No wonder, it’s another five star plus masterpiece they’ve painted here. Robertson’s songs were now sharper than ever, his guitar playing so fluid and transcendental that everyone from Zeppelin to Pink Floyd stood slack mouthed. Another uncanny mélange of southern and roots rock and roll, this is virtually a conceptual piece illuminated by the classics, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, ‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’ and ‘Jawbone’. Producer John Simon became like the sixth member once the self-titled The Band arrived in 1969, adding his barrage of horns to an ever-expanding dynamic which saw every member now proficient on a bewildering array of instruments. To gaze at the cover more of same – Dylan painted it. This is simply one of the most classic items about. With Robertson’s songwriting matching itself to the sonic tapestry, we also have the cover of ‘Long Black Veil’ to consider and the bonus material on the re-master. Equally notable, however, are the songs that keyboard genius Richard Manuel bosses –‘Chest Fever’ and ‘In A Station’, or those where drummer Levon Helm takes vocal control –‘The Weight’ being the most stellar of all. One of the most inspiring new sounding discs even by 1960s standards it contains the epic cuts that they wrote around Dylan: ‘I Shall Be Released’, ‘This Wheel’s on Fire’ and ‘Tears of Rage’. ![]() The Pink album was a revelation and a revolution wrapped into one. They made The Basement Tapes as a result and while those songs would sit in various cans, or be bootlegged and loaned out to prospective hit-makers like Manfred Mann, the Band boys decided to create their own Music from Big Pink in 1968 and adopt the permanent title of The Band, simply because they were the go-go band for various frontmen. Bob Dylan had the good sense to catch them as they flew and hired them to back him on tours of America and Europe in 19, an episode that altered musical history for the likes of George Harrison and Jerry Garcia. ![]() As The Hawks, they honed their chops on the Canadian-American borderland before stepping out on their own as Levon and the Hawks or The Canadian Squires. Their abiding achievement, aside from songs as timeless as ‘Tears of Rage’, ‘The Weight’, ’Chest Fever’ or ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’ is to have inherited a complete swathe of rock, soul, country and R&B and synthesized that into a brew so potent it can be handed on forever.įlashback to the late 1950s when Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson came together in backing rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. Consider that The Band’s music changed the lives of Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison and The Grateful Dead, just for starters or that the complete Last Waltz set has been recreated by several new generations of musical hue (Wilco, Ween, The Shins etc) and that they are the subject of a tribute album, Endless Highway, that contains contributions from Rosanne Cash, Jakob Dylan, Gomez and The Allman Brothers Band. Aside from their ten stellar studio albums, we have anthologies to eulogise about and a legacy to contend with that stretches way beyond album sales and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. Roots music and the stuff of the Canadian/North American heartland are the lifeblood of The Band, but they have taken so many side trips that their sound meanders like a river. ![]() ![]() Individually and collectively, The Band’s members stand for a level of excellence in performance and writing that is so influential it practically provides the bedrock on which Americana has stood since the term was coined. They are famous of course for their groundbreaking work with Bob Dylan, inside and outside at Woodstock, for concocting The Basement Tapes and Music from Big Pink for starring in their own Martin Scorsese movie – the epic The Last Waltz – and for reinventing the country rock and roll soul wheel. Such a simple name for such a legendary outfit, but also a completely apt piece of definitive musical description its terseness only serves to draw you in.
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