The Band - The Band
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Free Music Notes for The Band
Free Music Review: THE Band
Hit: 5 Stars
With 3 Lead vocalists, that played more than half a dozen instruments between them. A lead guitarist and songwriter of the highest quality, and a multi-intrumentalist/keyboard player The Band were, and still remain quite unique to this day.
This album still sounds completely original now. In 1969 it would have been from another planet. Everybody was into acid and anti-establishment, Flower Power, Hendrix psychedelia were hip then. The Band went backwards and embraced a bit of country, Ragtime, Gospel and Rock N Roll of course.
Highlights - well the only only minor hit single they ever had "Rag Mama Rag" is a track that demonstrates their versitilty. Rick Danko (the usual bass player) is playing fiddle, theres some fiendish Piano Playing from Garth Hudson and virtually everybody is playing something different from usual.
The other well known track is The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (which sounds as though it was written in the 19th Century). This was covered by Joan Baez. However, my favourite is probably King Harvest (has Surely Come). Richard Manuels lead vocal is anguished, Robbies guitar solo, brilliant but understated. If you've seen the classic albums program on this album you'll understand.
Believe it or not this album influenced Eric Clapton and Elton John. Hard to believe. When Clapton first heard this record he stopped wanting to be a guitar hero and wanted to get back to writing quality songs. Listen to Elton Johns Tumbleweed Connection album and it reeks of the first two Band records (and its a great album in its own right).
Sadly Richard Manuel committed suicide in 1986, and Rick Danko died in the 1990's. We will never see The Band perform again in its original line-up and to me this is as sad as The Beatles never performing again after the famous roof-top concert. Thats how good these guys were. This album remains an essential purchase 37 years after it was released.
Free Music Review: Music from the poolhouse
Hit: 5 Stars
The Unfaithful Servant, King Harvest (Has Surely Come) are among the best songs ever written in the 60's. Amazingly this album was recorded in Sammy Davis Jr's poolhouse. Again, like Big Pink reissue, the bonus tracks are totally unnecessary.
Free Music Review: The Band
Hit: 5 Stars
Definately top 5 of all time. Everyone should be isued this recording when they are born--more important then diapers.Free Music Review: Desert Island Album
Hit: 5 Stars
Words can't do justice. I can't add anything to the tributes that others have provided, but neither can I leave this page without throwing in my personal "Amen." This is perhaps my favorite album of all time. I knew a couple of the songs from the Band's 70's hits package when I picked this one up. But -- surprise! -- those were probably the weakest songs on the album. I envy anyone the experience of picking this up for the first time and exploring all the "filler" tracks on here. The first notes of "Across the Great Divide" hooked me, and 30 years later I've found few musical experiences to match. My only caution to new purchasers might be -- well, it can't be quite the same experience on CD. Same incredible music, but this one was made to be an LP. This is one of the coolest looking albums ever. This is not an album to fit in a pocket.Free Music Review: If you could only have one . . . .
Hit: 5 Stars
If you could only own one Band album (which I hope never happens to you), this is probably the one. Actually, if you could only own one album by anybody, this one is pretty much up there too. For a band with three other essential albums (Music from Big Pink, Stage Fright, and Northern Lights - Southern Cross), The Band had to work pretty hard to earn it's place as the group's top recording. If you don't own this record, all I can say is "buy it as fast as you can." It's a classic, influential work of songwriting, playing, singing, and production genius as well as a portal from mainstream rock to the rockabilly, country, gospel, folk and blues that it synthesizes.
There's not one weak cut on this album--from the soulful, uptempo openers to the classic anthem "The Night they Drove Old Dixie Down," the back-porch "Rockin' Chair" and the heavenly funky "King Harvest," the album flows seamlessly from start to finish like some sort of time travel experiment in which somebody took a time machine to 1865 and brought rock and roll along with them. Guitarist Robbie Robertson's songwriting was never as consistently good--the songs range from narrative stories like "Dixie," and "Rockin' Chair," to more humorous stream-of-consciousness lyrics like "Across the Great Divide" and "Rag Mama Rag," as well as more oblique numbers like "Unfaithful Servant." Drummer Levon Helm and pianist Richard Manuel contribute as well on several numbers, notably "Jemima Surrender" (Helm) and the heartwrenching, soulful, "Whispering Pines" (Manuel).
What makes this album so classic is the combination of great songwriting with an unmatched blend of musical virtuosity and variety. Robbie Robertson's guitar is biting and original, full of between-vocal fills and pinched harmonics as well as some really resonant acoustic work. He's a master at understatement, usually eschewing solos for lead that supports the song as well as the vocalist while at the same time remaining oh-so wicked ("King Harvest" anybody?). Levon Helm's drumming is so fat it sounds like he's in the room with you, and his combination of heavy funk with the mostly folky music accounts for a large portion of this album's unique sound. Rick Danko has always been an underrated bassist, backing up Helm's funky drums with an equally funky bass bottom that grooves and gets deep at all the right moments. Richard Manuel's piano is solid, though he's easily outshone when Garth Hudson tears across the keys on songs like "Rag Mama Rag" and "Jemima Surrender." Hudson represents a one man musical army, unmatched in virtuosity--his unmistakable, agile Lowrey organ lines typified the Band's sound for their entire career, but he was also adept at playing pretty much any instrument he got his hands on, including melodica, clavinette, some of the raunchiest saxophone ever laid down on a rock record, trumpet and accordion. Most bands would have killed to get a musician like Hudson into their group, and his talents aren't wasted here, bringing class and jaw-dropping keyboard lines to the aforementioned tunes as well as "Look Out Cleveland."
The final ingredient to the other-worldly magic that makes up this album is the fact that The Band had three of the best vocalists of the early rock era, using them each as lead vocalists as well as backing singers in gorgeous harmony combinations that showcase each singer's unique vocal timbre. Levon Helm (lead on "Up On Cripple Creek"), the group's only American member, contributes the Southern flavor, soulfully croaking out lead vocals that evoke good times, the anguish of Confederate soldiers and some irreverent debauchery. Rick Danko's country-inflected vocals (lead on "Unfaithful Servant") crack with palpable emotion and provide the sugar-sweet, high-range harmonies on many of the tracks. Last and most impressively, Richard Manuel (lead on "Whispering Pines") possessed a truly priceless set of vocal chords, capable of deep, resonant power ("Jawbone"), unbelievable texture ("King Harvest") and a heavenly, bellowing falsetto that still makes my hair stand on end ("Whispering Pines"). These voices are the stuff dreams are made of, and they rotate back and forth, showcasing each singer's talents and deftly matching each singer with the song he sings.
I also have to mention John Simon's production--this record feels and sounds so organic, like everything is happening live in a small room. The texture is so clear and rich, and the record's woody, thick low-end still rocks and grooves just as hard as the Band wanted it to when they originally recorded this gem.
The bonus tracks on this album aren't truly essential, except maybe the studio take of "Get Up Jake," a live favorite. Instead, they mostly help prolong the magic, providing slightly different alternate takes that reveal different vocal nuances and less polished products along with a window into the Band's creative process.
This record is so good I can't recommend it enough, truth be told. It influenced so many other artists and still sounds so fresh and unique today that it really is a must-own album that belongs in your collection to be heard, reheard, and treasured for years and years to come.