The Band beyond description: How Dylan’s ensemble chorus found its voice
They dug deep into the roots of rock music and blended that with country, folk, R&B and soul, to create a sound that was exclusively theirs.
There are two albums by Bob Dylan that I have my own way of listening to (Warning: readers beware; there’s a bit of blasphemy coming your way in just a few minutes). The first of these two is the excellent live double album Before the Flood, from 1974, which chronicles Dylan’s US tour in January and February of that year. The second, released in 1975, is The Basement Tapes, also a double album, culled from recordings made in 1967, in sessions that began at Dylan’s house in Woodstock, New York, and later continued in the basement of Big Pink, a rented house in Saugerties, not far from Dylan’s home.
The thing common to those two albums is that the group of musicians that backed Dylan on them is the same: Rick Danko (bass guitar, vocals); Levon Helm (drums, vocals); Garth Hudson (Hammond organ, accordion, tenor saxophone, piano); Richard Manuel (piano, vocals); and Robbie Robertson (guitars and vocals). When they backed him during the recording of The Basement Tapes, those five musicians weren’t yet a group called The Band, which they would later become before the 1974 US tour. That brings me to the way I listen to the two aforementioned albums.
Both albums have plenty of songs sung by Dylan, which are, of course, good. But also a fair share of songs by the five other musicians. I happen to like those songs better than the ones by Dylan on those two albums. And, not infrequently, I skip some of the Dylan tracks and listen to those by The Band. (There, I told you there was going to be some blasphemy involved. Sorry, but that’s the way it is). On the gorgeous Before the Flood, Side 2 kicks off with The Band’s Up on Cripple Creek, highlighted by drummer Helm’s southern country style vocals and Hudson’s unique riffs on a clavinet with a wah-wah pedal, which is likely one of the first instances of that particular keyboard instrument being played in that manner. That is followed by a song that is written by Dylan, I Shall Be Released, but on the album, it is sung exquisitely by The Band’s Manuel.
Side 2 of Before the Flood really showcases The Band’s singular sound best. A group made up of four Canadians and one American (Helm), The Band began as a back-up outfit for the singer Ronnie Hawkins. They were then known as the Hawks. But by the mid-’60s, they were touring with Dylan, backing him when he, controversially, first went electric. To be sure, their stints with Dylan — tours and recording sessions — helped the five musicians to come into their own as The Band. And in 1968, with their first full-length record, Music from Big Pink, they introduced listeners to their special kind of sound, which was quite eclectic. They dug deep into the roots of rock music and blended that with country, folk, R&B and soul, to create a sound that was exclusively theirs.
The Band evolved into an extraordinary rock music ensemble. Not only were the five band members highly skilled musicians, four of them had the additional gift of being lead singers. That’s pretty rare in a rock band. And Hudson, the only non-singer, was a multi-instrumentalist who also became the key architect of their trademark sound. It was he who rigged up the recording gear for Dylan’s Basement Tapes sessions. Those sessions, held when Dylan was recovering from a motorcycle accident in 1966, yielded more than 100 tracks, which the double album entitled The Basement Tapes doesn’t even begin to capture.
At least 16 of the 24 tracks on The Basement Tapes are by Dylan, but the rest of them are by the backup band. When I spin that album, inexplicably my attention goes to those tracks. Tunes such as Bessie Smith, Yazoo Street Scandal, Ruben Remus, or Katie’s Been Gone, are all composed and sung by the soon-to-be The Band’s members, and you can, on the album, sense the greatness that would soon follow as the five musicians came into their own as one of rock’s most memorable acts.
The Band, sadly, was short-lived, the original lineup breaking up in 1977. For many fans, myself included, the last performance by the five original members, documented in the iconic film The Last Waltz (1978), directed by Martin Scorsese, remains unmatched for experiencing one of rock music’s best ever performances. For that final concert, The Band invited a constellation of music’s biggest stars. The guests included Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, Dr John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr and Neil Diamond, all of whom performed live with The Band. The album (as also Scorsese’s film) is a must-have in any rock fan’s collection.