THE BAND: A COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY
The Band, one of he most respected music ensembles ever assembled, played their farewell Last Waltz concert on Thanksgiving Day at Winterland in San Francisco. After more than a decade and a half of playing together, they announced that they were never going to tour as The Band again. While various members have performed together, all five have never regrouped on one stage since the Last Waltz concert.
This historical rock n' roll event is celebrated in the Martin Scorsese film, The Last Waltz, in which the following guest artists participated (in alphabetical order): Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni
Mitchell, Van Morrison, The Staples, Ringo Starr, Stephen Stills, Muddy Waters, Ron Wood, and Neil Young. The film was directed by Academy Award[!]-nominee Martin Scorsese (The Age Of Innocence, Raging Bull) and produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band. Jonathan Taplin was the executive producer.
All but one member of The Band hail from Canada, where they came together in 1960 as The Hawks, a backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, "The King of Rockabilly." The Hawks played mainly in Canada and throughout the southern United States in taverns, burlesque bars, small supper clubs, risk-your-life joints and beer halls. They also played at football victory parties, where they'd walk knee-deep in beer cans to get to the stage. They played six or seven nights a week, traveling to gigs in Hawkins' Cadillac, hauling equipment in a trailer with two big hawks painted on either side.
After three years with Hawkins, the group went on their own as Levon & The Hawks. They returned to Toronto and played various clubs, where blues impresario John Hammond came up to jam with them. The experience led to some of the Hawks backing Hammond on two albums.
The Band traveled to Chicago, Texas and Arkansas, where they met and played with Sonny Boy Williamson, and would have continued to do so had the bluesman not died of
tuberculosis soon after. Waiting in the wings was a new opportunity that would forever
change their careers: Bob Dylan asked them to play concerts at the Hollywood Bowl and Forest Hills, which led to a 1966 world tour, including dates across Canada and the United
States, Britain, France, Sweden, Denmark and Australia.
During the summer of 1968, The Hawks, now known as The Band, released their first album on Capitol Records, Music From Big Pink, to instantaneous acclaim. The Band, plus their families, friends, animals and recording equipment, relocated to California, into a big house in the Hollywood Hills. They recorded The Band, their second album, in the pool house-turned studio. The enormous pressure imposed by fame inspired their third album, Stage Fright. Their fourth LP, Cahoots, was their most experimental and first true studio album to date. Their next album, Rock Of Ages, contained both new and classic rock n' roll song and included inspired horn charts of New Orleans' innovative arranger, Allan Toussaint. Their next album, Moondog Matinee, was an LP filled with classics made famous by Elvis Presley, The Platters, Fats Domino and many others.
They also backed Dylan on his album Planet Waves, followed by a tour in the spring of 1974. A year later, The Band released their long-awaited studio album of new material: Northern Lights - Southern Cross. The Last Waltz was the climax and finale of their subsequent tour. In 1994, The Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and remaining members performed live at the induction ceremony.
The Band's drummer and singer extraordinaire, LEVON HELM was the only American in the group. Helm was playing guitar at 14 in local bands that played dances around his native Arkansas Delta. He listened to legendary blues harpman Sonny Boy Williamson's 15-minute radio show, "King Biscuit Time," at twelve noon, and made it over to Memphis to catch the live shows. His group did imitations of Carl Perkins, spunky country numbers and jukebox hits. Helm led The Jungle Bush Beaters when they played a dance opposite Hawkins. The next day he began as drummer with The Hawks.
After The Band's famed 1976 farewell performance, Helm cut his 1977 debut solo album
Levon Helm & The RCO All Stars, followed a year later by his self-titled sophomore effort. In 1980 he recorded American Son, while another eponymously-titled effort was released in 1982. The Band reformed in 1983 without Robertson; following Manuel's death in 1986, the remaining trio released 1993's Jericho, recorded at Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York. That same year, Helm published his autobiography, This Wheel's On Fire, co-authored with Stephen Davis. The Band's bluesy High On The Hog followed in 1995. The late '90s (and into the next decade) found Helm still making music in a new blues band called Levon Helm & The Barn Burners, with his daughter, Amy, providing vocals.
Helm has also pursued a successful acting career, appearing in such films as The Right Stuff, Coal Miner's Daughter, playing Loretta Lynn's father, The Dollmaker with Jane Fonda, and Smooth Talk, among others. He also toured with Ringo Starr & The All Star Band.
ROBBIE ROBERTSON's childhood was split between Toronto and the Six Nations Indian Reservation where his mother was born. He began playing guitar and writing songs at 13 and joined the Musician's Union to play with local groups including Robbie & The Robots, Little Caesar & The Consuls, and Thumper & The Trambones. Ronnie Hawkins recorded two of his songs just as Robertson reached 15. The following year he joined The Hawks, first as bassist, then replacing Fred Carter as guitarist.
The Last Waltz project marked the beginning of Robertson's long affiliation with director Martin Scorsese; in 1980, Robertson co-starred with Jodie Foster and Gary Busey in Carny. In addition, he wrote, produced and composed the source music for the film, inspired by the soundtrack composer, Alex North. Also in 1980, he worked on the music to Scorsese's highly acclaimed film, Raging Bull, and continued to confine his musical activity to the film medium for the next several years, later working with Scorsese on the 1983 satire The King Of Comedy and 1986's The Color Of Money. Finally, in 1987, Robertson released his self-titled solo debut, which included guest appearances from onetime Band-mates Danko and Hudson as well as U2, Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois and Gil Evans. The solo debut wins several Juno awards in Canada, and the album's "Somewhere Down The Crazy River" earns a Grammy nomination for "Best Rock Vocal." Roberston next produces Storyville, a conceptual piece steeped in the sounds and imagery of a famed area of New Orleans, in 1990.
In 1994, Robertson returned to his roots, forming the Native American group the Red Road Ensemble for Music For 'The Native Americans,' a collection of songs composed for the television documentary series. Another solo project, Contact From The Underworld Of Redboy, foll |
CD
