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The Band

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The Band on the cover of their second album: Manuel, Helm, Danko, Hudson, Robertson

The Band was an influential Canadian-American rock and roll group of the 1960s and 1970s.

The members of The Band first worked together as The Hawks, the backing band of rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins from 1959 until 1963. Afterwards, Bob Dylan recruited the quintet for his history-making 1965/1966 world tour and they joined him on the informal recordings that became the acclaimed Basement Tapes.

Dubbed "The Band" by their record company (a name derivative of what the group was referred to as during their tenure with Dylan), the group left the comfort of their communal home in Woodstock to begin recording as a group unto themselves. The Band recorded two of the most important albums of the late 1960s: their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink (featuring the hit single "The Weight") and 1969's The Band. These critically praised albums helped conceive country rock as something more than a genre, but rather as a celebration of "Americana." As such, throughout their career they would repopularize traditional American musical forms during the psychedelic era. The Band dissolved in 1976 but reformed in 1983 without founding guitarist and main songwriter Robbie Robertson.

Although always more popular with music journalists and fellow musicians than the general public, The Band has remained an admired and influential group. They have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Overview

Their music fused many elements: primarily old country music and early rock and roll, though the rhythm section often had a bouncy, funky punch reminiscent of Stax or Motown, and Robertson cites Curtis Mayfield and the Staple Singers as major influences. At its best, however, The Band's music was an organic synthesis of many musical genres which became more than the sum of its parts, and never felt pieced together. Importantly, unlike most rock music, much of The Band's catalog — especially within their first two albums — contained few songs based on traditional blues chord progressions.

The Band comprised Robbie Robertson (guitar); Richard Manuel (piano, harmonica, drums, saxophone); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, clavinet, accordion, synthesizer, saxophone); Rick Danko (bass guitar, violin, trombone); and Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar) Excepting Robertson, all were multi-instrumentalists; each person's primary instrument is listed first. There was little instrument-switching when they played live, but when recording, the musicians could offer all manner of subtle aural colors and textures to enhance songs. Hudson in particular was able to coax an impressive range of timbres from his Lowrey electric organ; on the choruses of "Tears of Rage", for example, it sounds startlingly like a mellotron. Helm's drumming was rarely flashy, but he was often praised for his subtlety and funkiness. Critic Jon Carroll famously declared that Helm was "the only drummer who can make you cry," while prolific session drummer Jim Keltner admits to appropriating several of Helm's techniques.

Singers Manuel, Danko, and Helm each brought a distinctive voice to The Band: Helm's gritty, southern voice had more than a hint of country, Danko sang in a soaring, unfettered tenor, and Manuel alternated between fragile falsetto and a wounded baritone. The singers regularly blended in unorthodox, but uncommonly effective harmonies. Though the singing was more or less evenly shared between the three men, both Danko and Helm have stated that they saw Manuel as the Band's "lead" singer.

Robertson was the unit's chief songwriter (though he sang lead vocals on only three or four songs in The Band's career). This role, and Robertson's resulting claim to the copyright of most of the compositions, would become a point of much antipathy between the group's members, especially Robertson and Helm.

Producer John Simon is cited as a "sixth member" of The Band for producing and playing on Music from Big Pink, co-producing and playing on The Band, and playing on other songs up through The Band's 1993 reunion album Jericho.

History

With Ronnie Hawkins

The Hawks gradually came together as a backing unit for Toronto-based rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins: Helm first (he journeyed to Canada from Arkansas with Hawkins), then Robertson, Danko, Manuel and Hudson. At the time, Hawkins was popular in Toronto, and had an effective way of eliminating his musical competition: when a promising band appeared, Hawkins would often hire their best musicians for his own group; Robertson, Danko and Manuel came under Hawkins' tutelage this way.

While most of the Hawks were eager to join Hawkins' group, getting Hudson to join was a different story. He'd earned a college degree, and planned on a career as a music teacher, and was interested in playing rock music only as a hobby. The Hawks were in awe of his wild, full-bore organ sound, and often begged him to join. Hudson finally relented, so long as the Hawks each paid him $10 per week to be their instructor: if anyone had questions about music theory, they'd turn to Hudson. While pocketing a little extra cash, Hudson was also able to mollify his family's fears that his education had gone to waste. On The Last Waltz Hudson states, "There is a view that jazz is 'evil' because it comes from evil people, but actually the greatest priests on 52nd street and on the streets of New York City were the musicians. They were doing the greatest healing work. They knew how to punch through music that would cure and make people feel good." The piano-organ combination was uncommon in rock music, and for all his aggressive playing, Hudson also brought a level of musical sophistication and elegance that was quite memorable.

