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This venerable blues song, written and originally performed by “St. Louis Jimmy” Oden, is one of the mainstays of the genre. It has been covered dozens of times, including by Oden’s contemporaries such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, and by rock figures like Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, whose version on Duane Allman: An Anthology (1972) is where many rock fans heard it first. The explanation for its staying power is simple: as a tale of a young man’s dying reflections after too much fast living, it’s a story rockers and blues men know all too well.

Phish’s version, which debuted with many other new selections at New York’s Wetlands Preserve on 9/13/90, doesn’t have the emotional power of, say, the Allmans’. But it is a perfectly respectable effort, highlighted by Trey’s chunky rhythm guitar work and strong three-part harmonies in the coda. Unfortunately, the band didn't give it a chance to develop further. After encoring with it the next night in Providence, it made just one more appearance (10/3/90) before being dropped from the rotation.

Watch Goin' Down Slow on YouTube Duane Allman "Goin' Down Slow"

(Oden)
© Arc Music; Songs of Universal, Inc. (BMI)

I have had my fun if I never get well no more
I have had my fun if I never get well no more
All of my health is failing
Lord, I'm going down slow
I'm going down slow

Please write my mother and tell her the shape I'm in
Please write my mother and tell her the shape I'm in
Tell her to pray for me
Forgive me for my sin
For all of my sin

On the next train south
Look for my clothes back home
On the next train south
Look for my clothes back home
'Cause all of my health is failing
Lord, I'm going down slow
I'm going down slow

All of my health is failing
Lord, I'm going down slow
I'm going down slow

Feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow
I feel like I'm going, like I'm going down slow