Band – Katie’s Been Gone

I was revisiting Bob Dylan and The Band’s The Basement Tapes album. How could that many great songs come in one collection? And that is just the original version, not the expanded versions released since. I didn’t grow up with this album, unfortunately. I grew up with The Band’s Greatest Hits; the irony is, I didn’t have the greatest at all by this band with that package. 

This one was written by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson. It’s easy to forget that this song was never meant for public ears. These were friends, playing in a basement in West Saugerties (in the Big Pink), playing for themselves after the chaos of Dylan’s electric 1966 tour. Was Katie a real person? We probably will never know, but it is widely believed to be a reference to the folk singer Karen Dalton, a friend of Bob Dylan and a popular figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s. 

The song opens with Richard Manuel’s gospel type piano and that half-broken voice of his. Manuel was a master of singing the heartache between the notes. When Richard Manuel sings it, you believe every cracked note. Rick Danko chipped in with his usual ragged and real vocal harmonies. Those harmonies would make a pure pop producer cry, but for roots music, it’s beyond perfection. It’s those back porch vocals that are real and keep the song grounded.

Among Dylan fans, some were upset that some Band-only songs were on here. Some thought that this release would be wall-to-wall Dylan. That caused some head-scratching among Dylan diehards. In truth, Robbie Robertson and The Band had a big hand in shaping what eventually became The Basement Tapes. Robbie helped assemble and clean up the collection, selecting from reels upon reels of material recorded in 1967 at Big Pink in Woodstock. He included Band-only tracks like this song, Bessie Smith, Orange Juice Blues, and Ain’t No More Cane, not because they were Dylan-free, but because they fit the mood. Fitting the mood is what The Band did best. 

 Robbie Robertson:“Because of all this stuff the Hawks had been through, [we had] a maturity in our musical taste, in our approach.  We didn’t feel a part of what was happening at that time out in the world. We weren’t very good at being trendy. It wasn’t that we tried not to do anything, it was just we were evolving to a place and a musicality that had subtleties. Music was just getting louder and more abrasive.

“I understood the attitude and the anger and the excitement of everything that was happening, but we’d already done that. I started with Ronnie Hawkins and screaming on my guitar. [laughs] And now to be able to really play and think: we didn’t use these phrases at the time, but it’s what you leave out — and less is more. There was something about things that just slipped in and what that did to your heartbeat and how it made you feel. It was sexy and it was beautiful and sad and a celebration all at the same time. I thought that’s where we’ve grown to and that’s where we’re going with this.”

Katie’s Been Gone

Katie’s been gone since the springtimeShe wrote one time and sent her loveKatie’s been gone for such a long time nowI wonder what kind of love she’s thinkin’ of

Dear KatieIf you can hear meI can’t wait to have ya near me

Dear Katie, since ya caught that busWell, I just don’t know how things are with usI’m still here and you’re out there somewhere

Katie laughed when I said I was lonelyShe said, “There’s no need to feel that way”Katie said that I was her only oneBut then I wonder why she didn’t wanna stay

Dear Katie, if I’m the only oneHow much longer will you be gone?Oh, Katie, won’t ya tell me straightHow much longer do I have to wait?

I’ll believe youBut please come throughI know it’s wrong to be apart this longYou should be here, near me

Katie’s been gone and now her face is slowly fading from my mindShe’s gone to find some newer placesAnd left the old life far behindDear Katie, don’t ya miss your home?I don’t see why you had to roam

Dear Katie, since you’ve been awayI lose a little something every dayI need you here, but you’re still out thereDear Katie, please drop me a lineJust write, Love, to tell me you’re fine

Oh, Katie, if you can hear meI just cant wait to have you near meI can only thinkWhere are youWhat ya do, maybe there’s someone new

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

44 thoughts on “Band – Katie’s Been Gone”

  1. Pingback: Band – Katie’s Been Gone – MobsterTiger

    1. Yea it’s there as well…I just love these guys…I’ve said it before…my favorite Canadian export! I’m re-reading Robertson’s book right now…one name they thought of before The Band…was “The Royal Canadians except Leon” LOL.

