Band, the

Band, the

▪ American rock group
Introduction

      Canadian-American band that began as the backing group for both Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan (Dylan, Bob), then branched out on its own in 1968. The Band's pioneering blend of traditional country (country music), folk, old-time string band, blues, and rock music brought them critical acclaim in the late 1960s and '70s and served as a template for Americana, the movement of hybrid, roots-oriented music that emerged in the late 1990s. The members were Jaime (“Robbie”) Robertson (b. July 5, 1944, Toronto, Ont., Can.), Levon Helm (b. May 26, 1940, Marvell, Ark., U.S.), Rick Danko (b. Dec. 29, 1942 [see Researcher's Note], Simcoe, Ont., Can.—d. Dec. 10, 1999, Marbletown, N.Y., U.S.), Richard Manuel (b. April 3, 1945, Stratford, Ont., Can.—d. March 4, 1986, Winter Park, Fla., U.S.), and Garth Hudson (b. Aug. 2, 1937, London, Ont., Can.).

      Robertson, Helm, Danko, Manuel, and Hudson were five self-effacing sidemen pushed into becoming a self-contained group by Dylan, the star in whose shadow they grew. Robertson was the group's principal writer and guitarist. Drummer Helm was a “good old boy” from Arkansas, the sole American in a lineup of displaced Canadians. Danko was the amiable hayseed on bass and occasional fiddle. Pianist Manuel sang blues ballads (ballad) in a wrenching Ray Charles (Charles, Ray) baritone. And Hudson's otherworldly keyboard doodles were the glue that held the whole operation together. At their peak, from 1968 to 1973, the quintet embodied better than any other group the sense of the American past that came to haunt pop culture after the hippie ideals of the 1960s had crashed to the ground.

      The real midwife to the Band's birth was Hawkins, a rockabilly diehard from Arkansas who ventured up to Canada in the spring of 1958. As Hawkins's lieutenant, Helm, still a teenager, helped recruit the young Ontarians—Robertson, Danko, Manuel, and Hudson—who replaced the original members of Hawkins's backing band, the Hawks. At a point when Fabian ruled the pop airwaves, the razorback rock and roll of the new Hawks was welcome only in the scuzziest roadhouses. During these years on the road, Robertson absorbed much of the flavour of life below the Mason and Dixon Line that would permeate Band songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (1969).

      In 1964 the Hawks figured they could make it without Hawkins. During their summer residency on the New Jersey seaboard, Dylan got wind of their reputation and, after playing with Robertson, hired the group to back him on his first electric tour—a tour so controversial among folk purists that Helm could not take the pressure and quit. For the Hawks it was a baptism by fire, and it all but burned them out.

      In 1967, in an effort to recuperate, the group (minus Helm) followed Dylan to Woodstock, New York. In nearby West Saugerties they gathered daily in the basement of “Big Pink,” a secluded ranch house. Here the five men put together a rambling repertoire of old country, folk, and blues songs that later leaked out as a series of “basement tape” bootlegs and then as the double album The Basement Tapes (1975).

      When Helm returned to the fold, Dylan began urging “the Band”—as they were now known locally—to go it alone. The immediate result of this separation was Music from Big Pink (1968), a wholly original fusion of country, gospel (gospel music), rock, and rhythm and blues that, more than any other album of the period, signaled rock's retreat from psychedelic excess and blues bombast into something more soulful, rural, and reflective. Yet it was The Band (1969) that really defined the group's grainy character. Recorded in a makeshift studio in Los Angeles in early 1969, the album was a timeless distillation of American experience from the Civil War to the 1960s.

      After the many years spent backing Hawkins and Dylan, the Band was ill-prepared for the vulnerability they felt singing their own songs onstage. After a disastrous debut at Winterland in San Francisco, they played to the massed tribes of the 1969 Woodstock festival. “We felt like a bunch of preacher boys looking into purgatory,” recalled Robertson. This sense of alienation from the spirit of rock was reflected in Stage Fright (1970), an album full of foreboding and depression. Ironically, the record preceded the Band's most intensive period of touring, during which they became the formidable live unit of the magnificent Rock of Ages (1972).

