I Love The Band!
I’ve been listening to The Band a lot lately. I always seem to listen to them quite a bit in the summer.
Nothing says Americana roots rock & roll to me more than The Band. What a phenomenal group of musicians! I absolutely love the sound of Levon Helm’s voice, the greatest singing drummer of all time.
Several of The Band’s albums are on my list of Desert Island Discs: Rock of Ages, Music From Big Pink, Live at Watkins Glen and, of course, The Last Waltz.
If you haven’t heard it yet, Levon Helm’s new record, Electric Dirt, is fabulous. It opens with a spankin’ version of The Dead’s “Tennessee Jed” and picks up where last year’s Dirt Farmer left off.
If you’d like to learn more, check out this fantastic web site devoted to all things The Band.
Also, one of my favorite blogs is Plochmann Lane, in part because they regularly feature a ton of Band-related stuff…and they are really cool folks.
July 30th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
“Northern Lights, Southern Cross” and “The Band” are two of my picks (though I love them all)
It’s great that Levon got his voice back and is singing as strong as ever.
July 31st, 2009 at 1:00 am
[...] to The Band’s “Music From Big Pink,” Americana roots rock & roll at its best. http://rockandrollguru.com/?p=2552 [...]
July 31st, 2009 at 3:16 am
we are on the same wavelength today Joe – I was updating a post on Rick Danko and mentioned that I cry every time I watch the Last Waltz cause its so damn good. I like reading Plochman Lane too.
July 31st, 2009 at 8:32 am
Yeah, Levon is sounding great.
I’ve always said The Last Waltz is my favorite rock & roll movie of all-time.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:08 am
Got Electric Dirt last week. Been listening to it non-stop. Very good album. Keep it up, Levon.
August 1st, 2009 at 9:30 am
Thanks so much for the shout out, Joe. We love you & Barbara (aka Layla) too!
Thanks to our love for Dylan, he led us to The Band. The Band set its own genra & bar & never answered to anyone but its own devices. Amazing timeless original music.
Checkout Levon’s website updated by Helmland employee Tony LoBue, Rick’s blog created & updated by his frmr publicist Carol Caffin, Rick’s Myspace page by his niece Danielle, Robbie’s Myspace & facebook pgs by his son Sebastian, Garth & Maud’s sites by David Zuck & Richard’s facebook page by two recent Canadian grad students who have interviewed numerous The Band-related folk while producing a Richard doc.
A lot of great The Band news this yr: Levon’s new amazing album “Electric Dirt,” Robbie’s working on a new album & Carol is rumored to working on a Rick book.
Gotta read Levon’s book “This Wheel’s on Fire” from the mid-90s & since updated.
Thanks again so much & keep on keepin’ on.
Mike & Kim
http://plochmann.blogspot.com
August 11th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Just saw Levon & friends from Nashville’s Ryman Theater on PBS. Outstanding!