Posts Tagged ‘The Band’

ROBBIE ROBERTSON – ” It Is A Good Day To Die “

Posted: February 6, 2015 in MUSIC
Tags: ,
0

Part of one of Robbie Robertson’s most complex, compelling albums, “It Is a Good Day to Die” represents another in the Band leader’s long line of character-driven story songs — only this time, it’s personal. Music for The Native Americans, a soundtrack for a television special, found Robertson exploring his own heritage as a First Nations descendent in the most complete way yet.

“It Is a Good Day to Die” — featuring a rhythmic assist from Robbie Robertson’s son Sebastian — takes us into the mind of a Native American, having done all he could do to appease the advancing settlers, yet still finding them amassed for battle. (There was, after all, gold in those hills.) The song turns on its title line, often attributed to the mystic warrior Crazy Horse — whose retort, in a more complete translation, is said to have been: “Today is a good day to die, for all the things of my life are present.”
As “It Is a Good Day to Die” makes clear again, Crazy Horse wasn’t being boastful. His wasn’t a warrior’s cry. Instead, and you hear this so vividly in the narrative laid out on Robbie Robertson’s coiled, deeply moving 1994 song, it was a moment of acceptance — despite the injustices visited upon his people. In touch with their spirituality and with the natural world around them in a way that still mystifies many, Native Americans were unafraid of what came after this world.

History tells us that Crazy Horse eventually became subsumed into the white culture, even working (of all things) as an Army scout. He learned to eat with utensils. He played the game. And despite that, Crazy Horse died with a bayonet in his back just over a year after the battle at Little Bighorn, as he was being guided into a jail cell.

His famous words, nevertheless, still ring true — then, as now. What will be, if you have lived well, will be. That message, as conveyed anew in “It Is a Good Day to Die,” remains one worth exploring.

GARTH HUDSON – ” Garth Largo “

Posted: February 6, 2015 in MUSIC
Tags: , ,
0

In a group simply stuffed with master musicians, Garth Hudson was the Band’s unquestioned virtuoso — as adept at his signature organ as he was a saxophone as he was a synthesizer as he was the accordion. In keeping, his enduring wit and creativity has been rightly celebrated across all manner of disciplines. Still, there’s more to find, more to discover and marvel over, as heard here in what may be Garth Hudson’s least-heralded triumph.

“Garth Largo” finds Hudson once again on sax, as well as synth as well as accordion as well as organ, using every element of his enduring genius to reconceptualize a classical piece by Antonin Dvorak. Sister Maud, Garth Hudson’s long-time wife and musical partner, adds a gospel-inspired vocal to complete things. The results are humbling in their scope, and thrilling in their emotional depth.

The BAND – ” Going Back To Memphis ” (Outtake) 2001

Posted: February 6, 2015 in MUSIC
Tags: , ,
0

The Band simply stole this song from Chuck Berry, who recorded it in Memphis but had never lived there. Vocalist Levon Helm’s nearby roots give his take on “Back to Memphis,” completed for but not originally included on the Band’s 1973 covers album Moondog Matinee, this sense of yearning that Berry simply was equipped to muster.

The song originally grew out of a lightning-fast three-day session in 1967 that saw Chuck Berry working with local legends like Andrew Love at Memphis’ Royal Studios in service of a debut album for Mercury. Only, in a suddenly psychedelic age, “Back in Memphis” ended up as the opening cut on a largely forgotten album.

That is, until the Band revived it, several years later. Helm sings with a raw desire to return to the Mississippi Delta’s endlessly unique, endlessly unkempt environs, while Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson jostle back and forth within the song’s rambling groove. As the only American in a group that became a worldwide phenomenon from an initial home base of Canada, Helm frames this outsider’s tale with just the right touch of pathos. Where Chuck Berry tended to wink, Levon Helm finds something darker.

The BAND – ” Live In Loreley ” Rockpalast Festival June 26th 1996

Posted: December 20, 2014 in MUSIC
Tags: , , ,
0

The Band 23/06/96 at the Rockpalast Festival, Loreley, St. Goarshausen, Germany
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.

