The Band

If you're not aware of the American band The Band who wrote songs such as The Weight, Rag Mama Rag and co-wrote with and worked alongside Bob Dylan then the first thing you need to do is read up on them then listen to some of the songs. This blog post will concentrate on their albums and musical direction as documented in This Wheels On Fire written by Levon Helm, arguably the group's founding member.

Levon dedicates much to his early life and his life on the road with The Hawks and then a sizeable chunk on the early life of The Band and their recording successes of the first few years. Levon writes with passion and a love for his music. And, even though he notes his importance and his worth as a musician, he does not hold back on thanking his companions for their talent and direction, specifically Garth Hudson.

I first heard about the Band from a creaky old VHS which was in a dusty cardboard sleeve and simply read 'The Last Waltz' on two sheets of masking tape written in a black biro, my Dad's shooty handwriting. I was curious to watch it so after my parents went out shopping one morning I drew the curtains and popped it in. I was a bit disappointed when, instead of an adult art film it turned out to be a couple of spindly guys on stage playing rock and roll. I noticed some of the names which flashed on the screen too; Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Dr John... (luckily, my parents thought it right and true to doctrinate me in their faith: music. I was aware of these artists from LPs and tapes which were strewn around the floor of my Dad's old green VW Beetle.)

As I watched this tape and learnt more about their story, my body shaked with excitement. Even now when I hear the first few bars of Rag Mama Rag I feel a shiver down my spine. Music is great when it does that to you! I switched off the video and placed everything back in its place. Clearly, my life had been changed forever and the way I viewed music had altered.

I forgot about the Band for several years. I was going through a period where it seemed ok to say no to your parents. Where it was morally wrong to agree with them on anything, even if you would rationally have agreed to it anyway. Rag Mama Rag came on the radio whilst Dad was dropping me off at work one evening. I was filling shelves in Wilkinson's and, instead of rushing out to the excitement of work for another 4 hours, I stayed in the car and listened. At that point, there seemed to be a connection between my Dad and I. The next day we were off to Nottingham to buy The Band on CD. It is their second album and I think, their best. We played it all the way through then I played it again. I was hypnotised by Helm's rhythmic drumming and the combination of three or so voices. This wasn't like the Beatles. This was something different. The music of The Band was drenched in the earth, each song dripped experience and hardship. It wasn't so much "I love you baby, yeah" more like "My baby left me and my harvest was bad...i'm dying, but i've still got some whisky left." Only those who have immersed themselves in The Band will know what I mean.

Anyway, it's clear from their first two albums, Music From Big Pink and The Band that the group were at their creative best during this time. Helm remarks that during this time they had not been damaged by money. They were just loving the creative process of song writing and recording and they buzzed from it. They were not bothered about song writing credits as Helm thought that as the whole band had created it it didn't matter. However, the song writing credits are extremely important as that is where the majority of the royalties go. Tthe majority of the songs on the album were written by a mixture of the members but all the world thought they were written by 'J.R.Robertson' or Robbie Robertson. He was the lead guitarist and very much the business man. He worked and built up a close relationship with Albert Grossman (the notorious penny pinching manager of Bob Dylan) and I suspect some underhand tactics had resulted in Robertson pocketing the money. As a result, there was a lot of resentment between Helm and Robertson and then when they began work on their third album, Stage Fright, there seemed to be less of that creative spark. True, the album is still a terrific one, probably the most consistent sound, but who wants consistency? We want to be challenged, our ears have been trained to seek oit new and different sounds. The commercial failure of this album also showed The Band that they would have to change. Unfortunately, they didn't, and The Last Waltz was the last time the Band performed together in its original lineup.

Listening in a different way

In my job I often get told that someone needs to listen more. Or, more appropriately, they need to listen in a different way. Perhaps they aren't listening to the things they should. Perhaps they are not taking in what they should be listening to.

I sort of know what I am telling them to do. Otherwise, why would I tell them?

Yesterday I was watching Sky Arts and saw a cracking documentary on the Doors' eponymous and debut album from the late 1960s. It was the first Doors album I bought and love most of the songs on it. In last night's documentary they seemed to make a number of subtle comparisons between the songs of the Doors and the Beatles, perhaps suggesting that, musically, the Doors were more talented and therefore perhaps deserved more success, or more recognition for their songs. At one point a music critic, on speaking about The End said "well it ain't no Obla-Di Obla-Da is it?!"

The program (which is being repeated a lot at the moment) looked at the majority of the songs from that album and looked at how they were made. What musical parts contributed to the songs, and what the thinking was behind each one. They said that to be in the Doors, you needed to be able to do more than three chords. Indeed, the poetic lyrics of Morrison, the bass keys then treble of Manzarek, the at-times bossa nova beat of Densmore, and an almost inhuman, magical guitar of Krieger made the Doors one of the greatest bands which ever blessed those sacreds airwaves.

So, next time you listen to the Doors, don't just listen to them. Really, really listen!