With Hawkins they recorded a few singles in this period, and became well known as perhaps the best rock group in the thriving Toronto music scene.

By 1963, the group split from Hawkins over personal differences. They were tiring of playing the same songs so often and wanted to perform original material, and they were tired of Hawkins' somewhat dictatorial leadership. He would fine the Hawks if they brought their girlfriends to the clubs (fearing it might reduce the numbers of available girls who came to performances) or if they smoked marijuana (alcohol and pills were acceptable, but Canada had stiff penalties against marijuana possession).

Robertson later said, "Eventually, he (Hawkins) built us up to the point where we outgrew his music and had to leave. He shot himself in the foot, really, bless his heart, by sharpening us into such a crackerjack band that we had to go on out into the world, because we knew what his vision was for himself, and we were all younger and more ambitious musically." [1]

They recorded two singles and toured almost continually (usually billed as "Levon and the Hawks"), but they found little success, partly because without Hawkins, they lacked a magnetic frontman.

In 1965, they met blues singer and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson. They wanted to record with him, offering to become his backing band. Williamson died not long after their meeting, however, leaving rock music one of its greatest might-have-beens.

Enter Dylan

Their fortunes changed, however, following their recommendation to Bob Dylan by singer John P. Hammond, who'd recorded with some of the Hawks on his album So Many Roads.

Dylan invited them to tour with him. Levon and the Hawks were receptive to Dylan's offer, knowing it could give them the wider exposure they craved, but they simultaneously feared that their music was too different from his. They thought of themselves as a tightly rehearsed rock and rhythm and blues group, and they knew Dylan mostly from his early acoustic folk and protest music. Furthermore, they had little inkling of how internationally popular Dylan had become.

With Dylan, they played a tumultuous series of 1965 and 1966 concerts, marking Dylan's final change from folkie to rocker. According to some accounts (and as documented in a scene in Eat the Document) some of the Hawks joined in Dylan's reportedly copious drug use in this era. These tours remain some of the most storied in rock music history, and arguably mark a major turning point in popular music.

At their best, Dylan and the Hawks were an electrifying live ensemble; Dylan famously described their "thin wild mercury sound" as the one he'd been seeking. These concerts saw them sometimes heckled by folk music purists (Helm was so bothered by the negative reception that he quit the group temporarily, instead working on an oil rig).

There were some abortive recording sessions with the Hawks, but Dylan was dissatisfied with the results. Of the Hawks, only Robertson joined session musicians recording Blonde on Blonde, released in mid-1966.

With Mickey Jones replacing Helm, Dylan and the Hawks appeared at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in May, 1966. The gig became legendary when, towards the end of Dylan's electric set, an audience member shouted "Judas!". After a pause, Dylan replied, "I don't believe you. You're a liar!" He then turned to the Hawks and commanded them to "Play fucking loud!" just before they launched into an acidic version of "Like a Rolling Stone".

This performance was widely bootlegged (and mistakenly placed at the Royal Albert Hall). The recording of this gig became one of the most famous of Dylan's career, often inspiring a rapturous response in those who heard it. A 1971 review from Creem stated "My response is that crystallization of everything that is rock'n'roll music, at its finest, was to allow my jaw to drop, my body to move, to leap out of the chair ... It is an experience that one desires simply to share, to play over and over again for those he knows thirst for such pleasure. If I speak in an almost worshipful sense about this music, it is not because I have lost perspective, it is precisely because I have found it, within music, yes, that was made five years ago. But it is there and unignorable." [2] When it finally saw official release in 1998, critic Richie Unterberger declared the record "an important document of rock history."[3]

While on a break from touring, Dylan suffered a motorcycle accident, and retired into semi-seclusion in Woodstock, New York.

For a while, the Hawks returned to the bar and roadhouse touring circuit, sometimes backing other singers (including a brief stint with Tiny Tim).

