Today is Christmas Eve. This is when our family has our Christmas. My parents were divorced when I was 5 and after that…Christmas Eve was the only day of the year that my Mom, Dad, Sister, and yours truly would be together and they would get actually along. So, because of that, Christmas has always meant a lot to me. My mom and dad are gone now but as corny as it sounds… the magic of Christmas stays with me. My son is in Germany with his girlfriend this year but we will have a good time and I will think back at all of Christmas Eve’s past. Sort of like a good ghost that tells me I have a lot to be thankful for.
Robbie Robertson’s Christmas gift to his new son Sebastian during the sessions for Northern Lights-Southern Cross album… never became a seasonal favorite but it should have been. It wasn’t released until the Islands album in 1977.
Rick Danko sings this song from a Shepherd’s point of view. It’s pure and down to earth like only the Band can be. No sleigh bells or other Christmas trappings…just pure music. Maybe that is the reason it never got picked up.
Robbie Robertson re-recorded this song after he left the group. And he did for the soundtrack of Bill Murray’s Scrooged. That version is very good but I still like The Bands version much more…it’s hard to beat Rick Danko.
Christmas Must Be Tonight
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace Wheels start turning, torches start burning And the old wise men journey from the East
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, where over my flock I bide Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing In a dream I heard a voice saying “fear not, come rejoice It’s the end of the beginning, praise the new born king”
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies But why a simple herdsmen such as I And then it came to pass, he was born at last Right below the star that shines on high
Happy Thanksgiving! Watching The Last Waltz is just as part of Thanksgiving as the meal with the family…that and listening to Alice’s Restaurant.
The Band on Thanksgiving in 1976 at the Fillmore West. The film starts off with THIS FILM MUST BE PLAYED LOUD! A cut to Rick Danko playing pool and then it then to the Band playing “Don’t Do It”…the last song they performed that night after hours of playing. Through the music and some interviews, their musical journey and influences are retraced.
This film is considered by many the best concert film ever made. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. I love the setting with the chandeliers that were from the movie Gone With The Wind. The quality of the picture is great because it was shot with a 35-millimeter camera which wasn’t normally done with concerts.
Before the Band and guests hit the stage, Bill Graham, the promoter, served a Thanksgiving dinner to 5000 people that made up the audience with long tables with white tablecloths.
The Band’s musical guests included
Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison (my favorite performance), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters
The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris also appear but their segments were taped later on a sound stage and not at the concert.
Robbie wanted off the road earlier and that is what the Last Waltz was all about…the last concert by The Band with a lot of musical friends. He was tired of touring and also the habits the band was picking up… drugs and drinking. Richard Manuel, in particular, was in bad shape and needed time.
The rest of the Band supposedly agreed but a few years later all of them but Robbie started to tour as The Band again. Richard Manuel ended up hanging himself in 1986. Rick Danko passed away in 1999 at the end of a tour of a heart attack attributed to years of drug and alcohol abuse. Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.
The Band sounded great that night and it might be the best version you will ever hear of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
The Last Waltz is a grand farewell to a great band and a film that I revisit at least twice a year… once always around Thanksgiving.
The complete concert is at the bottom…without cuts.
His father said son you’ve given in, you know you won your harp But you lost in sin.
Do you ever play an album and skip a certain song to get to the next? When I first got the album Stage Fright I remember the order was The Shape I’m In, The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show, Daniel and the Scared Harp, and then the title song which I loved (I can’t remember yesterday but I can remember the order of songs from the 1980s when I got the album). I would skip this one like an idiot…which yes I was. Later on, I played it through…and fell head over heels in love with this song. It has become my favorite on the album.
What a beautiful song from The Band on their Stage Fright album. It’s one of the most fascinating songs they ever did. It’s fast becoming a favorite of mine by them. Robbie Robertson’s songwriting in this is incredible.
This story song is close to Robert Johnson‘s story of selling his soul to the devil to be able to play like he did. It’s a song based on the Faust story. I always enjoyed stories about selling your soul for an item or an ability. In movies also…like The Devil and Daniel Webster. If you are wondering what the Faust story is…here is a brief definition I found: a German necromancer or astrologer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power.
Also, I must add…Sacred harp music is a religious folk music named for Benjamin Franklin White’s The Sacred Harp (1844) using four-shape shape note notation… Its old-time spirituals are sung a cappella… the “sacred harp” is the human voice singing hymns to God.
Robbie seemed to be going for an Appalachian sound in this song and succeeded. He also made it sound biblical against the backdrop of the American South long ago.
