Roger Waters and Graham Nash on The Band.


I’ve just started reading the new book Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble; The Inside Story Of The Man, The Music, and The Midnight Ramble by John W. Barry (with a forward by Ringo Starr). I’m only on page 25 of the first chapter, and already I have read something I found very surprising:

Roger Waters: "Big Pink changed everything, overnight." (What have I been telling ya’ll? ;-). He continues: "It was sonic. It was the sound that they made all playing together. It was what they created. It was just completely different than anything I had heard before and it was remarkable. They (sic) were great songs as well. When I heard the record I went ’Wow, what was that?’ What a great band they were." No sh*t Sherlock.

Not as surprising is what I read in the paragraphs immediately preceding that of Waters, that being:

"When they served as opening act for the 1974 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stadium tour, said Graham Nash: ’I would watch their set with great interest, of course.’

"But even though The Band was opening for CSNY, Nash remained in awe of them and, as a result, was too shy to approach any of the guys or chat them up."

’I should have, of course. I’m not particularly un-famous myself. But I was just too shy. They were too incredible a band in my mind...I mean holy sh*t, they were The Band...they were incredible. They were the best band in the world apart from The Beatles, as far as I was concerned. I was just a fan.’

Every good musician I knew felt just as did Roger and Graham, and still do. The best self-contained band (writing, singing, and playing) in the entire history of Rock ’n’ Roll. You see, Graham had the order reversed ;-) . When Abbey Road came out, it sounded like yesterdays news to me. The Band’s first two albums had completely changed the rules of the game. Those two albums still sound fresh, like they were recorded today. Abbey Road sounded dated to me on release day.

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Showing 1 response by edcyn

What can I tell ya'? I barely tolerated The Band from day one, and hated them more often than not. I liked the song "The Weight," but I enjoyed the cover version that was an AM hit in L.A. (was it by Dusty Springfield?) far more than the one by The Band itself. To my ears, the Band severely lacked pep. Their vocals sounded choked and forced. The guitar licks weren't so much inspired as over-wrought. I never saw them live but I did see an industry pre-release screening of "The Last Waltz." I loved the genre they played in, too. I still listen to my Byrds and Buffalo Springfield LPs. What can I say? To my ears they were pretentious and leaden.

 

It wasn't that I didn't like the genre, either. My favorite band at the time was The Byrds...who I managed to see in every incarnation but the original with Gene Clark. Or did I see them with Gene Clark, in a reunion performance at the Troubadour?