Wednesday 13 June 2012

Introducing The Band

I have a horrible notion that the next few years will just see a neverending flood of the deaths of rock'n'roll people. We've just reached the point where the first generation are dying natural deaths and combining that with the fact that the rock'n'roll lifestyle seems to lead to a shortened lifespan, and we're beginning to see the results.

The new album by the Beach Boys (which is actually quite nice) carriess a real sadness for me, knowing that Dennis and Carl Wilson are dead. Sometimes, people talk about the Beach Boys as if it's the Brian Wilson show and the rest were interchangeable, but that is anything but true - Carl Wilson was the best singer (God Only Knows, Good Vibrations), Dennis Wilson was the soul of the band, and they were both great writers - Forever, Slip on Through, The Trader, Feel Flows just a few of their compositions.
The nearest British comparison to the Wilson brothers is, I suppose, the Gibb brothers - two of three members of the band have died, as well as their younger brother, Andy. Tragedy (excuse the pun) just stalks popular music.

But the recent death that saddened me the most was that of Levon Helm. Here's what Bob Dylan posted about it on his site:

"He was my bosom buddy friend to the end, on of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation. This is just so sad to talk about. I can still remember the first day I met him and the last day I saw him. We go back pretty far and had been through some trials together. I'm going to miss him, as I'm sure a whole lot of others will too."

Levon Helm was the drummer in The Band, and he's the third of the five members to die. Particularly sadly, it is the three great singers of the band who have died - Richard Manuel, Rick Danko and Levon Helm. I often see The Band as the other side of the coin to the Beach Boys in defining the classic American rock sound (obviously nowhere near as successful). So many of the bands I love sound like The Beach Boys or The Band or hopefully a combination of both. Though pretty dissimilar, what the two bands share are several magnificent vocalists whose voices intertwine to create magic.

There's a song from a few years back by Drive-By Truckers called 'Danko/Manuel'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnt8CHQ3AoM
a beautiful song which celebrates and mourns the first two members of the Band to die in the context of a touring American band following in their footsteps.

The song is a treasure because it rightly ascribes quasi-mythical status to The Band - there's something eery, tragic and indescribable about their story, not just their music.

I don't really know where to begin - the fact that four of this archetypal American band were Canadian, their presence at Bob Dylan's "Judas" moment, the Basement tapes, the dark, dark life of Richard Manuel, the definitive rock'n'roll movie 'The Last Waltz', the great sadness that The Band's two duelling leaders, Helm and Robbie Robertson, fell out bitterly (except for a reported death bed reunion) for thirty years, such a tale to tell. I read a pretty strongly worded obituary of Helm which proclaimed him as the true heart of the Band and was pretty scathing of Robbie Robertson. Helm was the original leader (they were called Levon and the Hawks before Bob Dylan got hold of them) and it's his voice which distinguishes their greatest songs, The Weight, Up on Cripple Creek and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

But I must say, I've a huge soft spot for Robbie Robertson. I just think he's one of the coolest cats who ever lived. He was actually the first member of The Band I became aware of, even pre my infatuation with all things Bob Dylan, when as a teenager, I caught the Alex Cox-presented late night Moviedrome showing of an odd film called 'Carny', co-starring Jodie Foster and Gary Busey, which was pretty much Robertson's only starring role. I can't remember if he could act, I presume not, but i remember he had the kind of charisma similar to Peter Fonda's character in 'Easy Rider'.

That same charisma is evident in 'The Last Waltz', (here is a magnificent clip from 'The Last Waltz' with Helm on vocals/drums and Robertson on lead guitar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOi45FFfjG0 ) the concert picture made by Martin Scorsese - Robertson and Scorsese were great friends, and Robertson still oversees the music for most Scorsese films. If, like me, you see Bob Dylan and Martin Scorsese as the twin geniuses of late 20th century American pop culture (not a controversial view) then Robbie Robertson is the missing link, the sidekick to both of them at different times in his life. That's not bad.

If you don't know The Band, check them out, they really had a big part in inventing Americana, they looked great, they sounded great, they were more than Bob Dylan's backing band. To say Levon Helm was the greatest singing drummer of all is rather to damn him with faint (what, greater than Phil Collins?) praise. His  voice was wonderful, as was the voice of Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. The Band is now silenced, the only surviving members being Robertson and keyboard wizard Garth Hudson. Here are 10 Band-related songs:

Danko/Manuel - Drive-By Truckers
The Weight - The Band
I Shall Be Released - The Band
Opus 40 - Mercury Rev
Like a Rolling Stone (live) - Bob Dylan
Million Dollar Bash - Bob Dylan and the Band
Up on Cripple Creek - The Band
The Shape I'm In - The Band
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band
Across the Great Divide - The Band

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