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The Band
1967-1977
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Artistfacts:
| Their vocals were often 3-part harmonies with Helm, Manuel, and Danko. |
| They rented a big, pink house in upstate New York, where they recorded their first album, Music From Big Pink. |
| Robertson, Danko, Manuel, and Hudson are Canadian. Robertson is Canadian by birth, but his heritage is half-Jewish and half-American Indian. |
| They were playing clubs as The Hawks when Bob Dylan asked them to be his backup band on his first electric tour. They were often booed by audiences who felt Dylan had sold out his folk fans. |
| Robertson is an executive with Dreamworks. He used to be Martin Scorsese's roommate. |
| Their second album, The Band, was recorded at Sammy Davis Jr.'s house, which they had rented. |
| Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman, suggested they use the name The Band when they recorded on their own to play up their anonymity. |
| Woodstock was a bad experience for The Band. They played the last night and left right after their set. They lived nearby and had to contend with tourists for the next few years. |
| They broke up over songwriting credits and royalty payments. Robertson was listed as the composer on most of the songs, even though the others helped write them. As a result, Robertson continues to get most of the royalties from the songs. |
| They played the Watkins Glen Festival on July 28, 1973 along with The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead. With over 600,000 people, it was the largest US concert ever. |
| The Band performed their last concert on November 24, 1976 at Winterland in San Francisco. In 1978, the movie The Last Waltz, about this concert, was released. November 24 was the same day Eric Clapton had played Cream's farewell concert in 1968. It was partially because of The Band's music that Clapton decided to leave Cream. (thanks, James - Tracy, CA) |
| Levon Helm inspired the name for the title character in Elton John's "Levon." |
| They are a huge influence on Eric Clapton, who was in Cream when Music From Big Pink came out. Clapton formed Blind Faith with the idea of making music with more direction and fewer extended solos, which were the trademark of Cream. The Band played on his albums No Reason To Cry (1976) and August (1986). (thanks, Joey - Athens, GA) |
| They were paid more for their Woodstock performance then many other artists including Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Grateful Dead, and The Who. |
| When they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, only three members were there. Levon Helm chose not to attend and Richard Manuel had died. When they played, Eric Clapton joined them to fill in the sound. |
| In 1969, these guys became the first Canadian band to appear on the cover of Time magazine. They were heralded as "The first to match the excellence of the Beatles." |
| Helm has gone on to an acting career. He played Loretta Lynn's father in Coal Miner's Daughter and appeared in The Right Stuff. |
| Levon Helm and Garth Hudson played drums and Hammond organ on Norah Jones' song "What Am I To You." (thanks, Lee - Mobile, AL) |
| Plagued by drug and alcohol problems, Manual hanged himself after a show in Florida in 1986. |
| Levon Helm was honored in Woodstock, New York, as the town saluted him by making May 20th, 2006 "Levon Helm Day." Helm has lived there since the '60s, and he got the key to the city as part of the honor. |
| Helm and his band do a regular monthly gig called a "Midnight Ramble" at his barn, which is also a recording studio. The shows often attract special guests, and Elvis Costello and Steely Dan singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen have made appearances. (thanks, Stevie Lee - radio personality @ 1077 WSFR - Louisville, KY, for above 2) |
| Robertson has contributed songs or worked as a music consultant on many movies, including The Departed, Gangs Of New York, Any Given Sunday and The Color Of Money. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France) |
Get Songfacts for The Band
Comments:
| I can't lie Levon has the best voice but the group made it work. I just listen to his draw as he sings lyrics that pull me from the day. - brose, oklahoma city, OK |
| Hey Tom the entire Band Watkins Glen is available in somewhat limited circulation. I have it. It's a rough audience recording but complete and listenable. The soundcheck is included as a soundboard recording. However I have always wished that Capitol Records would have released the entire thing legitimately, not like what was done on the bogus LIVE AT WATKINS GLEN. What a cheat that was. - Barry, New York, NY |
| Does anyone out there know how I can get an actual CD of the Watkins Glenn 1973 set of the Band? - Tom, Long Island , NY |
| my favorite song from the band is King Harvest!! Damn, that blew me away!! Great intelligent lyrics!! - noril, manila, Other |
| I meant to say that I love Levon Helm's voice. - Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC |
| I love Levon Helm's, and "The Last Waltz' is awesome. Enough said. - Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC |
| I love The Band! However, it was suprising to hear that only ONE member of The Band was actually from the South! And it also suprising to hear that the other members were Canadian...and that they (yes they, not just Robbie, right?) wrote incredible tunes such as Up on Cripple Creek, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and The Weight that I thought must be inspired by Southerners. The harmonies are amazing, and I really like Levon's voice; it adds the southern ring to the songs. "The Last Waltz" is a must see for all Band fans, and there is another movie I recently saw that just came out called "Festival Express" that features them as well. - Kelly, Burbank, CA |
| The Band performed a great set at the famous Watkins Glen Summer Jam in July 1973. It was during their set when a guy named Willard Smith from Syracuse, NY made a fatal parachute jump into the crowd. Also, the Watkins Glen rainstorm occurred during their set.
Although an album called THE BAND LIVE AT WATKINS GLEN came out in 1995, this was merely studio songs with overdubbed live sounds. However, their entire set does circulate as an audience recording. - Barry, New York, NY |
| Robbi Robertson is half native - Paul, Squamish, Canada |
| My fave song by The Band is "The wait". I like it because of its simplickty. What i mena is it's just one of those songs you can sing along to. Probably a good driving song too. - Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC |
| Did harmonies for Roger Waters' "The Wall Live in Berlin." - NickC, Ft. Wayne, IN |
| The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is a rock and roll song written by Robbie Roberston who played the guitar in The Band and the song was first recorded by The Band in 1969. - Abdiel, Rock Hill, SC |
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