The Band - Rick, Robbie, Richard, Levon and Garth

oistheone · Oct 14, 2011, 01:57 AM

It's October, which means it is time for my annual obsession with The Band to kick into high gear. I was surprised to see there wasn't a thread already started on these guys -- mind you it's never easy to search for anything related to The Band.

To start this discussion, I submit that Richard Manuel was the best singer of all time.

The Band - I Shall be Released

Note: if you have not seen this clip, I urge you to watch it. If your heart doesn't melt by the end of the last verse, I suggest you get your soul examined.

Jaimoe · Oct 14, 2011, 07:27 AM

Great clip from the awesome must-own documentary, Festival Express; about the 1970 cross-Canada train tour with the Band, Buddy Guy, The Dead, Janis Joplin, Flying Burrito Brothers, Ian & Sylvia...

Tracy 2112 · Oct 14, 2011, 08:21 AM

If you haven't listened to Richard sing Whispering Pines on the headphones then you haven't lived.

Do it! Today!

headhunter · Oct 14, 2011, 08:58 AM

great clip. Favorite DVD of all time is The Last Waltz.

buaawwww · Oct 14, 2011, 09:13 AM

That's great stuff right there. Who doesn't love the Band? I rocked out to "Chest Fever" 3 times on my walk to work this morning...lol

kotchishm · Oct 14, 2011, 09:16 AM

Best. Band. Ever. "Across the Great Divide" and "Get Up Jake" are two my favorite songs of any band. Solid thread.

Hawkeye · Oct 14, 2011, 09:48 AM

Yeah, amazing that there is no thread on this Band...I assume that their greatness is just a given...kind of like how there probably isn't a Sam Cooke or Otis Redding thread.

Definitely one of my favorite bands. Love, love, love Levon, Richard, and Rick's voices.

Could listen to this forever, on end:

Evangeline-The Last Waltz

Jaimoe · Oct 14, 2011, 09:53 AM

I think there is at least one Band topic and a few Band related threads.

Penny Lane · Oct 14, 2011, 10:00 AM

Quote from: oistheone on Oct 14, 2011, 01:57 AM
It's October, which means it is time for my annual obsession with The Band to kick into high gear. I was surprised to see there wasn't a thread already started on these guys -- mind you it's never easy to search for anything related to The Band.

To start this discussion, I submit that Richard Manuel was the best singer of all time.

The Band - I Shall be Released

Note: if you have not seen this clip, I urge you to watch it. If your heart doesn't melt by the end of the last verse, I suggest you get your soul examined.

Probably my favorite song of all time and favorite version of it..
He was my favorite vocalist in the band, but all 3 were terrific.

And everyone should own this:

and everyone should read Greil Marcus's chapter on The Band:

and Check out the Drive-by Truckers song "Danko/Manuel"

buaawwww · Oct 14, 2011, 10:16 AM

Quote from: Penny Lane on Oct 14, 2011, 10:00 AM
Quote from: oistheone on Oct 14, 2011, 01:57 AM
It's October, which means it is time for my annual obsession with The Band to kick into high gear. I was surprised to see there wasn't a thread already started on these guys -- mind you it's never easy to search for anything related to The Band.

To start this discussion, I submit that Richard Manuel was the best singer of all time.

The Band - I Shall be Released

Note: if you have not seen this clip, I urge you to watch it. If your heart doesn't melt by the end of the last verse, I suggest you get your soul examined.

Probably my favorite song of all time and favorite version of it..
He was my favorite vocalist in the band, but all 3 were terrific.

And everyone should own this:

This book is next on my list. I purchased this a while ago along with a book on the Dead ("What A Long Strange Trip") and "The Ballad of Joe Strummer". Finished the Dead book, halfway through the Strummer book... and Levon's is up next.

Tracy 2112 · Oct 14, 2011, 10:23 AM

Paulie_Walnuts · Oct 14, 2011, 10:25 AM

My favourite band of all time for sure. All three vocalists were up there with the best, but the way they all complemented each other was where the magic came.

I got to see Garth Hudson play in London on his 70th birthday, and got to shake Levon's hand at one of his Midnight Rambles a few years ago. Just wish I'd been born 20 years earlier and could have seen The Band in their prime.

If I had to pick a vocalist though I'd always go for Rick...so much emotion in his voice (as with the other two as well), and the coolest dude on the planet to boot!

