Little Tiny Butter Biscuits

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History

When "Reverend" Jeff Mosier’s help was enlisted for a run of bluegrass-inflected shows in November of 1994, he got a lot more than he bargained for. Wanting to do everything right, Phish got Mosier not only to teach them some bluegrass tunes, but also how to play, what instruments to get, and even about the history of the genre. The quintet ended up picking a slew of standards – “Earl’s Breakdown,” “Dooley,” “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome,” and others – revamping some covers Phish already did (“Long Journey Home” and “Ginseng Sullivan”), and, like a cherry on top, also picked a Mosier original, the often misnamed “Little Tiny Butter Biscuits.” Mosier has said the song was inspired by an Alzheimer’s patient he worked with, who one day uttered the cryptic phrase-cum-song-title. In their five performances of the tune, the most interesting was perhaps the 11/19/94 post-show “parking lot” version. This parking lot jam is legendary, as the band and Mosier (and a few brave fans) kicked it outside the tour bus and played many of the tunes in the Mosier-Phish repertoire, much to the dumbstruck delight of the assembled crowd.

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