Robbie used the words ‘sacred harp’ but this harp is a physical one. What kind of harp is it? To blues players, it’s a mouth harp or harmonica. Could it be a harp as the kind angels play? The song’s vocals are shared between Levon Helm and Richard Manuel. Manuel sings the part of “Daniel” in this song and Levon is the narrator of the story.
The end of the song is chilling. He played out his heart just the time to pass But as he looked to the ground, he noticed no shadow did he cast. The Band never played Daniel and the Sacred Harp live.
Stage Fright peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1970. The album has some of my favorite songs by the Band on it. The Shape I’m In, Stage Fright, The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show, and this one.
Robbie Robertson: I was so obsessed that I was stealing everything in sight. From Fred Carter, Roy Buchanan, the Howlin’ Wolf records. I came a long way in a short time, and people used to kid me, saying, “What is it with this guy? Did he sell his soul?”
Robbie Robertson: Roy Buchanan was only three or four years older than me, but he’d been around quite a bit for his age. He told me a lot of stories, crazy stories about how he was half-wolf, half man. They were like the stories you heard about Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil. We know these are just silly stories, but at the same time they’re fascinating American mythology. Like we’d be sitting in a room playing together and I’d ask Buchanan how he’d figured out some lick and he’d say, “Well, I can’t really tell you,” clearly implying that he, too, had made some sort of pact. Years later, it became obvious he was playing a game with me.
An alternate take…
Daniel And The Sacred Harp
Daniel, Daniel and the sacred harp
Dancing through the clover
Daniel, Daniel would you mind
If I look it over
I heard of this famous harp years ago back in my hometown
But I sure never thought old Daniel be the one to come and bring it around
Tell me Daniel how the harp came into your possession
Are you one of the chosen few who will march in the procession?
And Daniel said
The sacred harp was handed down, from father unto son
And me not being related, I could never be the one
So I saved up all my silver and took it to a man
Who said he could deliver the harp, straight into my hand
Three years I waited patiently
‘Till he returned with the harp from the sea of Galilee
He said there is one more thing I must ask
But not of personal greed
But I wouldn’t listen I just grabbed the harp
And said take what you may need
Now Daniel looked quite satisfied, and the harp it seemed to glow
But the price that Daniel had really paid, he did not even know
Back to his brother he took his troubled mind
And he said dear brother I’m in a bind
But the brother would not hear his tale
He said Old Daniel’s gonna land in jail
So to his father Daniel did run
And he said oh father what have I done
His father said son you’ve given in, you know you won your harp
But you lost in sin.
Then Daniel took the harp and went high on the hill
And he blew across the meadow like a whippoorwill
He played out his heart just the time to pass
But as he looked to the ground, he noticed no shadow did he cast
I thought I would go through my book collection (hardbacks, paperbacks, and audio) and see which ones I really like. I’m more of a non-fiction reader and I love biographies. I also like documentaries which I will do later on. There are some fiction books I’ve read that I will list later on. I thought I would do a few at a time.
1: Harpo Marx – Harpo Speaks – This is my top autobiography of all time. I have read it at least 8-9 times. When I fly, Harpo goes with me on every flight. Harpo was born in the latter half of the 19th century and his life is one of the most incredible stories I’ve read about. This guy adopted enough kids to fill up every window in his house. He would often wake his kids up just to play if he came home late. If rock bands tell sad stories of them just starting and how hard it was…you should read what the Marx Brothers went through. This book goes to 1964 when he passed away. The link on Harpo Speaks goes to my review of it. It was the first book post I did that actually got interest.
2: Beatles – Tune In – The absolute best biography on The Beatles and it only goes to 1962 and it’s well over 1000 pages. Mark Lewisohn wrote it and is planning to write a part two and then a part three. The criticism of this book is there are too many details…” who needs to know the color of George Harrison’s first car?” Well me that’s who! No, I have read at least 15 or more books on them and I learned a lot from this book. Lewisohn interviewed a lot of early fans who saw them in the Cavern and Hamburg. He uncovers events that no one knew before. He also backs things up so it’s the best by far on the Beatles.
Most books on the Beatles I don’t get through because all they are doing is repeating the well-known history…not this one. I’m impatiently waiting the Part II.
3: Keith Richards – Life– This book started a trend among older rock stars. Keith is upfront about his past and doesn’t hide much if anything. He is straightforward and you learn a lot about what was going on when the Stone’s golden years were happening. You would NEVER get a book like this with Mick Jagger. I’ve ranked this 3rd…but the following 2 could have easily switched places with this one but Keith is the one that started it. The format he used was soon used again by Gregg Allman, Robbie Robertson, and Bill Kreutzmann.
