The Band

Albums Reviewed


Music From Big Pink (1968)
The Band (1969)
The Best Of (1991)

Music From Big Pink

(1968)
A pivotal record in rock history, Music From Big Pink has been credited with single-handedly ending psychedelia, and infusing traditional American folk back into the rock lexicon. The shift in emphasis is evident from track one, where Music From Big Pink begins with an emotive reading of the Bob Dylan ballad 'Tears of Rage'. The Band started off as The Hawks, backing blues belter Ronnie Hawkins, before supporting Dylan on his controversial 1966 electric tour. After the tour, the Band went to earth with Dylan and recorded the Basement Tapes, where they developed their unique melding of rock with traditional folk, country and blues forms. The organic harmonies, the virtuoso but often unassuming musicianship (guitarist Robbie Robertson boycotted soloing for the entire album, a revolutionary principle when Cream and Hendrix were at their height) and songs that seemed to spring from an America of a hundred years earlier, created a richness and legitimacy that has rarely been touched in popular music. While The Band come across as the consumate American group, in reality four of the five members were Canadian; only drummer Levon Helm was a native of the Deep South where much of The Band's mythology seemed to have its origins. The name of the album comes from the house in upper New York State where The Band holed up while they created the record. Most of The Band were proficient on multiple instruments; typically Robertson and Helm were augmented by bassist Rick Danko, organist Garth Hudson and pianist Richard Manuel, but the whole lineup could shuffle to Danko on violin, Manuel on drums, Hudson on piano, and Helm on mandolin when a hoedown was called for. Hudson, an incoherent and eccentric man with a large beard, was also proficient on saxophone, while the other four members all sing lead vocals on this album.

While The Band's second album is often acclaimed as their masterpiece, with arguably an even greater depth to the best of the songwriting, Music From Big Pink is a more consistent listen in its own right. There are eleven songs that are all at least competent, and often far more enduring. The songwriting is more democratic, with three Dylan penned songs (originating from the Basement Tape sessions) and the traditional 'Long Black Veil' accompanying compositions from Robertson and Manuel. The best known song is 'The Weight', an oblique tale of Biblical proportions, with an evocative opening guitar shimmer and a famous three part vocal hook at the end of the chorus. The other big highlight is 'Chest Fever', an organ-led funk workout, with Hudson quoting Bach in the introduction and a bizarre Salvation Army band recreation on the bridge. But that's only the surface of the record; the two emotional Dylan ballads that bookend the album are highly effective, while the electric piano groove of 'Long Black Veil' fits in perfectly with the rest of the record. 'To Kingdom Come' features a rare but effective Robertson vocal, while Manuel's three winsome compositions are all evocative. The remastered version has extensive sleeve notes and a whole stack of bonus tracks, which I haven't absorbed yet although I prefer the faster take of Manuel's 'Lonesome Suzie' to the slightly languid official version. While it's not surprising given that The Band had spent years under the tuition of Hawkins and Dylan, this is still one of the most assured and genre-defining debut albums in the history of popular music.


The Band

(1969)
This is the iconic Band album; it's often referred to as the Brown Album, due to the earthy tones on the cover. It was originally intended to be named Harvest, a title which would have fitted well. Even more than the previous album, it witnesses the group digging into increasingly richer interpretations of traditional music forms. While Music From Big Pink certainly didn't suffer from a narrowness of vision, the diversity on The Band is astounding; the album ranges from the hoe-down of 'Rag Mama Rag' and funk of 'Up On Cripple Creek' to the stateliness of 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and the languidness of 'Rockin' Chair' without ever losing a sense of coherency. The coherency is aided by its thematic consistency; Robertson, who emerges as the main songwriter on the record, delves explicitly into American history in tracks like 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' (a humanistic Southern perspective on the Civil War, prompted by a visit to Helm's parents) and 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come)' (a tale of depression era poverty) while the souls of most of the other tracks are grounded somewhere in a bygone era. There's also a tangible Biblical flavour to songs like 'Unfaithful Servant' and 'Jawbone', which adds a further sense of authority to proceedings.