      The Band's experience on the road seemed to affect their confidence—particularly that of Robertson in his role as chief songwriter. Whereas The Band had sounded fresh and intuitive, Cahoots (1971) was laboured and didactic. After a mostly lost year in 1972, when Manuel's alcoholism became chronic, they trod water with Moondog Matinee (1973), an album of fine cover versions, then hitched their wagon once again to Dylan for the highly successful tour that produced Before the Flood (1974).

      Just as they had followed Dylan to Woodstock, so the Band now decamped to southern California. The move suited Robertson, who acclimated quickly to the Hollywood lifestyle, but the others felt like fish out of water. Northern Lights—Southern Cross (1975) at least proved that the Band had not lost its keen musical empathy, but, when Robertson suggested dissolving the group after a final show at Winterland, he encountered little resistance.

      Staged on Thanksgiving Day (November 25), 1976, this “Band and friends” finale was immortalized by Martin Scorsese (Scorsese, Martin)'s film The Last Waltz (1978), with guest appearances by Dylan, Neil Young (Young, Neil), and others. With only the lacklustre Islands (1977) as a last, contract-honouring memento of their career, the Band quickly fragmented. In 1983, sans Robertson, the group re-formed and played a less-than-spectacular tour. Three years later, Manuel was found hanging from a shower curtain in a Florida motel room.

      Helm, Hudson, and Danko, who moved back to Woodstock, continued to operate as the Band and released three indifferent albums in the 1990s. Robertson remained in Los Angeles, where he made several solo albums and created film soundtracks. The Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Barney Hoskyns

Representative Works

Music from Big Pink (1968)
The Band (1969)
Stage Fright (1970)
Rock of Ages (1972)
Moondog Matinee (1973)
Northern Lights—Southern Cross (1975)

Additional Reading
Levon Helm and Stephen Davis, This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band (1993), is a racy, from-the-horse's-mouth account of the group's rise and flameout; however, it is marred by its considerable enmity toward Robbie Robertson. Barney Hoskyns, Across the Great Divide: The Band and America (1993), is, at the very least, a more detached view of the group's dynamic and perhaps a more focused celebration of its musical achievement. Greil Marcus, Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music, 4th rev. ed. (1997), “The Band: Pilgrims' Progress,” pp. 39–64, is justly celebrated for its rooting of the group in American history.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Alberts, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Temperance Seven (album) — This Infobox Album | Name = The Alberts, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Temperance Seven Type = Compilation album Artist = The Alberts, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Temperance Seven Released = Recorded = Genre = Length = mm:ss Label = Starline… …   Wikipedia

  • The Ohio State University Marching Band — School The Ohio State University Location Columbus, Ohio Conference Big Ten Founded 1878 Director Jon R. Woods …   Wikipedia

  • The Who — at a 1975 curtain call. Left to right: Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend Background information Origin …   Wikipedia

  • The Flaming Lips — Flaming Lips in concert 16 March 2006 Background information Origin Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States …   Wikipedia

  • The Black Crowes — in 2008 Background information Origin Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Genre …   Wikipedia

  • The Jesus and Mary Chain — performing at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, California on 23 October 2007. Background information Origin East Kilbride …   Wikipedia

  • The Doobie Brothers — Doobie Brothers in Berkeley, California, September 11, 1982. L to R: : Michael Hossack, Patrick Simmons, John Hartman, Tom Johnston. Background information Origin San Jose …   Wikipedia

  • The Mission (band) — The Mission Background information Origin Leeds, England Genres …   Wikipedia

  • The Beatles' influence on popular culture — The Beatles influence on rock music and popular culture was and remains immense. Their commercial success started an almost immediate wave of changes including a shift from US global dominance of rock and roll to UK acts, from soloists to groups …   Wikipedia

  • The All-American Rejects — Left to right: Nick Wheeler, Chris Gaylor, Mike Kennerty and Tyson Ritter Background information Origin Stillwater, Oklahoma …   Wikipedia

  • The Mars Volta — on stage at the Vegoose Festival. Background information Origin El Paso, Texas, United States …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”