4: Gregg Allman – My Cross To Bear– It felt like Gregg was on a back porch telling you his story. I was an Allman Brothers fan but became a huge one after this book. I started to dive into their music and I saw how great they were. He goes through the Duane years, Cher, the narc incident, and up to the modern Allman Brothers. Even if you are not a huge fan…check this out.
5: Robbie Robertson – Testimony – Same as Keith and Gregg…a wonderful book about The Band. I had no clue what they went through before they toured with Dylan. They were as tight as any band could be musically and physically. Robbie is very even-handed about his relationship with Levon Helm…he doesn’t rip him and generally treats him with respect. You also learn more about Bob Dylan than I ever knew about his personality. Robbie is also such a cool guy and very down to earth.
6: Bill Kreutzmann – Deal– OK, you want Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll? You have it here with the Grateful Dead’s drummer. It’s not a complete bio of the Dead but he tells stories that I never heard before. Of all the bands I read about…The Dead probably had more fun than any other. They did have their arguments and Garcia wasn’t always a hippie guy that went along with everything. I did learn more about the Dead’s dynamics from this book than any other.
Gonna see Miss Brer Foxhole Bright diamonds at her teeth She is pure gold down underneath
I’ve talked about it before…a title can draw a person in a song. This one begs to be listened to. Sometimes they don’t live up to the title but this one does. Although Robbie Robertson wrote this, Levon Helm’s vocals brought this piece of Americana to life. He owns this song. He grew up near Helena, Arkansas, and heard stories of traveling Medicine Shows coming in and out of town. When he was a kid he got to see some of these shows. Robertson later translated that into this song.
Helena, Arkansas was the home of the King Biscuit Time radio show. It debuted in 1941. Performers such as Sonny Boy Williamson II would be on the show. The show was the thing that really crystallized blues music in that area. It is said that Muddy Waters and B.B. King would come home from working in the fields every day just to listen to the King Biscuit hour.
This song was on their 3rd album Stage Fright. By this time, Robertson was having trouble writing songs. The brotherhood they all shared was getting complicated because of outside influences. Robertson also had a baby daughter and pregnant wife at home. The songs were great though.
Stage Fright peaked at #5 on the Billboard Album Charts, #6 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1970. The album has some of my favorite songs by the Band on it. The Shape I’m In, Stage Fright, and this one.
Robbie Robertson: I wrote about a traveling medicine show I had heard Levon speak of years earlier, something between a carnival sideshow and the African American origins of rock and roll. We recorded “The W. S. Walcott Medicine Show” and another take of “Daniel and the Sacred Harp” with Todd at a studio in the city, and these turned out to be a couple of our favorite tracks. That put the finishing touches on what we could pull out of the hat for this record. I was worn out from this process and trying to maintain a stable family life with my baby daughter and pregnant wife.
The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
When your arms are empty, got nowhere to go
Come on out and catch the show
There’ll be saints and sinners
You’ll see losers and winners
All kinds of people you might want to know
Once you get it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show
You know he always holds it in a tent
And if you’re looking for the real thing
He can show you where it went
There’s a young faith healer, he’s a woman stealer
He will cure by his command
When the music’s hot then you might have to stand
To hear the Klondike Klu Klux Steamboat Band
Don’t you sweat it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show
I’d rather die happy than not die at all
For a man is a fool who will not heed the call
Gonna see Miss Brer Foxhole
Bright diamonds at her teeth
She is pure gold down underneath
She’s a rock and roll singer and a true dead ringer
For something like you ain’t never seen
Once you get it, you can’t forget it
W.S. Walcott medicine show
W.S. Walcott medicine show
W.S. Walcott medicine show
You take what you need And you leave the rest But they should never Have taken the very best
I wasn’t sure if I would post anything on Robbie Robertson but I had to if just for my sake. This loss hits me really hard as it does a lot of people. Most of us never knew the man but we did know him through his songs. I’m not going to list chart positions or anything like that. On this day for me, it’s just about how his music hits me.
Most artists I treat very unfairly. In my mind, they are frozen in time during a certain period. When I think of John Lennon I think of him in 1966…with Robbie Robertson, it was always around 1969-70 after writing two of the most important albums in rock history. In my mind, he was not 80 but 26 years old. So it was shocking to hear he passed away today.