While it's generally acknowledged as The Band's best album, it's just not as consistently entertaining as the previous one. While the only song that isn't really up to par is the musically and lyrically vulgar 'Jemima Surrender', they also tend to lose me on the slower stuff, music that ventures far beyond the normal boundaries of rock and roll. While Manuel's 'Whispering Pines' is absolutely gorgeous, songs like 'Rockin' Chair' and 'When You Awake' tend to fall somewhere beyond my musical tolerance. But regardless, The Band is stacked with classic songs; 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' is the most iconic, but the more overlooked 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come)' is just as weighty, concluding with a terrific minimalist solo from Robertson. The more light hearted 'Rag Mama Rag' and 'Up On Cripple Creek' are both wonderful, packing in some interesting textural experimentation; producer John Simon's first ever performance on the tuba provides the bassline for the former, while Hudson cranks out funky leads with his clavinet hooked up to a wah-wah pedal for the latter. There's also a solid core of tracks in the next tier down, with the time signature hopping piano hook of 'Jawbone' and the rocking bassline of 'Look Out Cleveland' both showcasing the musicians' versatility in a manner that doesn't interfere with the song. Apart from the not particularly interesting 'Get Up Jake', the bonus tracks are just a bunch of alternate versions. Due largely to the strength and timelessness of songs like 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come)' and 'Up On Cripple Creek' this is another fantastic album by The Band; at this stage in the career they could do no wrong in the eyes of the press, and it's not hard to see why. If you're prepared to enjoy the slower songs feel free to give this album full marks, but I'd place this at a high 4.5 as opposed to Music From Big Pink's low 5.


The Best Of

(1991)
Because their best output is extremely concentrated towards the beginning of their discography, The Band aren't the easiest group to anthologise. But that's no excuse for this twenty track Australasian only compilation, which fails to impress despite including more than half of the classic first two albums. On the positive side they do manage to snag most of the high points from Music From Big Pink, although the live version of 'Chest Fever' isn't as entrancing as the original, while the three contributions from third album Stage Fright are reasonably strong if a trifle non-descript. But that's about where the positives dry up; the rock and roll covers album Moondog Matinee may have been a fun exercise, but in this context its three selections serve to cheapen more ambitious songs like 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and 'The Weight'. The compilers do manage to pick out 'Up On Cripple Creek' and 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' from the brown album, but for some explicable reason they include all the slow boring material like 'When You Awake' and 'Rockin' Chair' instead of more accessible classics like 'Rag Mama Rag' and 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come)'. And there are plenty more surprising omissions from later albums; well known songs like 'It Makes No Difference', 'Baby Don't Do It' and 'Acadian Driftwood' fail to surface. To add insult to injury, the conversational liner notes are singularly poor (sample: "They were besieged by reporters, both underground and straight") while the extremely budget cover art is recycled from a previous compilation. It's irrelevant reviewing this compilation, since it's localised and out of print, but it's worthwhile to reiterate that The Band's first two albums should be the starting point for exploration of the group. Considering that it includes such terrific songs as 'The Weight' and 'Up On Cripple Creek', this compilation is a disappointingly poor listen.


The Last Waltz


Rightfully acknowledged as one of the finest movies in rock music, the Martin Scorcese directed The Last Waltz documents the original group's last live performance together. The concert was broadcast live on Thanksgiving 1976 and featured a plethora of guest stars that the group had worked with over their career, including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. The film has some excellent interviews with the charismatic members, while noteworthy musical performances include 'Evangeline', a Danko duet with Emmylou Harris, and Van Morrison's drunken take on 'Caravan'. I wouldn't be too fussed about owning the album, but the film's well worth watching.

Random Album Pick: Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden

The result of fourteen months of recording in an abandoned Suffolk church, it's certainly not difficult by any stretch of the imagination; it's warm and inviting, filled with rich organic sounds like its predecessor.



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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe