CD Review

by Steve Cooper

= don't bother
= ok
= pretty good
= ah!

The Band
Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, Cahoots
(Capitol - remastered)

(for all)


The first four great-to-tremendous Band albums have been remastered from the original master tapes, with the loving assistance of the three living Band alums, Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson. Also, to entice the public to essentially "re-purchase" Band CDs, bonus tracks have been added. The results depend on how one feels about extra demo cuts, alternate takes, and other curios. The albums themselves - whether in vinyl, 8-track tape, early hissing CD, or clean remastered CD format, easily earn four stars. In fact, as a triumvirate of classics, the Band's first three albums - Music From Big Pink, The Band, and Stage Fright - rank with the Beatles' Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Hearts Club Band and Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home, Blonde on Blonde, and Highway 61 Revisited.

When Music From Big Pink was unleashed in the psychedelic, troubled summer of 1968, it was a near-complete anomaly. Here were four guys from Canada and one from Arkansas creating simple, honest, timeless music, without frill or tie-dye, without stud posturing or sermonizing. It was so unlike any music of the time that many people simply did not get it--they had no reference point. Eric Clapton, however, for one, got it. As he later confessed, based largely on hearing The Band's debut album, he decided to break up his red-hot power trio Cream to pursue a similar, quieter, deeper sound. Jerry Garcia, for another, got it. The shit-kicker style the Grateful Dead employed on their two signature albums, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty, were, according to Garcia, heavily influenced by The Band's radical sound. The critics also heard, and a musical phenomenon was born.

While many critics feel Big Pink is The Band's ultimate statement, there is simply too much Bob Dylan involvement to call it their zenith. Dylan co-wrote three songs from the album. Dylan even did the cover painting (in a style that makes Grandma Moses look like a realist). So, while Big Pink is an amazing beginning, it isn't The Band's fullest statement. Still, with songs such as the classic, oft-covered "The Weight," the sad Richard Manuel opus "Lonesome Suzie," and the singular Garth Hudson keyboard(s) workout "Chest Fever," Big Pink was "the goods."

OK, on to the bonus tracks. The first one, cut 12 in your programs, is a great Levon Helm vocal shout, "Yazoo Street Scandal." A different take of the song had appeared on The Basement Tapes, so, perhaps, that is why this funky smoker was left off of Big Pink. No matter, it is a welcome addition here, and helps serve as an enticement to purchase the re-issue. Other enticements are the vital "Katie's Been Gone," with Richard Manuel delivering a most soulful lead vocal. A version of Katie billed as "Bob Dylan and the Hawks" appeared on The Band's 1994 boxed set, Across the Great Divide. Manuel's wonderful lead vocal here is a real find, solidly putting the song in The Band's songbook where it belongs.

The other extra cuts on Big Pink range from the sublime--a slightly more uptempo, more soulful, alternate version of "Lonesome Suzie"--to the interesting-but-unnecessary--Levon Helm's seemingly tossed-off take of the Stanley Brothers standard "If I Lose." The extra cuts here seem to feature Richard Manuel the most and that makes perfect sense, since Manuel was never more of a force in The Band than he was on this first album, writing or co-writing four of the songs.

1969's self-titled second album ("the Brown Album") was when The Band did, indeed, paint their masterpiece. From the first cut, "Across the Great Divide," to the last, "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)," every single song is damn near seamless. Two of The Band's three chart singles (the other being "The Weight") came from this album--"Rag Mama Rag" and "Up On Cripple Creek." It also contained the hit song (for Joan Baez) "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Robbie Robertson became the almost-exclusive songwriter of the group, with Helm, Manuel, and Rick Danko, as usual, providing the vocal soul.

Bonus cut time. "Get Up Jake" should have been included on the original release. It was later released on The Best of The Band and on the boxed set. This version, a stereo mix, is, to my ears, slightly inferior to the mono version that appeared on The Best of The Band. It is a bit muddier, which may appeal to those Band-o-philes who prefer their Band music raw. Also included here is a simpler take of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (without horns). The take appears here warts, false start, and all, and is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes peek at The Band at work in the recording studio. Helm's vocal is a bit more unrefined, and the song is, perhaps, the better for it. (Perhaps not, depending on how you like your production values.) Thankfully, after the false start, there is a complete alternate take here, unlike, say, on The Beatles' Anthologies, where some of the alternate takes trailed off into confusion or laughter.

Less enticing are alternate takes of "Up On Cripple Creek" and "Rag Mama Rag," which sound much like the originally-released versions. Other takes of "Jemima Surrender" and "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)," however, are interesting, complete alternate takes with compelling differences from the originals. "King Harvest," for example, has a loose, cheesy, Garth Hudson organ backing that is oddly engaging, while Manuel's lead vocal is more ragged (and more right).

All things considered, the outtakes and curios from the Big Pink sessions are more rare and precious than those from The Band. It appears that, on the second album, most everything recorded was used. The first album had years of pre-record-contract material lying about from which to choose.

cont'd -> 2