The man not only was a great storyteller but many of his songs were mini-movies you could visualize. Who couldn’t imagine the drunkard and his sweetheart defender Bessie betting on horses up on Cripple Creek? You see and hear a hungry Virgil Kane and his wife struggle during the Civil War. In King Harvest, you get a view from a poverty-stricken farmer getting promises that will never happen. How about pulling into Nazareth and then seeing Carmen and the Devil walking side by side? Can you then visualize Miss Fanny sending her regards to everyone? I can.
Those are not just songs…they are visual pictures sent through music that only Robertson could write. He studied screenplays and that is how he wrote many of his songs and we continue to benefit from his hard work and gift…and always will.
Power Pop Friday will be back next week. Thank you for tuning in this week as we talked about these great Canadian artists…I’ve had a blast with them. There is one band that I didn’t get to cover because I ran out of days…well actually more…but Blue Rodeo will be coming up soon on a Friday.
The Band is my favorite Canadian export. Well, I will say Canadian although one member…Levon Helm was from Arkansas but the rest are Canadians. CB mentioned this song not long ago so I used it after listening to it again. It is quite a complex song. I can’t believe I’ve never posted it but better late than never.
The Band was so rootsy… They had it all – rawness, competence, sublimity, experience, originality, and roots. The five different instruments were not five different instruments…they were one. In the liner notes to one of their greatest hits it states… the music is unusually complex, making use of odd verse patterns and tricky rhythmic suspensions and modifying the natural sounds of instruments for various calculated effects. But because of the way the record sounds, none of this calls attention to itself…it sounds effortless.
Robertson said he’d been immersed in the novels of John Steinbeck at this time. I’ve read where The Grapes of Wrath is a big influence on this song. Rock critic Greil Marcus has written that King Harvest might be the finest song that Robertson has ever written. The song is told from the point of view of a poverty-stricken farmer- detailing everything that has happened to his farm- then a union organizer appears and makes promises that things will soon improve.
Richard Manuel is the singer of King Harvest. King Harvest is a great finishing track to one of the greatest albums ever made. The album was their second album called The Band (The Brown Album). The album peaked at #2 in Canada, #9 on the Billboard 100 in 1970. This is their highest-charting album in their home country.
The song is credited solely to guitarist Robbie Robertson, although drummer-singer Levon Helm claimed that “King Harvest” was a group effort. It’s been covered by Blue Rodeo, Bruce Hornsby, and many more.
Robbie Robertson: “It’s just a kind of character study in a time period. At the beginning, when the unions came in, they were a saving grace, a way of fighting the big money people, and they affected everybody from the people that worked in the big cities all the way around to the farm people. It’s ironic now, because now so much of it is like gangsters, assassinations, power, greed, insanity. I just thought it was incredible how it started and how it ended up.”
Robbie Robertson: In the story to me, it’s another piece I remember from my youth, that people looking forward, people out there in the country somewhere, in a place … we all know it, may have been there, may have not … but there’s a lot of people that the idea of come Autumn, come Fall, that’s when life begins. It is not the Springtime where we kinda think it begins. It is the Fall, because the harvests come in.
Levon Helm: Some of the lyrics came out of a discussion we had one night about the times we’d seen and all had in common. It was an expression of feeling that came from five people. The group wanted to do one song that took in everything we could muster about life at that moment in time. It was the last thing we cut in California, and it was that magical feeling of ‘King Harvest’ that pulled us through. It was like, there, that’s The Band.
King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Corn in the fields
Listen to the rice when the wind blows ‘cross the water
King Harvest has surely come
I work for the union ’cause she’s so good to me
And I’m bound to come out on top
That’s where she said I should be
I will hear every word the boss may say
For he’s the one who hands me down my pay
Looks like this time I’m gonna get to stay
I’m a union man, now, all the way
The smell of the leaves
From the magnolia trees in the meadow
King Harvest has surely come
Dry summer, then comes fall
Which I depend on most of all
Hey, rainmaker, can’t you hear the call?
Please let these crops grow tall
Long enough I’ve been up on Skid Row
And it’s plain to see, I’ve nothing to show
I’m glad to pay those union dues
Just don’t judge me by my shoes
Scarecrow and a yellow moon
And pretty soon a carnival on the edge of town
King Harvest has surely come
Last year, this time, wasn’t no joke
My whole barn went up in smoke
Our horse Jethro, well he went mad
And I can’t remember things bein’ that bad
Then there comes a man with a paper and a pen
Tellin’ us our hard times are about to end
And then, if they don’t give us what we like
He said, “men, that’s when you gotta go on strike”
Corn in the fields
Listen to the rice when the wind blows ‘cross the water
King Harvest has surely come
Happy New Year to all my readers. This is my first post of the year other than the New Years’ post this morning at 12:01 AM CST. My next post in one hour will be just for all of my readers…
My friend CB (Cincinnati Baby Head) reminded me of this song not too long ago…so thank you CB. Man…wasn’t The Band a truly great band? Not many bands could get away with a name like that…but it is no question they lived up to it. They made pure music for the people…
Standin’ by your window in pain A pistol in your hand And I beg you, dear Molly, girl, Try and understand your man the best you can.
