The Band

July 1: The Band Released “Music From Big Pink” in 1968

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

This album was recorded in approximately two weeks. There are people who will work their lives away in vain and not touch it.
-Al kooper

Bob Dylan contributed “I Shall Be Released” and co-wrote two other tunes. But it was the rustic beauty of the Band’s music and the drama of their own reflections on family and obligations, on songs such as “The Weight,” that made Big Pink an instant homespun classic.
–rollingstone.com

Over time, Music from Big Pink came to be regarded as a watershed work in the history of rock, one that introduced new tones and approaches to the constantly evolving genre.
–allmusic.com

..the debut album from the Band made roots music sound as impressionistic and idiosyncratic as any other kind of rock’n’roll. It was revolutionary.
–pitchfork

The Weight:

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August 2: Happy Birthday Eric Garth Hudson

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Hudson was just as crucial to the very different sounds made in the Basement the year afterwards: especially since in large part it was Garth who tape-recorded those unique, informal sessions, and had the sense to look after, afterwards, all the dozens of unknown-about extra ones beyond those of immediate interest to Dylan’s music publisher, and which only began to circulate decades later.

Hudson was also the musicians’ musician—and actually gave the other Hawks music lessons—and when the Hawks became the Crackers became The Band, he was the multi-instrumentalist supreme in a group of multi-instrumentalists. If The Band introduced a small orchestra’s worth of olde worlde instruments to mainstream rock music, it was Hudson who had introduced many of them to The Band.
~Michael Gray (The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia)

Members of The Band Accept Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award at 1994 Inductions:

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July 5: Happy 75th Birthday Robbie Robertson

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

When we were working with Bob Dylan and we moved to Woodstock, everybody referred to us as the band. He called us the band, our friends called us the band, our neighbors called us the band.
~Robbie Robertson (from “The Last Waltz”)

Eric Clapton inducts the Band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994:

The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Last Waltz):

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June 26: The Band Rockpalast Loreley 1996 (video)

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

The Band 06/23/96
Rockpalast Festival,
Loreley, St. Goarshausen, Germany
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This is from the tour in support of their album, High on the hog. It is one of the last concerts by The Band, they ended the tour in august 1996, and they played a few stand-alone gigs after that. I think this is the last filmed concert by The Band (correct me in the comments if I’m wrong).

Interesting show, good picture and sound, enjoy!

loreley-778x1024

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December 31: The Band played at Civic Auditorium SF in 1983

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

the band rick danko 1983

One of the most anticipated gigs of 1983 came at the very end of the year, when the Band returned to the city of The Last Waltz when invited to open for the Grateful Dead at their annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza. Before a sold-out crowd at San Francisco’s Civic Auditorium, the Band proved they were still one of the best sounding groups on the planet, delivering a performance that not only delighted the San Francisco audience, but the Band members themselves. Performing classic original material as well as a smattering of choice covers, this performance was captured by the Bill Graham Presents crew and is presented here in its entirety.
~concertvault.com

Richard Manual 1983

  • Rick Danko – bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Levon Helm – drums, mandolin, harmonica, vocals
  • Richard Manuel – piano, drums, vocals
  • Garth Hudson – organ, piano, synthesizer, accordion, saxophones
  • Earl Cate – electric guitar, background vocals
  • Ernie Cate – keyboards
  • Ron Eoff – bass, background vocals
  • Terry Cagle – drums

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December 29: The late great Rick Danko was born in 1942

Posted on by Hallgeir Olsen

I saw Ronnie Hawkins play near my hometown, Port Dover, Ontario, and I saw him play there on New Year’s Eve and the following spring I booked myself to be his opening act on maybe five shows, and he hired me after the first night.
-RickDanko

You put a song on the record or on tape and you stop singing it. You just don’t sit around and sing it anymore unless you’re performing. That’s kind of sad.
-Rick Danko

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