Customer Reviews

Band

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I've played in blues and rock bands since 1968, and have spent thousands and thousands of hours listening to music. "The Band" (brown album) is my all-time favorite album ever. In 1969, most people were listening to Hendrix, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, The Who, etc. I had a few extra bucks and bought "The Band" mainly because of the cool album cover. It was one of the most important days of my life. I had never heard anything like it before (or since). There were no blaring leads, the harmonies were like none I had ever heard, the lyrics addressed historical facts and rural life, yet the music made you feel good and even want to dance. They were truly a band-- it was nearly impossible to figure out who was singing what (especially since Robertson was wisely told to sing into a dead mike). This is the only album I have ever heard where EVERY song is great. My particular favorites are Across the Great Divide, Rockin' Chair, King Harvest, and Rag Mama Rag. Levon Helm , Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, and Robbie Robertson (masters of 27 different instruments among them) were a once in a century combination that managed to create a unique style of music that is genuine American. Who else could incorporate guitars, fiddles, church organ, mandolins, horns, piano, and three exceptional vocalists into a groundbreaking rock and roll band? Voted the Band of the Decade (70's) by Rolling Stone magazine, their combined talents provided some of the finest music of this century.You will never hear anyone who can cover their songs even remotely, a testament to their collective musical genius. And "The Band" is the best of the best.

I doubt that any single album has so many great songs played so well. I've come back to this album time and again over the last XX years and it's never disappointed me.

At a time when most popular music was permutating the basic guitar-bass-drums line-up, The Band were blending those instruments with reeds, horns and keyboards. Using a tuba as the bass on Rag Mama Rag, no less The sound is simultaneously rough yet sophisticated. The singing blends sweetness and hard edge. Rural but definitely not country.

For music lovers born in the 50s and 60s (and maybe earlier) this album is an absolute sure-fire must-have. For those born later, I wonder whether it sounds as compelling - years of multi-track recording and studio wizardry have raised the taste for smoothness so this one might be a tad too grainy for them.

The version I have is the unremastered CD. I wonder about the additional tracks on this one - more can sometimes diminish the perfect integrity of a great album. If record companies want to give the fans a little extra, bless them, then I personally would prefer them on a 2nd CD.

I've said elsewhere that the Stones' 'Let It Bleed' was the album of 1969, but I forgot about this. I can't decide whether or not it's better than The Band's remarkable debut, 'Music From Big Pink', but in any case it's probably best to follow Levon Helm's lead and treat them as the one work and forget about rating them.

The 'brown album' is full of tremendous cuts, notably Robertson's magnificent 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,' sounding starker and drier here than the live versions I've heard, 'The Unfaithful Servant,' with its stupendous Danko vocal and weepy horn outro from Hudson and John Simon, and 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come),' graced with perhaps Robbie's best solo as well as a very funky rhythm section.

While the album owes its greatness to top-shelf songs more than anything else, The Band's ensemble playing is enough to make a person cry (Garth's piano on 'Rag Mama Rag' is, well, indescribable). More than that, you can't help but marvel at the fact that one band could have so many great singers. Put all that together and you have one of the very best albums anyone is likely to make.

Some albums are declared "dated" or "timeless" based on particular qualities (lyrics, instrumentation, production gimmickry) that either trap them in cultural amber or leave them curiously unscathed by musical faddishness. But The Band's eponymous second LP (now reissued with greatly improved sound, penetrating liner notes, and some decent but inessential bonus tracks) is that rarest of things: an album that exists OUTSIDE of time, or rather *in* but not *of* it.

Let me explain. This disc was written, recorded and released in 1969, but could just as plausibly have come from 1869. The songs (gorgeously played slices of Americana, all) do indeed speak of certain historical events - Stoneman's raids and a visit from General Robert E. Lee near the end of the Civil War in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" to name one, the coming of rural trade unionism in "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" to name another - but the music and performance stands eerily outside the continuum of actual CHRONOLOGICAL time, and instead gestures towards a permanent, idealized near-mythical imagining of American history.