Dylan invited the Hawks to join him in Woodstock, where they recorded a much-bootlegged and hugely influential series of demos, subsequently released on LP as The Basement Tapes. Helm rejoined the Hawks during this time, when they picked up their new name after seeing such tongue in cheek monikers as "The Honkies" and "The Crackers" rejected by their label.

Music from Big Pink and The Band

Settling into a rented large pink house in West Saugerties (near Woodstock), the Hawks began writing their own songs. When they went into the recording studio, they still didn't have a name for themselves. They wanted to call themselves either "The Honkies" or "The Crackers", but these names were vetoed by their record label, who dubbed them "The Band" on the first pressings of Big Pink. Initially, they disliked the moniker, but eventually grew to like it, paradoxically thinking it both humble and presumptuous.

Their first album proper, Music from Big Pink (1968) was widely acclaimed. It included three songs written or co-written by Dylan ("This Wheel's On Fire", "Tears Of Rage", and "I Shall Be Released") as well as Robertson's own "claimed" classic "The Weight", whose use (a cover by Smith) in the film Easy Rider would make it probably their best known song (later, the director Lawrence Kasdan would integrate the song into his 1983 film The Big Chill). While a continuity certainly ran through the music, there were stylistic leanings in a number of directions. Never a specifically "psychedelic" group, the Band's first record did contain at least one song ("Chest Fever") demonstrating some similarities with that genre. In contrast to his wild, squealing guitar playing with Dylan, Robertson opted for a more subdued, riff-oriented approach.

After the success of Big Pink the band left the Woodstock area for Los Angeles where they recorded their follow up, The Band (1969). From their deliberately rustic appearance on the cover, to the songs and arrangements within, the album stood in stark contrast to the prevalent hippie culture of California and trendy psychedelic music. The Band featured songs that evoked oldtime rural America, from the civil war ("The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down") to unionization of farm workers ("King Harvest Has Surely Come").

Greil Marcus suggests that "King Harvest" might be The Band's finest song, and the best example of their unique approach to songwriting and performing. First, the song's structure is unusual: unlike nearly all popular music, the choruses (sung by Manuel and Helm) are subdued while Manuel's verses are more energetic. The song's subject (labor unions) is a staple of protest songs, but "King Harvest" addresses it with a personal intimacy and sense of halting uncertainty largely absent in protest music. With increasing desperation, the narrator (an unnamed, poverty-stricken farmer) details the misfortune which has befallen him: there was no rain and his crops died, his barn burnt down, he ends up on skid row. A union organizer appears, promising to improve things, and the narrator tells his new associates "I'm a union man, now, all the way", but, perhaps ashamed of his station, begs them "just don't judge me by my shoes." Though strictly speaking, "King Harvest" is not a blues, the song has a distict blues feel. The aching desperation to Manuel's voice is strongly shaped by country music, but otherwise, the song has a sweeping, almost cinematic quality rarely heard in country. All these different threads are woven together, however, to create something compelling and distinctive.

These first two records were produced by John Simon, who was practically a group member: He aided in arrangements, and played occasional instruments (piano or tuba). Simon reported that he was often asked about the distinctive horn sections featured so effectively on the first two albums; people wanted to know how they had achieved such memorable sounds. Simon was slightly embarrassed to admit that, besides Hudson (an accomplished saxophonist), the others had only rudimentary horn skills, and acheieved their sound simply by creatively utilizing their limited technique.

Rolling Stone magazine lavished praise on The Band in this era, giving them more attention than perhaps any other group in the magazine's history.

A critical and commercial triumph, The Band, along with work by The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, established a musical template (sometimes dubbed country rock) that later would be taken to even greater levels of commercial, if not artistic, success by such artists as Eagles. Both Big Pink and The Band were also hugely influential on their musical contemporaries, with both Eric Clapton and George Harrison citing The Band as a major influence on their musical direction in the late 1960s and early 70s. Indeed, Clapton later revealed that he had aspired to join the group.

Stage Fright

The tour following their second album was the first with The Band as headline act. The resulting anxiety was especially felt by Robertson who undertook hypnosis to combat it; an influence on their next work, the self-explanatory Stage Fright (1970), which was engineered by whiz-kid musician-engineer-producer Todd Rundgren.