Not a good way to start your day.
Canada has given us Neil Young, The Guess Who, BTO, and many more but…to me, this band was their best export.
The Band had 3 great singers and a good one in Robbie. Robertson wrote most of the songs and wrote for the other three voices. He was smart enough to step aside and let his bandmates sing his songs. Not many singer/songwriters would do that but it worked well.
This song was on their second album called The Band released in 1969. The album is one of the best albums ever. It contained these songs, Up On Crippled Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Whispering Pines, Rag Mama Rag, and more.
They recorded this album not in a recording studio but at Sammy Davis’s house in California. They remodeled the adjacent pool house into a recording studio. The Band fashioned a makeshift workshop environment similar to the one at their former home, Big Pink.
The album peaked at #2 in Canada, #9 on the Billboard 100, and #25 in the UK. This song was not released as a single.
Levon Helm:“Sometimes we would grow the songs from scratch, right there in the pool-house, sometimes we would just pull them out of thin air. We had story songs, we had picture songs and we had songs that emulated things we had heard. One thing that helped is that we had two different styles of rhythm section, with Richard and me swapping drum duties. That was done mainly to accommodate Garth’s ability to trade instruments around. Of course, Garth could play percussion, woodwind, bass—just about anything.”
Across The Great Divide
Standin’ by your window in pain A pistol in your hand And I beg you, dear Molly, girl, Try and understand your man the best you can.
Across the Great Divide Just grab your hat, and take that ride Get yourself a bride And bring your children down to the river side
I had a goal in my younger days I nearly wrote my will But I changed my mind for the better I’m at the still, had my fill and I’m fit to kill
Across the Great Divide Just grab your hat, and take that ride Get yourself a bride And bring your children down to the river side
Pinball machine and a queen I nearly took the bus Tried to keep my hands to myself They say it’s a must, but who can ya trust? Harvest moon shinin’ down from the sky A weary sign for all I’m gonna leave this one horse town Had to stall ’til the fall, now I’m gonna crawl Across the Great Divide
Now Molly dear, don’t ya shed a tear Your time will surely come You’ll feed your man chicken ev’ry Sunday Now tell me, hon, what ya done with the gun?
Across the Great Divide Just grab your hat, and take that ride Get yourself a bride And bring your children down to the river side
Robbie Robertson’s Christmas gift to his new son Sebastian during the sessions for Northern Lights-Southern Cross album… it never became a seasonal favorite but it should have been. It wasn’t released until the Islands album in 1977.
Rick Danko sings this song from a Shepherds point of view. It’s pure and down to earth like only the Band can be. No sleigh bells or other Christmas trappings…just pure music. Maybe that is the reason it never got picked up.
Robbie Robertson re-recorded this song after he left the group. And he did for the soundtrack of Bill Murray’s Scrooged. That version is very good but I still like The Bands version much more…it’s hard to beat Rick Danko.
Christmas Must Be Tonight
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace Wheels start turning, torches start burning And the old wise men journey from the East
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, where over my flock I bide Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing In a dream I heard a voice saying “fear not, come rejoice It’s the end of the beginning, praise the new born king”
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies But why a simple herdsmen such as I And then it came to pass, he was born at last Right below the star that shines on high
Happy Thanksgiving! Watching The Last Waltz is just as part of Thanksgiving as the meal with the family…that and Alice’s Restaurant which is coming.
The Band on Thanksgiving in 1976 at the Fillmore West. The film starts off with THIS FILM MUST BE PLAYED LOUD! A cut to Rick Danko playing pool and then it then to the Band playing “Don’t Do It”…the last song they performed that night after hours of playing. Through the music and some interviews, their musical journey and influences are retraced.
This film is considered by many the best concert film ever made. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. I love the setting with the chandeliers that were from the movie Gone With The Wind. The quality of the picture is great because it was shot with a 35-millimeter camera which wasn’t normally done with concerts.