It's rather amazing, really: Robbie Robertson and his cohorts, having fully absorbed the American folk tradition, have reorganized it as an impressionistic snapshot history of the United States in sepia-tone. Given the preternatural way in which every single song on the album fully and flawlessly evokes American folk images and myths while simultaneously remaining effortlessly modern - again, a product of its times but still not of them - it's either deeply ironic or perfectly predictable that this most American of albums was written and performed by four Canadians (plus one Razorback). I'm still not sure which.

What IS beyond doubt, however, is that The Band is a landmark in the history of modern American music, and one which the group themselves could never live up to in later years. It is one of the very few albums I've ever owned that has a palpable aura and mystique; absorb it in all of its impossible perfection and you will feel like a magic spell is being worked upon you. To embrace the sweet cadences of "Rockin' Chair," to join in singing the ragged communal harmonies of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," or to plunge into the darting guitar figures which represent the deceptive moral choice posited by "King Harvest"...to do these things is to delve into the joyful enigmas of the United States' own founding myths.

History as mystery. Not bad for an 11-song piece of vinyl, really.

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.

And in 1969, The Band proved that it could change everything, and then some. They weren't just producing a smart and inescapable rebellion, but they were producing one that they nearly envisioned occuring in the song "King Harvest (Has Surely Come"). And that is the key to this whole album--if you are so inclined to look below the surface. Here was a group that said why follow the rules? These rules aren't the old rules, so we will go another direction here and you can either follow or not. We don't care. We know we need to do this. So calling their music courageous is an understatement. There is always too much depth and intelligence in Band songs for me to describe them all or try to explain to you what I think about each individual masterpiece. Yet there is one song here that can almost always bring tears to my eyes. The song will be a mystery to anyone who isn't creative, and even some creative people may not understand the passion and seriousness of the composition itself. "Whispering Pines" is a lonesome song, with a heart-breaking chorus ('the lost are found') that is almost overwhelming in its complexity and accuracy. However the song is gentle while moody, saddening while searching, and all the while it seems to be the embodiment of the freedom that musicians had during the sixties. At its core, it is the tale of a poet who can't quite write or attain originality the way he used to, and now if only one star (an idea or spark of creative thought) shines, he sees that his life is back on track with purpose, and there is still hope to find a meaning. What else were the people of this generation doing if not looking for a meaning that in the end they never could find? Pure GENIUS. Once again, the Band cannot be judged by the songs of theirs that charted or the ones that are the most popular. They created real art, and it is meant to be album-listening music, so buy all the original albums and give them close listens all the way through without breaking up the songs or the singles. This is artistic expression that defies the market and moves into the realm of ingenious songwriting and powerful performance. Their "hit" songs were nowhere near their best, and it is hard to single out one Band song that is their finest. Even get the emotionally-shattering NORTHERN-LIGHTS, SOUTHERN-CROSS before your exploring is complete. I miss the Band, Danko, Manuel (the greatest voice ever), all of them. If you love this album and are interested in the Band, do yourself a favor and buy the CLASSIC ALBUMS video release about this record; it isn't enough to simply call it an achievement. The video will give you fascinating insights into the Band's creative and performance process, and it will show you how much hard work it takes to make a REAL album full of real music. Simply brilliant all the way around.

As the other reviews explain, this is a great recording. But the news is the remastering (the inspiration has been long attested). To my ears there's a lot more bass which makes for a richer listening experience. As in most remastering jobs, the acoustic guitar brightens considerably. Otherwise the sound remains the same because Robertson and Simon saw fit to limit it in the original recording. The liner notes explain that the drum set was a $130 thing purchased in a pawn shop. The extra tracks are more interesting than the other recent re-releases because The Band worked harder at the actual recording of this record than they worked on other recordings. So there are more takes to choose from. The alternative 'King Harvest' has a charm all its own and 'Jemima Surrender' really emphasizes the big contribution Richard Manuel's drumming made to the released best take (I also learned that it's Manuel who does that tremendous drumming at the end of 'When you Awake'). So I highly recommend purchasing this release.