Stage Fright was arguably The Band's last classic work, with subsequent records being increasingly disappointing for most fans, although each included a number of classic songs (e.g., "It Makes No Difference") that rank with the best of their work. The striking vocal arrangements so promient on the first two albums were featured less often on later records.

At about this time, Robertson began exerting greater control over The Band. This has become a point of antipathy, especially between Helm and Robertson. Helm charges Robertson with authoritarianism and greed, while Robertson suggests his increased efforts in guiding the group were due largely to some of the other members being unreliable. In particular, Robertson insists he did his best to coax Manuel into writing or co-writing more songs, only to see Manuel's talents overtaken by addiction.

The best of their later albums is the live recording Rock of Ages (1972), recorded at a 1971/1972 New Year's Eve concert and featuring the line-up, bolstered by the addition of a horn section, in exuberant form. Bob Dylan appeared on stage for the concert's final four songs, including a spectacular version of the rare song "When I Paint My Masterpiece".

In 1973 The Band played before up to 600,000 people at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, outside Watkins Glen, New York.

In 1974, The Band reunited with Dylan for a concert tour; it was hugely popular (perhaps the most profitable tour by any recording artists to that time), and resulted in a live album, Before the Flood.

The Last Waltz

Van Morrison performing with The Band on The Last Waltz (left to right: Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson)

By 1976, seemingly tired of the constant workload, they retired from touring with a massive Thanksgiving concert on November 25, featuring a horn section and a stellar list of guests, appearances by Hawkins, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood, Paul Butterfield, and Neil Diamond, with brief readings by poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Michael McClure.

The concert was filmed by Martin Scorsese, and was subsequently combined with interviews, as well as separately-recorded soundstage performances with country singer Emmylou Harris ("Evangeline") and legendary gospel-soul group The Staple Singers ("The Weight"). Released in 1977 as The Last Waltz and directed by Martin Scorsese, it was accompanied by a triple-LP soundtrack.

After one more studio record, however, featuring a version of "Georgia On My Mind" for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign, the band split.

Post-Waltz

All the Band's members remained active in music to some degree, though Robertson had the most successful musical career. He became a music producer and wrote movie soundtracks (including acting as music supervisor for several of Scorsese's films) before a highly praised comeback with a Daniel Lanois produced, self-titled solo album in 1987.

Helm received many plaudits for his acting debut in Coal Miner's Daughter, a biographical film about Loretta Lynn, and for narrating 1983's The Right Stuff while the remaining members interspersed session work with occasional solo releases.

Multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson has released two acclaimed solo CDs, "The Sea To The North" in 2001, and "LIVE at the WOLF" in 2005, both featuring his wife, Maud, on vocals. He has also kept busy as an in-demand studio musician.

Reunions

In 1983, The Band reformed and recommenced touring, though without Robertson. Some fans and critics suggested this was all but blasphemy, Robertson (publicly, at least) stated that such a response was overblown, and furthermore wished his former bandmates the best. Several different musicians were recruited to replace Robertson and to fill out the group. The reunited Band was generally well-received, but found themselves playing in much smaller venues than during the peak of their popularity.

While the reunited Band was touring, on March 4, 1986, Manuel committed suicide in his Florida hotel room. It later emerged that he had suffered for many years from chronic alcoholism — according to Helm's autobiography, in the later stages of his illness, Manuel was consuming eight bottles of Grand Marnier per day.

The surviving members participated in former Pink Floyd bandleader Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin, but it would be another seven years before the reformed group recorded an album, Jericho (1993). Like its successor High On The Hog (1996), the musicianship was immaculate, but many fans noted that some of the spirit that had made them great was missing. Much of the songwriting was handled by outsiders. A third album, Jubilation (1998), fared similarly. On December 10, 1999 The Band lost another member, when Rick Danko passed away, aged 56, in his sleep.

Discography

1965

1968-1978

1993-1998

Compilations

Albums with Bob Dylan

Sources

  • This Wheel's on Fire by Levon Helm with Stephen Davis (ISBN 1556524056) - a complete, but by no means impartial, account of the group's history.
  • Across the Great Divide: The Band and America by Barney Hoskyns (ISBN 1562828363)
  • Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes by Greil Marcus (ISBN 0805058427)
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