Before the Band and guests hit the stage, Bill Graham, the promoter, served a Thanksgiving dinner to 5000 people that made up the audience with long tables with white tablecloths.
The Band’s musical guests included
Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Van Morrison (my favorite performance), Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters
The Staple Singers and Emmylou Harris also appear but their segments were taped later on a sound stage and not at the concert.
Robbie wanted off the road earlier and that is what the Last Waltz was all about…the last concert by The Band with a lot of musical friends. He was tired of touring and also the habits the band was picking up… drugs and drinking. Richard Manuel, in particular, was in bad shape and needed time.
The rest of the Band supposedly agreed but a few years later all of them but Robbie started to tour as The Band again. Richard Manuel ended up hanging himself in 1986. Rick Danko passed away in 1999 at the end of a tour of a heart attack attributed to years of drug and alcohol abuse. Levon Helm died of cancer in 2012.
The Band sounded great that night and it might be the best version you will ever hear of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.
The Last Waltz is a grand farewell to a great band and a film that I revisit at least twice a year… once always around Thanksgiving.
The complete concert is at the bottom…without cuts.
The great Garth Hudson gives us a wonderful intro to this song. In live shows, the song became a Hudson showcase, with him improvising wildly on organ (and later, on synthesizer) before cutting into the song. This improvisation came to be known as “The Genetic Method.” .Eventually the improvisation quoted Bach’s “Fugue in D Minor” and followed into the song’s main riff. Only part of the improvisation was included on the actual album cut.
Garth Hudson was the Band’s secret weapon according to Robertson. Back when they were backing Ronnie Hawkins….they asked the classically trained Hudson to join them. His parents didn’t like the idea but… Hudson agreed to join the band on two conditions: that Hawkins buy him a Lowrey organ, and that he be paid an extra $10 a week to give music lessons to the other Hawks. After that he was in The Band.
This gem came from Music From Big Pink in 1968. The song is credited to Robbie Robertson. Levon Helm said that he and Richard Manual wrote the lyrics to the song.
I was talking to another blogger the other day about the Band. They lived up to their name more than about any other band. Not only did they all contribute to songs…not writing…but all of them did contribute some but they all could play each others instruments.
Music From Big Pink was a huge influence on other artists back then and to this day. George Harrison and Eric Clapton were two that were influenced by it. Eric even had ideas of joining the Band. You can hear it in music at that time. Psychedelic was out and more Americana or roots music was in. The album’s influence far outweighed it’s chart position.
The album peaked at #18 in Canada and #30 in the Billboard Album Chart. It has to be on the list of best debut albums of all time.
Robbie Robertson:When Garth played the intro to “Chest Fever,” which he called “The Genetic Method,” I was reminded there was no other keyboard player in rock ’n’ roll who had his improvisational abilities and imagination.
Robbie Robertson:“It’s kind of a hard love song,” “But it’s a reversal on that old rock & roll thing where they’re always telling the girl, ‘He’s a rebel, he’ll never be any good.’ This time, it’s the other way around.”
From Songfacts
The Band’s guitarist, Robbie Robertson, felt he needed a counterbalance for the album’s centerpiece, “The Weight.” He wrote the music for the song solely for that purpose.
Robertson, drummer Levon Helm, and pianist Richard Manuel improvised lyrics (Robertson often calls them meaningless) over the course of the song. Those lyrics remain unchanged on the track, although they loosely tell a story of a man thrown aside by a hard-drinking, fast-talking woman who subsequently literally becomes sick with love for her.
This was the opening song for the Band’s set at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
Chest Fever
I know she’s a tracker Any style that would back her They say she’s a chooser But I just can’t refuse her She was just there, but then she can’t be here no more
And as my mind unwheels I feel the freeze down in my knees But just before she leaves, she receives
She’s been down in the dunes And she’s dealt with the goons Now she drinks from a bitter cup I’m trying to get her to give it up She was just here, I fear she can’t be there no more
And as my mind unwheels I feel the freeze down in my knees But just before she leaves, she receives
It’s long, long when she’s gone I get weary holding on Now I’m coldly fading fast I don’t think I’m gonna last very much longer
She’s stoned said the Swede, And the moon calf agreed But I’m like a viper in shock With my eyes in the clock She was just there somewhere and here I am again
And as my mind unweaves I feel the freeze down in my knees But just before she leaves, she receives
It doesn’t get much better than this. This wasn’t a huge hit but it doesn’t mean that much when it’s The Band.