Rick Danko - Sip The Wine - Live 1978

Penny Lane · Oct 14, 2011, 10:29 AM

Since Robbie wrote most of the songs based on Levon's life, it adds more to the music, too..

ophidiophobia · Oct 14, 2011, 11:18 AM

Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White - The Weight (It might get loud)
Probably a tad cliché but this is my favorite song from The Band. This is one of my top 2-3 favorite songs of all time. This was my favorite part of the movie, too.

Hawkeye · Oct 14, 2011, 11:29 AM

I want to go to one of Levon's Midnight Ramble's SO bad. Thinking about going to one on 11/26 over the Thanksgiving holiday break...don't really know the Wiyos but it's good timing, and I trust that anyone playing with Levon must be legit.

Shug · Oct 14, 2011, 01:56 PM

Ditto on all the love for The Band and their great singing and songs and playing. Watching The Last Waltz every Thanksgiving after dinner is a tradition at my house. If you're at my house that day, you WILL be hearing the Last Waltz and it will get loud! ;D

So many great moments in that film, but one of the greatest is the Staples Singers sitting in on The Weight.

http://youtu.be/Z1Ah7tVDlSk

I also love Rick Danko's singing on It Makes No Difference.

Jaimoe · Oct 14, 2011, 02:23 PM

For some reason, especially in their hometown, The Band aren't always thought of as a Toronto band (same with Neil Young to some extent - he's thought of as small town and mid west Manitoba). Perhaps this is due to a pioneering style rooted in both Americana/Canadiana and aren't very urban or big city. FYI, their former leader, Ronnie Hawkins, is a Toronto icon and Robbie still lives in the area.

oistheone · Oct 14, 2011, 02:50 PM

For those on the fence about going to a Ramble, go while you still have the chance!!! Woodstock is one of most beautiful towns in North America, and the one Ramble I went to was by far one of the most memorable nights of my life. Jim Weider let me play his effin' guitar after the show!

I kinda made a Band pilgrimage out of it, stopped by Big Pink and Danko's grave as well. It was all totally surreal and a weekend I'll never forget. Come to think of it, it was a year ago this weekend!

Jaimoe · Oct 14, 2011, 02:57 PM

The Big Pink house is in nearby West Saugerties; both areas are jewels in a fairly depressed part of NY State. The Woodstock museum is worth checking it. It's not full of rock memorabilia; its focus is on the scene, written accounts, clothes, poster art, letters, pictures and the overall historical context. You gotta go just to see the childlike handwritten letter by Wavy Gravy. Man, I'm shocked he made it out of the '60s.

johnnYYac · Oct 14, 2011, 09:30 PM

From Rolling Stone

The Playlist Issue - Your Favorite Artists Pick Their Favorite Songs

Issue 1142

October 27, 2011

Page 64

Jim James: The Band

The Band were a profound influence on My Morning Jacket, says frontman James. "We always looked up to them. It's so rare to find a group that followed their impulses and didn't give a fuck about the trends of the day. That really speaks to me."

1. "It Makes No Difference" 1978
I'll never forget seeing Rick Danko sing this in The Last Waltz. He could be a goofball and a heartbreaker, sometimes at once.

2. "Up on Cripple Creek" 1969
Superfunky; you can tell they had a deep love for soul, funk, every kind of music.

3. "The Unfaithful Servant" 1969
Another of my favorite Danko songs. When I'm in Woodstock, I visit his grave to pay my respects to his massive spirit.

4. "Whispering Pines" 1969
This is filled with such pain, but it contains that tint of hope.

5. "Yazoo Street Scandal" (Basement Tapes version) 1975
Psychedelic funk, with Levon Helm just crushing it. The recording is fucking nasty, dark and dirty, and his voice sounds so fucked up.

6. "Don't Ya Tell Henry" (Basement Tapes version) 1975
I saw Levon do this not long ago, and he still had the energy and spirit of a young child.

7. "Tears of Rage" 1968
Richard Manuel's vocal here is one of the greatest ever captured. There's something about this that's so pure.

8. "Don't Do it" (The Last Waltz version) 1978
The original is by Marvin Gaye, who's maybe my biggest singing influence, and they give it just as much power as his version, if not more.

9. "I Shall Be Released" 1968
One of the most important songs ever written, by Dylan or anyone else. I see this version almost like I see Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" - like Dylan wrote it just for Manuel to sing.

10. "The Weight" 1968
Back when My Morning Jacket formed, this was one of the first songs we tried, because the harmonies are so great and stacked in such a cool way. But we couldn't do it, couldn't nail 'em. We sang this one with Levon at his house recently, which is pretty fucking crazy.