Perhaps no musical group exemplified an anti-counter cultural approach to music better than The Band did in various ways. They influenced many people who were influential in their own right either at the time (Eric Clapton and George Harrison's approach to music) or would be in years to come (i.e. Roger Waters' approach to concept album writing with Pink Floyd) not to mention being one of the begetters of 1970's style "folk country." And while more could be said about them than that, there is plenty to say about this album and that is where the review will be focused.

The album opens with "Across the Great Divide" and it sets the tone for the very down home Americana feel of this album full of uniformly excellent songs. The latter song contains the story of a man who tries to explain himself to his woman and recounts to some extent the recklessness of his "younger days" as he tries to persuade her to not kill herself. It is not as grim as it sounds in words I assure you.

The second song is "Rag Mama Rag" which is a fun quirky song with fiddles, an offbeat drum pattern, a mandolin, a fiddle instead of bass, and the bass parts played on a tuba. The lyrics of the song were about a woman who only wants to play ragtime music...there may be a sly message in that but whatever. That brings us to one of the best songs on the album.

"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is musically and lyrically a masterpiece. It is ironic a Canadian songwriter (Jaime Robbie Robertson) could write such an empathetic tune about the old South but it the power of the song cannot be denied. It was delivered with conviction by the only American in the group (the southerner Levon Helm). Garth Hudson gets some very textural sounds with a melodica overdubbed via his Lowrey organ, which sounds like a harmonica starting with the second verse of the song. It is an example of the multifaceted talents of the Band's members -all of whom except Robbie Robertson played multiple instruments. I never get tired of hearing this song, singing it, or playing it on guitar. It is followed by "When You Awake", a song with lyrics are about family and remembering with grandfatherly advice being given.

From there the album moves to "Up on Cripple Creek" which is a song with a very "back porch" feel which is (I must say it) deliciously sleazy in a way. Garth Hudson is playing a clavinet through a wah wah pedal to create the sound of a jew's harp. When mixed with Danko's bass playing, it gives a significantly low range to the tune about a narrative of a man who wants to lookup an old girlfriend for "assistance" if you will and how in many areas she completes him. "Whispering Pines" follows, which Robertson co-wrote with Richard Manuel. The song has a completely different tempo than the one preceding it and Manuel delivers a very wrenching vocal performance vocally and on piano.

Following "Whispering Pines" is "Jemima Surrender" which has a heavier tempo with boogie-woogie piano (played not by Manuel but by Hudson), Manuel on drums, Levon Helm not on drums but rhythm guitar, and Robertson on lead guitar. (The alternate take --half the songs on the album have an alternative take on this CD- has the members on their usual instruments for a completely different approach to the song.) The song is about the singer wanting a girl named Jemima to give in and...well...that is all I will tell you about it.

"Rocking Chair" is possibly my favourite song on the album. It is unconventional musically for the group in that there is no drums (Helm is on mandolin on this tune), Hudson plays accordion, Robertson is on acoustic guitar, and the timekeeping is done solely by Danko's bass and that is adequate. The lyrics I find to be quite haunting now in the wake of having lost my childhood best friend last year and for other reasons not to be mentioned here.

"Look Out Cleveland" is a up tempo rocker sung by Danko with some aggressive lead fills by Robertson backed by Danko's equally aggressive bass picking and is about "a storm coming through" which ends up devastating everything. (Compared to everything else on the album, this song stands out in its strident phrasing.)

From there the next song is "Jawbone" and it opens with a very slow start and alternates time signatures from verses to the pre-chorus to the chorus and back again with lyrics about a thief who is unrepentant. The album next moves into "Unfaithful Servant" which is sung by Danko and is a slow creeper about...well...exactly what the title says and the narrator tries to examine the reason for the faithlessness involved.

