CD Odyssey Disc 1664: The Band

I’m pretty damned tired after a long day of work and would like nothing more than to sit catatonic on the couch and not write this review. But if I did that, I would be stuck with this record for another day, and fatigue be damned, for that I cannot abide.

Disc 1664 is…Music from Big Pink

Artist: The Band

Year of Release: 1968

What’s up with the Cover?  Here’s an idea – the next time you do an album named after the iconic house you recorded the album in, maybe just put a picture of the house on the cover?

This looks like The Band went back in time to when they were all toddlers and let them paint their future album cover.

Just kidding. This childlike monstrosity was actually painted by Bob Dylan. I wish I was kidding about that as well but alas, Bob really was responsible.

How I Came To Know It: I’ve known an iconic song off this album for years, and its reputation preceded it. Then I watched a solid documentary on the Band and in a moment of weakness bought this record and one other.

How It Stacks Up: I have two albums by The Band (but not for long). Of the two, “Music from Big Pink” comes in at #2. Both are leaving my collection shortly after I click “post”.

Rating: 2 stars and I’m being charitable

“Music from Big Pink” is a record that warbles its way between self-indulgent moaning and unfocused hippy bullshit. I don’t know how I was once far enough under the spell of The Band to buy one of their records, let alone two, but consider me cured.

Yeah, yeah. This is one of the iconic records of the late sixties, and when I watched the 2019 documentary “Once Were Brothers” about the Band I was temporarily swayed by its very memorable hit, and the reputation of the group’s musicianship.

That hit is “The Weight” and I still love this song. At one time I could even play it on guitar. The blending of the various vocals (mostly Levon Helm and Rick Danko) is sublime and despite this song having a hippy vibe I would come to hate on the rest of this record, it feels free and easy in the best way possible. You’ll feel a bit unfocused and lazy, but you’ll like the experience. This is a song for hitchhiking across the USA in a fringed leather jacket and an ironic cowboy hat. Maybe sandals as well, or maybe bare feet. Anyway, the song is great fun, both to play and to listen to.

Also passable is the cover of “Long Black Veil” but it isn’t anything special Danko does with the vocals (if anything it plods a little). It’s just that the song is so unassailably brilliant. But if you want to listen to it and only have room for one version, go with the Johnny Cash. This one is just…OK.

Not OK is the rest of this record, which sounds like what it is – a bunch of talented musicians getting high on their own supply after being cooped up in a house (apparently a pink one) for too many consecutive days. Yeah, they are talented, and they have a sneaky way to sound sloppy with each other while artfully playing around with the timing. That’s clever enough, but just because I could recite a poem in Morse code by turning the lights on and off wouldn’t make it fun for whoever was in the room.

In this case, I was the person in the room, subjected to each member of the band nodding sagaciously to whatever groove their compatriots were putting down, before dropping a riff or a beat or a run on the organ as the mood strikes them. Do they come in late? No. Early? No. They are all right in time, but it is still manages to end up a hot mess. Look at the Band play, ladies and gentlemen! Revel in their innovation! Just don’t expect to enjoy yourself.

There are so many frustrating masturbatory moments on the record, although I think the organ solo on “Chest Fever” is the worst of all. This song even has a passable hook, but the Band aren’t content to explore that. They need to sail off into some self-referential echo chamber. I can’t tell if they are deliberately drinking their own bathwater, or they are just so deep into the groove that they are creating this stuff accidentally through inadvertent and mis-applied genius. I think it’s the latter.

At least four of the Band take on lead vocals at some time or other, and I was amazed how they all annoyed me in unique and innovative ways. There are high pitched wails, and mid-range warbles and various call-and-answer moments, none of which (except on the aforementioned “The Weight”) gave me any joy.

I recognize that in having this reaction I am offside with the vast majority of music critics, music listeners and the very history of modern music itself. So be it. I can’t pretend to like this just because it is supposed to be good.

Not only am I getting rid of this record, I’m getting rid of their self-titled follow-up as well. It is better, but since I got these records three years ago I’ve never put either on, and now I realize I never will. Instead I’ll pass them both along to someone who likes it a lot better than I did. They won’t be hard to find.

Best tracks: The Weight, Long Black Veil

CD Odyssey Disc 1451: The Band

For the second straight review we have an album with a song about Cripple Creek. This seems unlikely, but be assured this is a coincidence, not a conspiracy. Your lazy brain is just looking for a shortcut through the chaos.

Disc 1451 is…. Self-Titled

Artist: The Band

Year of Release: 1969

What’s up with the Cover?  It’s…the band. The cover is a respectable entry in the “here we all are” portrait genre.

How I Came To Know It: I grew up hearing “Up on Cripple Creek” on the radio, but never thought to buy the album. Then last year Sheila and I watched a documentary about the Band, and it got me all excited about both them and this era/style of music generally. I went out and bought this album and “Songs from Big Pink” later that week. I also bought a couple Byrds albums for good measure.

How It Stacks Up: I have two albums by the Band. If you are following along you already know which two. I’m not sure yet how I feel about “Songs from Big Pink” but for now I’ll put their self-titled effort in first place, while expressing my usual right to change my mind down the road.

Ratings: 3 stars

The Band’s eponymous debut is a seminal album in the history of rock and roll, that nevertheless finds various ways to annoy me, starting with the title.

It is bad enough that The Band call themselves “The Band,” which in terms of mailing it in is probably second only to “The The”. In addition, I have a general pet peeve with the many examples of bands that eponymously name albums that aren’t their first. It is confusing, and frankly you should’ve done it for record #1. You’ve missed your chance, now move on, and go come up with something more creative. May I suggest the opening track (“Across the Great Divide”), whatever hit your A&R man suggests (“Up on Cripple Creek”) or maybe just something that relates to the cover (“Five Guys with Facial Hair”). But I digress…

Back to the actual record, which features first rate songwriting and musicianship. The Band is like Blue Oyster Cult, in that every member brings their own talent to the mix. The songs reflect this collaborative effort, despite the fact that Robbie Robertson wrote most of them. This is aided by the fact that (just like Blue Oyster Cult) three different members (Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel) take turns on lead vocals.

As for those vocals, I realize Levon Helm takes the…ahem… “helm” on the two hits, and his distinctive warble is a big part of the Band’s sound. As for me, I have a love-hate relationship with it. On songs like “Up on Cripple Creek” he is what gives the song that wanton hippie vibe that makes it a classic. That and the fact that is song has one of the great sing-a-long choruses of all time. There is simply no resisting jumping in every time Helm launches into “up on Cripple Creek, she sends me…” It is a drunkard’s dream for narrator and listener alike.

On “Jemima Surrender” Helm’s vocals feel a bit too much of a drunkard’s dream. It isn’t just Helm, though. I feel the same way about Rick Danko on “Jawbone”. The group effort that makes the Band so great, draws them down into excess together as well. They sound like a bunch of friends getting too high and making music, which is great, except sometimes the final product sounds a bit too much like a bunch of friends getting high and making music. Your roll is brilliant gentlemen, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t slow it on occasion.

Of course, the Band’s organic sound is in many ways the whole point, and my criticism is blasphemous given their importance in the history of rock and roll. They are all brilliant and even the songs that irk me are – objectively – still great songs. I just gotta be real with how much I enjoyed them. If you don’t mind the deliberately loose sway of a jam perfected, then you are going to love this record. As for me, I merely liked it.

Best tracks: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up on Cripple Creek, Look Out Cleveland, King Harvest (Has Surely Come)