Set list: Back to Memphis, Stuff You Gotta Watch, Stage Fright, Remedy, Ophelia, It Makes No Difference, Rag Mama Rag, Crazy Mama, The Weight, Stand Up, Deep Feeling, Free Your Mind , Shape I’m In, Rock ‘n’ Roll Shoes, Chest Fever,

The BAND – ” Crossing The Great Divide ” The Genuine Bootleg Series Take 4

Posted: November 28, 2014 in MUSIC
Tags: ,
0

crossing_the_great_divide_med

[CD set front cover] [CD cover-high resolution] [CD set back cover] [Back cover-high resolution] [Booklet cover] [Disc 1 cover] [Disc 1 back cover] [Disc 2 cover] [Disc 2 back cover] [Disc 3 cover] [Disc 3 back cover]

3 CD The Band bootleg released in 1997, not to be confused with the official Across the Great Divide box set. This is the third release in The Genuine Bootleg Series, for some reason sub-titled Take 4. The two first bootleg boxes, The Genuine Bootleg Series, and The Genuine Bootleg Series, Take 2, were mainly filled with Dylan material. Take 4 only has a small amount of Dylan content that is available elsewhere. A Take 3 CD set, all Dylan content, was released in 1999.
As usual for the Genuine Bootleg Series, this one continues the same tradition of high production values with multiple gatefold glossy-color sleeves. It also sports inner disc sleeves (each w/color pics + tracklist) and a 36-page booklet containing full text of the July ’91 Goldmine article along with more photos and the track listings. All of the Genuine Bootleg Series have been reissued a few times, in cardboard sleeves and jewel boxes, and The Genuine Bootleg Series Vol 4 seem to exist also under the title Statue of Liberty.
58 tracks in all, including early Hawks material, outtakes from 1965 – 1967 The Basement Tapes and Big Pink sessions, outtakes from The Band, Rock of Ages, and Planet Waves, various Band live recordings, bits of a 1988 Levon Helm concert, and three demos for Jericho. A nice set with good sound quality.
Tracks

[Disc 1 cover]
Disc 1 – What a Party

The Hawks with Levon Helm on vocals, September 18, 1961:
What A Party
Farther Up The Road
She’s Nineteen
Levon & The Hawks, Texas, 1964:

You Don’t Know Me
The Canadian Squires, 45 single, 1964:

Leave Me Alone
Levon & The Hawks, 45 single, Atco, 1965:

He Don’t Love You
The Stones I Throw
Bob Dylan and the Hawks, studio out-take, Sunset Studios, Los Angeles, November 30, 1965:

Number One
Bob Dylan and the Hawks, Manchester, May 17,1966:

Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
The Hawks, Big Pink, 1967 (*: w/ Bob Dylan):

I’m Your Teenage Prayer *
Ruben Remus (instrumental)
Yazoo Street Scandal I
You Say You Love Me I
You Say You Love Me II
Orange Juice Blues (instrumental)
Instrumental
Come All Ye Fair & Tender Ladies *
Beautiful Thing I
Beautiful Thing II
Orange Juice Blues
Instrumental II *
Ferdinand The Imposter
If I Lose
Bacon Fat (inc.)

[Disc 2 cover]
Disc 2 – The Crackers, “Time To Kill”

Katie’s Been Gone
Ruben Remus
Yazoo Street Scandal II
The Band outtakes, Bearsville Studios, 1969:
(Levon’s book says the The Band outtakes were at The Hit Factory, and also seems to imply that maybe one of the cuts was actually recorded in California, see pp. 194-195.)

Get Up Jake
Baby, Don’t You Do It
Woodstock, August 19, 1969:
(Woodstock was 17th of August 1969, not 19th as the bootleg says. Also of note is that the source tape changes to a different one at 00:01:41 in middle of “Don’t Ya Tell Henry.”)

Don’t Ya Tell Henry
Tears Of Rage
Bob Dylan & The Band, Isle Of Wight, August 31, 1969:

Highway 61 Revisited
Hollywood Bowl October 7, 1970:
(Hollywood bowl is 10th July, not 7th October. This is a mistake from an old Italian bootleg that got the US month/day switched with their day/month syntax.)

