CoronaVinyl Day 46 (Canadian): The Best of the Band by The Band

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is Canadian, and since I used The Guess Who last week, I had to look elsewhere.  My search didn't take long, as it's been a while since I've listened to The Band, so they seemed like a good choice.

The Band was 80% Canadian -- with drummer/vocalist Levon Helm being the only American of the five band members --  and my criteria for a band's "nationality" is that at least half of the band has to be from the country to be considered "from" that country.  

Originally, they were The Hawks because they were the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, but then in the mid '60s, they became Bob Dylan's backing band -- including during the time period when he went electric.  They were who Dylan famously told to "play it fucking loud" after being heckled as "Judas" by some short-sighted folkie dipshit at a show in 1966.

When they decided to make their own music, they adopted the name "The Band" because they had always seemed to be someone's backing band.  Listening to The Band, it's really hard to believe they're not American, as their music leaned towards folk and roots rock, with elements of soul and country.  Drummer Levon Helm, keyboardist/drummer Richard Manuel, and bassist Rick Danko split lead vocal duties, and harmonized often as well.  Guitarist Robbie Robertson was the main songwriter.  Organist Garth Hudson gave the group its sound.

They released eight studio albums between 1968 and 1977, though their last album was released after they broke up.  On top of that, they backed Dylan on two albums during that time.  Their legendary star-studded 1976 break up concert, The Last Waltz, was filmed as a documentary by Martin Scorsese, which I highly recommend.

Sadly, Hudson (now 82!) and Robertson (now 76) are the only surviving members.  Manuel committed suicide in 1986 at the age of 42.  In 1999, Danko died in his sleep of heart failure at the age of 55, likely a result of years of substance abuse.  In addition to continuing to make music, Helm went on to do some acting before dying at age 71 in 2012.

Anywho, the only Band album I have on vinyl is their Best Of album, released in 1976.  It's a nice intro for anyone looking to get into the group.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it on Spotify, so I'm embedding a 2000 greatest hits album.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "The Weight"
Side 1 has several of my favorite songs by The Band, including "Up on Cripple Creek" and the devastating "It Make No Difference," but I have to go with "The Weight."  This is simply one of the greatest songs in rock history.  Levon Helm's vocals tell the story of a man who pulls "into Nazareth," "feelin' 'bout half past dead," and trying to find a place to sleep.  It's set in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, not Israel, although there are some religious undertones (like Luke, who's waiting on Judgment Day).  The story is great, the harmonies are great, the song is great.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down"
I'm a sucker for songs rooted in historical events, and this is one of the best.  Robbie Robertson spent eight months researching it and writing, and Helm is again on vocals (which makes sense, since he's from Arkansas) as Virgil Caine, a poor white Southern railroad worker during George Stoneman's raids behind Confederate lines in Virginia in 1865.  Caine appears to be telling the story years later, and Helm's pained, soulful vocals make you you feel Caine's pain as he recounts how the Confederacy fell.  Then you realize fuck the Confederacy.