4) "Music From Big Pink" - The Band

It hasn't taken long for me to hit one of the bands/artists that are in my collection that I hold in the highest esteem. Everyone has those few artists in their collection, or maybe just opinion, that are above and beyond their regular appreciation for music. I may like the Arcade Fire a lot, possibly even love them, but The Band? The Band is one of those artists that transcend music for me. Their albums, and i only own two full albums, and the live soundtrack for the Last Waltz, are to me two of the most perfectly crafted pieces of music made. And that's saying a lot. The Band is one of those artists who rarely inspire casual fans, almost all of the people I know who are "real" fans and not just casually aware of them, would rank them in their top 5-10 favorite artists. It can easily be said, then, that The Band makes some pretty fuckin' good music.

And it all started with "Music from Big Pink," their debut album. I've read just about everything I can about The Band. If you want any recommendations, the beginning and end would be "Across the Great Divide" a masterpiece portrait of the Band, from their start to finish. The story of The Band is as compelling as their music- a group of young, cocky musicians from Canada (and a good ol' boy from Arkansas) start backing up a rock-a-billy nut named Hawkins, tour on their own as the Hawks, manage to back up a small, relatively unknown folky named Dylan (a little sarcasm), and then retreat to the mountains, grow beards, pick up a bunch of non-traditional rock and roll instruments, and start recording music that basically offers a big "Fuck You!" to the over blown psychedelia that was all the rage at the time. More or less. As I've said, their story is almost as good as the music. I've always felt that if I could be or be in any of the bands/artists I listen to, I would want to have been in The Band.

So what about "Music From Big Pink"? It starts off slow, and then flows in waves for the rest of the album. At a time when epic jams and other assorted psychedelia were the rave, opening their debut album with "Tears of Rage," a slow burning lament, showed a profound disinterest in music that wasn't what they felt like creating. For all the hype of the 60's, "Music From Big Pink" and "The Band" are probably two of the best, and least 60's-ish, albums from the decade. there is no obnoxious hippie undertones, or the naive "love everybody, man" vibe that define the most overrated decade. Instead, there are songs about love and death, religion, history, and a feeling that "America" or more specifically "North America" given that these fellows were predominantly Canadian, wasn't some evil empire, but a complicated place, full of all the themes i mentioned above and then some. "The Weight," probably their best known song, sums this idea up. if you listen carefully. Set in Nazareth, and with cameo's from the Devil and an elusive Miss. Fanny, its a song about hope and redemption, and the real consequences of decisions. "The Weight" is everything that is great and possible in rock music in every way that a song like, say...."In a Gadda da Vidda" is pretty much the worst thing ever. Two songs from the same era, two very different outcomes. And this example is the best i can come up with to demonstrate all that is good about The Band- they are subtle and nuanced where others are aggressive and overt, loud and in your face. The Band is a deep, textured painting, while most of their contemporaries are simply at best prints, and at worst doodles, not serious, but self important. The Band easily rises above being a "60's band" or "protest music" or any other easy label, and become, quite simply, music. There is really no other way to describe The Band.

So while I was short on specifics for "Music From Big Pink," I think I got my point across about how The Band sounds, and just as importantly, feels, to me. My next review will be 'The Band," the self titled magnum opus of The Band, and I'll probably focus on the album more specifically, though I think I'll definitely talk a little bit about the influence of The Band, and "influencers" in general, and how it isn't necessarily always the best label to receive.