The Band did this song by playing musical chairs with the instruments. Most of them grabbed something different than what they normally played. Levon (drummer) sang and played Mandolin, Richard Manuel (piano) played drums, Rick Danko (bass) played fiddle, Garth Hudson (keyboards) played uprigtht piano and producer John Simon played Tuba.
Robbie Robertson wrote the song and was the only one playing their normal instrument…guitar.
The song peaked at #57 in the Billboard 100, #46 in Canada, and #16 in the UK in 1970. The song was on their second album The Band.
Songfacts
One of the Band’s first big European hit singles, “Rag Mama Rag” has some unusual instrumentation. Lead pianist Richard Manuel played drums, drummer Levon Helm played mandolin and sang lead, and bassist Rick Danko played a fiddle. This left the bass spot open on this track, and it was filled by the album’s producer, John Simon. He improvised a bassline on tuba, although he had no idea how to play the instrument. >>
Robbie Robertson is the only songwriter credited on this track, although other members of the group claim they made contributions. The song finds Levon Helm trying to convince his girl to come back home so she can “rag all over” his house. What he has in mind in unclear: “rag” could mean playing ragtime music (a possibility, considering the line “rosin up the bow”), but he might have more prurient intentions.
Rag Mama Rag
Rag Mama rag, can’t believe its true. Rag Mama Rag, what did you do? Crawled up to the railroad track Let the four nine-teen scratch my back
Sag mama sag now What’s come over you Rag Mama Rag, I’m a pulling out your gag. Gonna turn you lose like an old caboose, Got a tail I need a drag.
I ask about your turtle, And you ask about the weather, Well, I can’t jump the hurdle And we can’t get together.
We could be relaxing in my sleeping bag, But all you want to do for me mama Is rag Mama rag there’s no-where to go, Rag Mama rag. Come on resin up the bow.
Rag Mama rag, where do ya roam? Rag Mama rag, bring your skinny little body back home. Its dog eat dog and cat eat mouse, you can You can rag Mama rag all over my house.
Hail stones beating on the roof, The bourbon is a hundred proof, Its you and me and the telephone Our destiny is quite well known.
We don’t need to sit and brag. All we gotta do is Rag Mama rag Mama rag. Rag Mama rag Where do you roam? Rag Mama rag, bring your skinny little body back home
Robbie Robertson’s Christmas gift to his new son Sebastian during the sessions for Northern Lights-Southern Cross album… it never became a seasonal favorite but it should have been. It wasn’t released until the bands Islands album in 1977.
Rick Danko sings this song from a Shepherds point of view. It’s pure and down to earth like only the Band can be. No sleigh bells or other Christmas trappings…just pure music. Maybe that is the reason it never got picked up.
Robbie Robertson re-recorded this song after he left the group. And he did for the soundtrack of Bill Murray’s Scrooged. That version is very good but I still like The Bands version much more…it’s hard to beat Rick Danko.
Christmas Must Be Tonight
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace Wheels start turning, torches start burning And the old wise men journey from the East
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, where over my flock I bide Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing In a dream I heard a voice saying “fear not, come rejoice It’s the end of the beginning, praise the new born king”
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies But why a simple herdsmen such as I And then it came to pass, he was born at last Right below the star that shines on high
I had a friend who raved about Robbie’s new album in the 80s. He said he liked it better than the Bands music…I would never…ever go that far but… I did like it. Listening to this song, it took me a few listens to like it. In fact the first time I heard it I thought…this is repetitive…but after that I could not get enough of it. The back up vocal is great.
It reminds me of a narration for a movie and then Robbie goes into the chorus and the song clicks then.
Robertson enlisted fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois as co-producer of the album. The self titled album Robbie Robertson was a decent comeback for Robbie.
Robertson also brought in The BoDeans to provide group vocals for some of the tracks on the album
The song peaked at #24 in the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts, #91 in Canada, and #15 in the UK in 1988.
The Robbie Robertson album won the 1989 Juno Award for Album of the Year. Lanois and Robertson jointly won the Producer of the Year Juno award at the same ceremony.
From Songfacts
A single from Robbie Robertson’s eponymous debut album, the song finds the former Band’s guitarist singing of the levee life in the Deep South.
RLanois told Exclaim! magazine that the song started with the “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” title. It was a line that Robertson came up with when he was telling the producer about hanging out with former Band colleague Levon Helm in his old Arkansas neighborhood. “He was telling me about the hot nights and fishing with dynamite,” he recalled. “I was curious about his stories because I wanted them to be on that record… It’s kind of like a guy with a deep voice telling you about steaming nights in Arkansas.”
