The Band (album)
| The Band | ||||
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| Studio album by The Band | ||||
| Released | September 22, 1969 | |||
| Recorded | Early-to-mid 1969 8841 Evanview Drive West Hollywood, CA |
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| Genre | Roots rock, americana, Southern rock | |||
| Length | 43:50 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | John Simon | |||
| The Band chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [1] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
| Robert Christgau | (A+) link |
The Band is the eponymous second album by The Band, released on September 22, 1969. It is also known as The Brown Album.
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[edit] Album details
The Band peaked at #9 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. In 2000, it recharted on Billboard's Internet Albums chart, peaking at #10. The singles "Rag Mama Rag" and "Up on Cripple Creek" peaked on the Pop Singles chart at #57 and #25 respectively.
The album includes many of The Band's best-known and critically acclaimed songs, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", which Rolling Stone named the 245th greatest song of all time (in the updated version,[3] it was the 249th greatest song of all time). In 2003, the album was ranked number 45 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 1998 Q magazine readers voted The Band the 76th greatest album of all time. TIME magazine included it in their unranked 2006 list of the 100 greatest albums. Robert Christgau, having been disappointed with their debut, had expected to dislike the record, and even planned a column for The Village Voice to castigate their followup. Upon hearing the record, however, he declared it better than Abbey Road, which had been released four days following, writing The Band's LP is an "A-plus record if I've ever rated one." [4]
According to the liner notes to the 2000 reissue of "The Band" by Rob Bowman, the album, "The Band", has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana.[5]
Thus, the songs on this album draw from historic themes for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" , "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" and Richard Manuel's "Jawbone" (which was composed in the unusual 6/4 time signature.)
The album was reissued in 2009 by Audio Fidelity as a limited edition gold CD. Remastered for the first time on CD from the original master tapes (which Capitol evidently no longer possesses), the album also included a single b-side "Get Up Jake" as a bonus track. Originally slated for the album "Get Up Jake" was dropped from the original album line-up at the last minute because the band felt it was too similar to another track on the album.[6]
In 2009, the album was preserved into the National Recording Registry because the album was "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or informs or reflects life in the United States."
[edit] Track listing
All songs written and composed by Robbie Robertson, except where noted..
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Across the Great Divide" | 2:53 | |
| 2. | "Rag Mama Rag" | 3:04 | |
| 3. | "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" | 3:33 | |
| 4. | "When You Awake" | Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson | 3:13 |
| 5. | "Up on Cripple Creek" | 4:34 | |
| 6. | "Whispering Pines" | Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson | 3:58 |
| 7. | "Jemima Surrender" | Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson | 3:31 |
| 8. | "Rockin' Chair" | 3:43 | |
| 9. | "Look Out Cleveland" | 3:09 | |
| 10. | "Jawbone" | Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson | 4:20 |
| 11. | "The Unfaithful Servant" | 4:17 | |
| 12. | "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" | 3:39 |
[edit] Bonus Track listing from 2000 re-release
All songs by Robbie Robertson unless otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Get Up Jake (outtake - stereo mix)" | 2:17 | |
| 14. | "Rag Mama Rag (alternate vocal take - rough mix)" | 3:05 | |
| 15. | "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (alternate mix)" | 4:16 | |
| 16. | "Up on Cripple Creek (alternate take)" | 4:51 | |
| 17. | "Whispering Pines (alternate take)" | Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson | 5:09 |
| 18. | "Jemima Surrender (alternate take)" | Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson | 5:09 |
| 19. | "King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (alternate performance)" | 4:28 |
The 2000 re-release has also been packaged as a double CD with The Band's debut album Music from Big Pink.
[edit] Personnel
- Rick Danko – bass, fiddle, trombone, vocals
- Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, rhythm guitar, vocals
- Garth Hudson – organ; clavinet; piano; accordion; melodica; soprano, tenor and baritone saxophones; slide trumpet; bass pedals
- Richard Manuel – piano, drums, baritone saxophone, harmonica, vocals
- Jaime Robbie Robertson – guitars, engineer
- John Simon – producer, tuba, electric piano, baritone horn, tenor saxophone, "high school and peck horns", engineer
- Tony May – engineer
- Joe Zagarino – engineer
- Elliot Landy – photography
[edit] Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Pop Albums | 9 |
| 2000 | Top Internet Albums | 10 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | "Rag Mama Rag" | Pop Singles | 57 |
| 1970 | "Up on Cripple Creek" | Pop Singles | 25 |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2010)
- ^ Christgau, Robert. "In Memory of the Dave Clark Five" (1969), The Village Voice
- ^ Bowman, Rob. (liner notes) The Band, (remastered edition), 2000
- ^ Bowman, Rob (liner notes)Capitol expanded edition of "The Band", 2000
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