The Night They Drove ol’ Dixie Down
Across The Great Divide
Rock of Ages outtakes, December 31, 1971:

Up On Cripple Creek
The Rumor
Time To Kill
Strawberry Wine
Rockin’ Chair
This Wheel’s On Fire
Smoke Signal
I Shall Be Released

[Disc 1 cover]
Disc 3 – The Band, “Share Your Love”

Caledonia Mission
Loving You (Is Sweeter Than Ever)
Roosevelt Stadium, NJ, August 1973:
(The Roosevelt stadium cut is probably from 31 July, the 1 August show tape does not have that song, that is about the only difference between those two shows.)

Share Your Love
Bob Dylan & The Band, Planet Waves outtakes, November 1973:

Instrumental Jam
Crosswind Jamboree
Madison Square Garden, January 31, 1974:

King Harvest
Rag Mama Rag
This Wheel’s On Fire
The Last Waltz, Winterland, November 25, 1976:

It Makes No Difference
Baby, Don’t You Do It
Osaka August 29, 1983:

Long Black Veil
Levon Helm & Bob Dylan, Lone Star Cafe, May 29, 1988:

The Weight MPEG3-file (6.5 MB)
1991 Jericho demos:

Blind Willie McTell
Atlantic City
Soul Deep
The Band – Crossing the Great Divide – 1997 – Scorpio ?

cgd_share_your_love_tag

The BAND and Friends – ” The Last Waltz In Full “

Posted: November 28, 2014 in MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

lastWALTZjapanposter

The Band’s complete “Last Waltz” concert, as shot from what must have been the house cameras at Winterland. The audio and video sound quality is amazing and best of all, this is not only how it went down, in the order that it went down, and it’s actually how it sounded before Robbie Robertson went in and overdubbed everything. (It’s also not had that blob of cocaine hanging from Neil Young’s nose edited out through frame by frame .

As much as you might love The Last Waltz, this is probably even better. I do hope that several of you download this for safekeeping, ‘cos it may not last that long…

1. Introduction / Up on Cripple Creek 0:00
2. Shape I’m In 5:55
3. It Makes No Difference 10:15
4. Life Is A Carnival 17:28
5. This Wheel’s On Fire 22:51
6. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show 27:26
7. Georgia On My Mind 31:20
8. Ophelia 35:05
9. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) 39:18
10. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 43:26
11. Stage Fright 48:16
12. Rag Mama Rag 53:23
13. Introduction / Who Do You Love (with Ronnie Hawkins) 57:26
14. Such A Night (with Dr. John) 1:02:45
15. Down South in New Orleans (with Dr. John) 1:07:58
16. Mystery Train (with Paul Butterfield) 1:13:23
17. Caledonia (with Muddy Waters) 1:18:27
18. Mannish Boy (with Muddy Waters) 1:26:20

Part two begins with Eric Clapton coming onstage to join The Band, followed by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond and Van Morrison and then poetry from Digger Emmett Grogan, Lenore Kandel, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure and others.

1. All Our Past Times (with Eric Clapton) 0:00
2. Further On Up The Road (with Eric Clapton) 5:39
3. Helpless (with Neil Young) 11:52
4. Four Strong Winds (with Neil Young) 18:01
5. Coyote (with Joni Mitchell) 23:52
6. Shadows And Light (with Joni Mitchell)
7. Furry Sings The Blues (with Joni Mitchell)
8. Dry Your Eyes (with Neil Diamond)
9. Tura Lura Lural (with Van Morrison) 44:10
10. Caravan (with Van Morrison) 48:15
11. Acadian Driftwood (with Joni Mitchell and Neil Young) 54:07
12. Poem (Emmett Grogan) 1:01:18
13. Poem (Hell’s Angel Sweet William) 1:02:41
14. JOY! (Lenore Kandel) 1:06:14
15. Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (Michael McClure) 1:07:36
16. Get Yer Cut Throat Off My Knife / Revolutionary Letter #4
17. Transgressing The Real (Robert Duncan) 1:10:26
18. Poem (Freewheelin Frank Reynolds)
19. The Lord’s Prayer (Lawrence Ferlinghetti)
20. Genetic Method 1:14:15
21. Chest Fever 1:20:25
22. The Last Waltz Suite: Evangeline 1:25:45

Part three has all of the Dylan material, Ringo, Ronnie Wood and the big jam sessions.