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  5. I love your description of half-cracked voice. Perfect.

    Thank you for this. I, too, thought the Basement Tapes would be more Dylan. This brings me a reason to go back and appreciate.

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    1. Thank you… I really relate to this music. I always group two artists together and they had nothing to do with each other really…The Band and Ronnie Lane solo stuff…their music is rootsy and I just identify with that.

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    1. Wooo…that would be a bill! I have the acreage for both CB! The beaver will like the prairie dog.
      Yea man…the funny thing is…I didn’t do it on purpose today but it just worked out that way. I got lost in the Basement Tapes and hung on to Richard’s voice.

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      1. You could open up a theme park down there ‘Canada Land’

        I have so many good Band songs that I like but this is near the top. The album will just keep giving to you Max. Richards voice doesnt come out and grab you like Rick and Levons but its just as good. More of a subtle growth. Kind of a melancholy but not a bummer vibe. Make sense. Longing obviously.

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      2. Canada Land…open for business.
        Richard’s voice is really something…George On My Mind is the one I think of which blows me away…and with Rick’s harmonies…it’s just magical together.
        Like I’ve said….Ronnie Lane and The Band hit a spot that no one else hits. Two artists that had nothing to do with each other but I can hear a resemblance.

        Because of this song I looked up Karen Daulton… very good folk singer…just part of the musicial tree these guys knew…like with “Fanny” Frances Steloff.

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      4. She was the owner of Gotham Bookstore in New York that Robbie went to….she started it in the 20s and didn’t retire from it until the 80s….lived to be 101…she was a fire cracker…
        I could write everyday about The Band and Lane…it just stirs me. I’m re-reading Testimony right now and Robbie’s Part II book (Insomnia) is coming out November 11 about his life after The Band. He finished both at the same time I think….so that just fuels me more…like I needed anything else!
        Well this is info you probably didn’t need!

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  9. the Hawks!…..they were so versatile and authentic. I didn’t really listen to them until the Last Waltz and then went backwards…I was aware of the Basement, but will go back and listen. along with the Hawk and Dylan they were always in good company.

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  10. Brand new one to me but it’s a goody. I like it first time hearing it, even like the production, just a bit of reverb on the vocals. Interesting what RR was saying about music getting to be louder and more abrasive. The Band went the other way and in some ways that could almost qualify them as the first “alternative” rock band!

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    1. Yea CB noticed something that I didn’t until after I posted them…two Canadian artists today.
      Yes they did go that way. In fact it got to the point where Robbie wanted to do things the opposite of what was going on. On taking their pictures…they even asked people for the worst photographer in NY…well it was a guy named Elliot Landy who people told them about… who took all of those civil war type pictures.

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  12. Good post, Max. Love the Robbie quotes. When I listen to The Basement Tapes, (mine is called, “The Bootleg Series Vol. 11” is a 2-disc set that includes 38 songs and a booklet with some text and several pics) it puts me in the zone. I’m sitting in the corner of the basement and soaking in the experience. Looking at the spotify playlist you included, several of the songs on my volume are the same (but not this one.) Thanks for the youtube that keeps playing the songs.

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      1. Yes, it’s a great little box set, and when I see volume 11, I have to wonder how much music they recorded in Big Pink’s basement. No worries on being late. Hope the team you want to win takes it.

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      3. Thanks for a # on the songs recorded. That’s is a tremendous amount in inspiration that had been bottled up. They gathered in the Church of Big Pink and alchemy made manifest.

        HAPPY FOR YOU on their WIN! Go Team! Who was it again? I think you said Dodgers? They didn’t dodge the win 🙂

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      1. It was better than I expected. I was put off initially by the runtime, as I have a low tolerance for films that go over two hours 🙂 They balanced Dylan’s ego and the self-righteousness of the folk music crowd quite well. TC was very good as Dylan too.

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  14. Sorry for the late late reply. Farmers frikken Markets and shops on the other side of town. Sigh. But am I complaining? Well…

    The Band are worth listening to anytime, anyplace any mood. If you’re in a sour mood they make you feel better, even if you’re listening to ‘Long Black Veil.’ Just so damned good.

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