The album ends officially with "King Harvest" which is a frantic tune sung by Manuel. The song has an unusual sound even for an album of songs many of which are distinctive in that sense. The shifting tempos from verse to verse gives a distinctive sound as does Robertson's stinging lead playing which shows a pleasing restraint to it. The lyrics show the tensions of paradoxical attachments (city and country, past and present, etc) and is a tale about a union man who is feeling the pinch ala Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" and wraps up the album quite strongly.

There are also alternate takes of six of the songs on the CD release as well as an outtake of a song that would appear on future albums (referring to "Get Up Jake"). But the twelve songs on the album as originally released are the focus of this review and they all cohere well making this album a must have for anyone who likes good music.

Well..i've never written a review on AMZN before. I am an absolute music afficianado and am a Grateful Dead fanatic. I would say that I have in my collection every single important 60's and 70's albums created (from Zep, Beatles, Floyd, all Dylan, Stones, Who, Allmans, Neil, Hendrix, Dead, and the zillion other important contributions worldwide).

THIS ALBUM BLOWS THEM ALL AWAY!

It is without question the most impressive studio album ever recorded and should be a part of any and all music fans collection. Most people know very little about the members of this group and their importance to the music industry. While R.Robertson gets the credit for most of their work.....this band MORE SO THAN ANY OTHER is truly A BAND effort. Levon Helm is simply put one of the finest southern singers ever. R.Manuel's voice is the most hauntingly beautiful male vocal ever heard. Period. Bar none. The musical genius of G.Hudson and Danko's sick bass lines are legendary.

I cannot say enuf good things here. From start to finish, this album will blow you away. Obviously, the timeless classics we all know, like "Dixie" and "Cripple Creek" deserve their Hall of Fame mention.
But the remaining tracks are what make this album the king of all albums.

"King Harvest" is basically the beginning of funk country americana rock and just blisters your ears off. I LOVE the added "Get Up Jake" bonus track (my vote for best bonus track on any remastered album ever). It's really a waste of time to comment on individual songs as I really believe this album is the most consistent, start-to-finish 'rock' album of all time. Period.
It's kind of amusing that Crosby, Stills and Nash and/or Simon/garfunkel are always regarded as the best male harmonies put on vinyl. Try getting LEVON HELM, RICHARD MANUEL and RICK DANKO in their prime!! The beautiful 3 vocalists stack their throaty sound on this album like nothing ever heard before.

AGAIN....THIS ALBUM SHOULD BE #1 on anyone's list. Period. When might you ask was this album made? Could be 1850, could be 1920, could be 1970. It is truly a timeless classic. It is the Wuthering Heights or To Kill a Mockingbird of the music industry.

BUY NOW without hesitation and listen to this album over and over. It takes months if not years to really HERE what this amazing group of musicians has created.
Once you have mastered this one, add Music From Big Pink for an earlier, more 60's sounding masterpiece as well. Chest Fever will blow a hole right thru you.

One reviewer questions whether The Band can be appreciated by people born not in the 50's and 60's. That is absurd. I was born in 1950 and enjoyed the Band immensely in the early 70's, attending 9 concerts in several different locations in Southern California, including the storied outdoor bowl in Santa Barabara where they started their concert before the sun went down; it was an unseasonably hot day in Santa Barbara, but an unforgettable one because of the music blowing up Santa Barbara's rather steep outdoor bowl and careening out into the evening sky.

I have played their music continually and frequently for the past 35 years, even though my tastes have changed dramatically to classical music. The Band persists.

My 18 year-old son and a couple of his local pals love their music and he even tries to interest his college friends in their music. Timeless music is a cliche, but when the Band was recording albums and playing live, it was very unique, especially in that era of rock n roll--it is unique in any era, I would argue.

I have this album, but since I also own To Kingdom Come, the ultimate Band album, and Stage Fright (and all their other albums) I play this album infrequently, but still enjoy it. It is interesting to read about other listener's favorite Band songs, some of which I like a lot, others seem second or third tier. It just shows you how universal their music is.

The tragedy is that they broke up too soon, a fact that R. Robertson finally acknowledged sometime in the 90's, since he broke up the group. Nevertheless, we are left with many great songs from one of the several essential rock n roll bands of all time.