jerry Reed! I love this song!” 

*Not counting Fishman’s turns on lead vocals while drumming, either on originals (“Ass-Handed”) or select covers (“Crosseyed and Painless”), as these represent a more “normal” part of the Phish live catalog.

Last significant update: 1/8/26

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