There most certainly is such a thing!Originally Posted by Dave (in MA)
There most certainly is such a thing!
Most covers I've heard of Band songs sound to me better than the originals.
Tough room is right! Well, I love The Band. Being from North Carolina I hear all of the southern rock bands and I'm sick of most of them. I don't ever need to hear Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot or .38 Special ever again. Some of the Allmans I don't need to hear either but most of their stuff is good to great to classic. I still enjoy the Black Crowes and Gov't Mule but for me The Band came closer to expressing the South in a musical sense than any of the other bands. Funny that 4/5th's of the group is Canadian. Levon Helm was from Arkansas and I think Robbie really got a great understanding of the region from Levon and was able to put that understanding into words. I don't think there has ever been a song written about the South and the Civil War that better captured the essence of that experience better than The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. It's simply brilliant. Cripple Creek, King Harvest and many others really nail that "Southern" feeling. The writing, the harmonies, the instrumentation with the ability of the members to switch off instruments and the brilliant production of John Simon were just a few of the ingredient that made The Band so special. They were also excellent interpreters of other people's songs. They did a version of Salt N Peppa's Free Your Mind that's absolutely wonderful, not to mention the many Dylan songs they did over the years. Then there is Garth Hudson. He's a unique character, classically trained and as eccentric as they come. He was The Band's secret weapon.
Just an all around terrific group.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
to me , The Band sounds like Country Rock. They and the Byrds (though slightly later) invented it with Dylan on Nashville Skyline.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I'd describe the Band's music as fully developed rock n roll, and would recommend 'Rock of Ages: The Band in Concert' from '72.
Yes, the Dylan axis did it better than almost anyone who followed in their wake. I do really like Eagles, otherwise...
Nashville Skyline is the one that makes it explicit (look at the title alone), true, but Dylan had been dabbling with that sound since the recordings much later released as The Basement Tapes (with what became The Band, of course).
Some music writer once said that every great rock 'n roll band had one guy who lived it and one guy who wrote about it. For example, in the Stones, Keith lived it and Mick wrote about it. In The Who, both Roger and Keith lived it, and both Pete and John wrote about it. In the Kinks, Dave lived it and Ray wrote about it. Not sure how the Beatles or Brian + the Beach Boys fit into that - maybe he doesn't consider them rock 'n roll bands so much as pop bands who sometimes played rock 'n roll.
But in The Band, Levon definitely lived it, and Robbie (and the others) definitely wrote about it. And you know, maybe it was because Robbie & Co. were outsiders. They weren't inside the story the way Lynyrd Skynyrd were, so they could bring a writer's perspective to it; Ronnie Van Zant, in contrast, was too much a genuine angry, blue-collar Southern tough guy to ever get much of an overview on what made him that way.
Interesting observation. In the case of the Beach Boys, I believe Dennis Wilson was the only real surfer. And Mike Love wrote the lyrics.
Frog in boiling water
Wasn't that a Funkadelic song? Or is there another song with that title? I am unfamiliar with Salt N Pepa's discography.
Frog in boiling water
Salt N Pepait was an En Vogue song from the early 90s and yes they got the title from the Funkadelic track.
The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off
Salt N PepaHow did we go from The Band to Salt N Pepa and En Vogue? Most peculiar.
To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.
Gov't Mule covering The Band with the Levon Helm Band
One of my favorite new bands doing a stomping R&B version of The Shape I'm In
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
That's right, En Vogue. My error. Here's the Band's version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iskJs12_BI
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
Master musicians playing brilliantly constructed songs and superb arrangers.
The #1 thing I appreciate about the band is their musicianship. It's a lost art; musicianship. By that I don't mean Allan Holdsworth or John McLaughlin. Those guys are great guitar players. If you look up musicianship in the dictionary there just should be a picture of Levon Helm. That guy could play drums behind anything, keep it fresh and exciting yet never overtake the music at hand. Dude had restraint to go with the chops and groove. He could sing like an angel in his natural voice, play a damn decent mandolin ... I mean, the guy was a flat-out beast of a musician and I'd take one Levon Helm over a thousand Neil Pearts.
Funny I like some of the Bands music and of course Gath Hudsons contributions--- and think what Jeff^^ is saying about musicianship is true---I remember reading Jon Anderson saying of the Band when Allan White joined--that he could make Yes sound something like the Band---the groove funk thing the swing and restraint---then they recorded Tales LOL
I only need a two-CD compilation of their music but I love it. Their latter-day albums were very patchy indeed. They're considered country rock or Americana and that's exactly what Robertson was shooting for, even though they were Canadian save for Helm. Robertson was quoted in a magazine years ago saying he wasn't into guitar hystrionics, he wanted to be soulful, find a groove and settle into it ala Motown. They have to be the most soulful roots rock band ever.
Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that
Exhibit A- 'Up On Cripple Creek'.
In the 80s and 90s I was totally ape-shit about the Band. The organic feel of the vocal harmonies, the great story-songs, and Garth and his amazing organ. The Band really tapped into some timeless aspect of music; some of their tunes sound like they could have been 100 years old. I agree that Chest Fever has one of the greatest rock riffs ever. Might even be my favorite Band song because of that.
I even got to see them a week before Manuel hung himself. I only read about his notorious drug abuse much later.
As with anything great in music I overplayed the Band and eventually burned out on them. I still put on the s/t or Big Pink once or twice a year but the pure magic that used to emanate from their tunes is long gone for me.
My two cents worth on the Band.
The Band was, and was also as viewed as, the antidote to psychedelia and all the strange consciousness expanding/Hippie Dippie/Flower Power and political and social commentary of late sixties rock music. And rightly so. They were mostly Canadian, had no musical views on the Vietnam war and weren't preaching musical nirvana. And that hit a nerve.
As far as being talented, I sometimes lean toward them being a bit overrated but some of their songs are absolute classics, and I don't believe that Robbie Robertson ever got the respect he deserves as a songwriter.
The Weight, with it's heavy plodding rhythm, and enigmatic narration by a traveler having returned home and having conversations about events that only he and the song's characters understand, along with taking upon the load of another ambiguous character named Annie can't help but draw the listener in. It is simply a song for no one and everyone, an incredibly rare songwriting accomplishment. And the emotional vocal delivery by drummer Levon Helm almost hides the nervous vocal lines interjected by bassist Rick Danko so well that many unfamiliar with The Band think it's the same narrator.
Not many of The Band's songs are as incredible as the Weight, but several do come mighty close.
To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.
Their first couple of albums are OK 'roots rock', but IMHO pale completely next to stuff like Little Feat, Mu (Merrell Fankhauser's band) or that second Seatrain album (w. Peter Rowan).
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
THE Band.
When I first heard them in HS, I was not blown away. But they grew on me big time.
Perhaps like fine whiskey, they are an acquired taste.
I trace my turnaround on them to two releases. The Last Waltz. And the album Northern Lights Southern Cross, which was one of their later ones. Some gorgeous vocals throughout that one.
Danko and Helm were the highlights for me. Love those Danko backup vox!
“Where words fail, music speaks.” - Hans Christian Anderson
An underappreciated album in The Band's discography, and a fine sounding LP.
Frog in boiling water
I know just a few numbers from that later studio album. It Makes No Difference, and Arcadian Driftwood are both beautiful amd moving songs by Robertson. As much as I love Levon Helm's vocals, Danko has a melancholic character and longing in his voice that is just devastating.
I think that longing quality really belongs to Richard Manuel but Danko was good at it too.
Bill
She'll be standing on the bar soon
With a fish head and a harpoon
and a fake beard plastered on her brow.
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