1. The Weight 0:00
2. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (with Bob Dylan) 4:54
3. Hazel (with Bob Dylan) 8:07
4. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) (with Bob Dylan
5. Forever Young (with Bob Dylan) 16:54
6. Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Reprise) (with Bob Dylan) 22:35
7. Everyone Comes Onstage
8. I Shall Be Released (with Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr & Ron Wood) 29:05
9. Instrumental Jam 1 (The Band with friends)
10. Instrumental Jam 2 (The Band with friends)
11. Don’t Do It 1:04:40
12. Bill Graham Outro 1:11:55

thanks to Dangerous Minds

The BAND – ” Atlantic City ” Bruce Springsteen Cover

Posted: September 18, 2014 in MUSIC
Tags: , , ,
0

the Band playing a great cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” from the album “Jericho” the mandolin opening is truly wonderful give the song a more traditional feel.

 

BOB DYLAN – ” The Basement Tapes ”

Posted: August 28, 2014 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , ,
0

In June of 1968, there were rumours circulating around tracks of 13 tracks recorded with Dylan and the band in upstate New York. over the years the songs  known as the Basement Tapes were issued on the 1975 CBS double album of the same name  and various bootlegs including the famous “The Great White Wonder”,  but Dylan fans have always been totally obsessed with these recordings. On November 4th Dylan will finally release the legendary tracks in their entirity 138 tracks on 6 cd’s including 30 songs that the Dylan fans did’nt know existed. The highlights a rocking  “Wild Wolf ” early draft of “I Shall be Released” a cover of the Hank Williams Song “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It” country versions of  “Blowin In The Wind” , It Aint Me Babe” and “One Too Many Mornings” tracks only heard on bootlegs “Sign On The Cross” and “Bourbon Street” plus “I’m Your Teenage Prayer” and “See You Later” .

dylanbasement

 

The Basement Tapes were recorded after the tour to promote the album “Blonde On Blonde” had to be called off after Dylan had injured himself in a motorcycle  accident, he retreated with the members of the band his young family up to Woodstock to Dylans home but then moved to a house not far away known as the Big Pink. Dylans team sent the tapes to various bands Manfred Mann had a big uk hit with “The Mighty Quinn” , The Byrds sang “You Ain’t Goin Nowhere” but everyone wanted to hear Dylan’s Versions.

Reproduction allowed only with written agreement from Elliott Landy

MAVIS STAPLES and Friends – ” The Weight ” at Newport Folk Festival

Posted: July 29, 2014 in FESTIVALS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

mavisstaples-newport4

 

Mavis Staples and band with help from Norah Jones and Taylor Goldsmith performs the Bands song “The Weight” at the Newport Folk Festival last Sunday with a mixture of Gospel Country and Blues close to an unforgettable performance  celebrating her 75th birthday.

THE BAND – ” The Last Waltz “

Posted: April 7, 2014 in MUSIC
Tags: , , , , ,
0

the band

Released this day April 7th in 1978, THE LAST WALTZ was the soundtrack to the Concert Movie which was recorded on Thanksgiving day, it was a movie documenting the Farewell Concert performed by the band and guests at Bill Grahams Winterland ballroom, the actual event also included a dinner for 5000 attendees. The Album was released as a triple set with sides 1-5 consisiting songs from the event while side 6 was new music from Robbie Robertson, The Guests included Paul Butterfield, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Dr John, Ronnie Hawkins, Emmylou Harris, The Staple Singers. The Concert Film was applauded as one of the best concert Films ever produced with the Director Martin Scorcese in the chair.

Newer Entries