Robbie Robertson wrote the song with Martin Page (“These Dreams,” “We Built This City”). He recalled the time spent with Robertson in an interview with us. “With Robbie, you were really dealing with a song craftsman who would take as long as it took to piece a great piece of music together with great, great atmosphere,” he said. Obviously, his time with Bob Dylan had influenced him.”
“My period with Robbie Robertson was very, very long,” Page added. “I’d bring in ideas and he’d mull over it and we’d experiment and experiment and experiment. But he would encourage me in the way I would sing these demos for him and I would guide him with the demo, then leave him alone.”
Somewhere Down The Crazy River
Yeah, I can see it now The distant red neon shivered in the heat I was feeling like a stranger in a strange land You know, where people play games with the night God, it was too hot to sleep
I followed the sound of a jukebox coming from up the levee All of a sudden, I could hear somebody whistling from right behind me I turned around, and she said “Why do you always end up down at Nick’s Cafe?” I said, “Uh, I don’t know, the wind just kinda pushed me this way” She said, “Hang the rich”
Catch the blue train Places never been before Look for me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river) Ooh, catch the blue train All the way to Kokomo You can find me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river)
Take a picture of this The fields are empty, abandoned ’59 Chevy Laying in the back seat listening to Little Willie John Yeah, that’s when time stood still You know, I think I’m gonna go down to Madam X And let her read my mind She said, “That voodoo stuff don’t do nothing for me”
I’m a man with a clear destination I’m a man with a broad imagination You fog the mind, you stir the soul I can’t find no control
Catch the blue train Places never been before Look for me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river) Ooh, catch the blue train All the way to Kokomo You can find me Somewhere down the crazy river (Somewhere down the crazy river)
Wait, did you hear that? Oh, this is sure stirring up some ghosts for me She said, “There’s one thing you gotta learn Is not to be afraid of it” I said, “No, I like it, I like it, it’s good” She said, “You like it now But you’ll learn to love it later”
I been spellbound Falling in trances I been spellbound Falling in trances You give me the shivers Chills and fever You give me the shivers You give me the shivers I been spellbound I been spellbound I been spellbound (Somewhere down the crazy river) Somewhere down the crazy river
There is a very solemn song with a religious hymnal feel to it. Richard Manuel sings this one with a slight mournful falsetto voice that is just pure as you can get. I Shall Be Released is not commercial, not meant to be a hit, sell a million copies, but just pure music at it’s best…there are no pretensions or gimmicks…this is the Band at one of it’s many peaks.
Bob Dylan wrote this in 1967 but it was not until 1971 on his Greatest Hits Vol. II album that his version was officially released. The Band, who backed up Dylan on his first electric tour, recorded it for Music From Big Pink, which was their first album. Their version is the most well-known.
Everyone under the sun has covered this song but the Band’s own rendition was released first and is probably the best known version.
The song was the B side to The Weight released in 1968. Music From The Big Ping peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100 and #18 in Canada. That wasn’t the biggest thing though…the album helped change the landscape of popular music from the psychedelic harder rock to more earthy roots music.
From Songfacts
This song could be either an anti-death penalty composition or a metaphoric attempt by Dylan at looking forward to being released from Hell on Earth – possibly awaiting the “release” from the hell of being an innocent man wrongly imprisoned.
In Robert Shelton’s biography No Direction Home, he gives the song a different meaning. After Dylan’s motorcycle accident in 1966, when he was 25, he retreated from the spotlight. This was after he had suffered great disappointment at the reception his European and American tour dates brought. He’d been booed offstage, called a traitor, and attendance dropped at some of his concert dates. Dylan was seriously injured in the accident, and Shelton states that Dylan withdrew not only to recuperate, but to spend the time in self reflection, and with his family. He goes further, saying that the song represents Dylan’s search for personal salvation.
This was featured in the 1987 Emmy-winning documentary Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.
Other artists to record this song include Bette Midler, Nina Simone, and Joan Baez, who performed the song at Woodstock while pregnant with her son, Gabriel. The Band also performed it during their set at the festival.
I Shall Be Released
They say everything can be replaced They say every distance is not near So I remember every face Of every man who put me here
I see my light come shining From the west down to the east Any day now, any day now I shall be released
They say every man needs protection They say that every man must fall Yet I swear I see my reflection Somewhere so high above this wall
I see my light come shining From the west down to the east Any day now, any day now I shall be released
Now, yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd A man who swears he’s not to blame All day long I hear him shouting so loud Just crying out that he was framed
I see my light come shining From the west down to the east Any day now, any day now I shall be released
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