The Band.

say whaaaa http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/robert-pattinson-says-hell-be-starring-in-a-movie-about-seminal-rockers-the-band-20120524
Pattinson also dropped this little bit of info: "I'm going to do a movie about The Band, the one that played with [Bob] Dylan. [It's] a beautiful script about the nature of songwriting."
in other news, the classic albums doc about the making of The Band is on netflix streaming now. Watched it last night, recommended, if only for the scenes of Levon at the mixing desk.

Making Of seconded, for same reason

Thirded. Also love John Simon's perspective on Band arrangements as analogous to those of the Ellington orchestra.

yeah, simon seems to be a big part of the band saga -- i think he actually asked them if he could be a member at some point and they turned him down!

RR told him "we already have two piano players"! Also never paid him any producer royalties until JS held him up when they asked him to do The Last Waltz. At which point RR's accountants wrote him a lump sum check and told him they would give it to him if he agreed never to ask for any more ever.

ha, that blows. i guess he and levon had some commiserating to do when they filmed the doc, then.

A decent part of Levon's book is "Let's let John Simon tell you how it was."

I would watch a biopic about The Band, even with Robert Pattinson. It sort of makes sense, his girlfriend was in a Runaways Biopic.

Finally watching that VH1 Classic Albums making of --- Levon at the desk is awesome, where he's just laughing and air drumming along with Danko on Rag Mama Rag is just pure joy to watch

I am trying not to get super sad that so many of them have passed now but the music makes me so happy it balances out :)

Yeah, that's a great one. Love when Garth Hudson is playing and says, "Ooh, how's he gonna get out of this one?" and smiles knowingly after executing some crazy-ass turnaround.

There was a VHS doc back in the late 80s/early 90s, when the Band were still active, has lots of great, charming Levon moments.

love how they talk about recording in sammis' house in LA

via Scott Seward: http://music.yahoo.com/news/garth-hudsons-belongings-sold-off-garage-sale-152544389-rolling-stone.html

eek what a weird story. i saw a post about it on facebook and didn't realy understand what was happening.

among the goodies are uncashed checks, including one issued from EMI in 1979 for $26,000

dude!

lol, right? that would've solved half of the problem there...

"i don't go to the bank for less than $30,000"

mentioned this on the reissue thread but this band-related stuff seems cool

http://therisingstorm.net/borderline-sweet-dreams-quiet-desires/

nice, hadn't heard that before. sounds excellent.

Of course there is no download available to purchase, just in time for my no more CDs edict.

i hear CDs are totally coming back #RememberCDs

Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson both grace this class act recording credited respectively as “Dick Handle” and “Campo Malaqua"

Perhaps he misplaced the check and then had them issue another.

This is one of my favorite live bands. If it weren't for their energy and great harmonies on Before The Flood, I don't know that I'd ever listen to much Dylan. And if you delete the Last Waltz guest appearances that aren't Muddy, Bobby Charles, or Emmylou Harris, I think it's a top 5 live album of all time. Every song on that crushes its respective studio version, except maybe The Weight. The sound, vocals, arrangements (esp. Toussaint on Dixie) are immaculate, and Levon was always in a different dimension as a live singer.

But I find their studio work largely tedious. After listening to, for example, the Last Waltz version of Wheel's On Fire I find the studio version very trying to listen to. There's some good stuff, I know, but it never strikes me on any kind of gut level.

P.S. Their 90s albums aren't great either but they sure do sound good and they have a few real gems, e.g. Atlantic City, Blind Willie McTell, Shine A Light, Book Faded Brown.

dunno if we ever went over this

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsbTSUwgBfs&feature=youtu.be

how do you embed youtubes on ILX? I went over this last week and I thought it was just keeping the www in the youtube link but not the http

you just take the 's' out of 'https'. that's all

That youtu.be messes things up too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1Nw_pKXl8U

streamed some of the "new" live at the academy" thing, and however you feel about the endless repackaging of their stuff, the band sounded fucking glorious.

Totally. I was holding off on that, but I never got the 2001 reissue with extra stuff, so I may end up springing for the box.

Fun fact: everyone in that amazing horn section (except for Snooky Young) played in the bands of Cecil Taylor and Bill Dixon at one time or another.

haha, is that right?
danko's bass was sounding particularly good -- what a weird player!

Yep, in fact, Howard Johnson's recording debut was on a Bill Dixon record.

OTM re: Danko. Played with a pick, yet was still a funk monster.

http://bassmusicianmagazine.com/2012/04/how-to-danko-a-lesson-in-the-style-of-rick-danko-by-rob-collier/

Unless I'm totally wrong, the new box is a total rip. It's the same set as Rock of Ages, two discs remastered (again), two discs a board mix of the same set, and then a DVD with a 5.1 mix. When it was announced as a 4 CD/DVD package, I expected more.

there are previously unreleased performances on there, from different nights during the Rock of Ages shows.

The collection's first two discs feature performances of every song played over the course of the four concerts, and the New Year's Eve soundboard mix on discs 3 and 4 puts the listener in the room for that entire legendary night: Uncut, unedited, taken straight from the master recordings and presented in full for the first time. The set's DVD presents the tracks from discs 1 and 2 in 5.1 Surround, plus Alk and Lerner's filmed performances of 'King Harvest (Has Surely Come)' and 'The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show.'

From an Amazon review:

Disc 1 & 2 is the show sequenced from performances on 12/28/71 to 12/31/71 with one previously unreleased track. (So basically Rock of Ages)

Disc 3 & 4 is the New Year's Eve show in its entirety and labeled the soundboard mix. It's very close to the same setlist as the first two discs. (with 7 repeat performances)

Disc 5 is what originally prompted me to buy the set. It is a DVD in 5.1 sound of the NYE performance. I thought I was getting a video performance. I guess I didn't read the details well enough. It is indeed the show in 5.1 and it sounds spectacular but there is no video just a photo montage.

right, so the unreleased stuff is from the NYE show.
Disc: 3
1. Up On Cripple Creek (Previously Unissued Performance)
2. The Shape I'm In
3. The Rumor (Previously Unissued Performance)
4. Time To Kill (Previously Unissued Performance)
5. Rockin' Chair (Previously Unissued Performance)
6. This Wheel's On Fire (Previously Unissued Performance)
7. Get Up Jake (Previously Unissued Performance)
8. Smoke Signal (Previously Unissued Performance)
9. I Shall Be Released (Previously Unissued Performance)
10. The Weight (Previously Unissued Performance)
11. Stage Fright
Disc: 4
1. Life Is A Carnival (Previously Unissued Performance)
2. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
3. Caledonia Mission (Previously Unissued Performance)
4. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
5. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Previously Unissued Performance)
6. Across The Great Divide (Previously Unissued Performance)
7. Unfaithful Servant
8. Don't Do It (Previously Unissued Performance)
9. The Genetic Method
10. Chest Fever (Previously Unissued Performance)
11. Rag Mama Rag
12. (I Don't Want To) Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes (Previously Unissued Performance)
13. Down In The Flood (with Bob Dylan)
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece (with Bob Dylan)
15. Don't Ya Tell Henry (with Bob Dylan)
16. Like A Rolling Stone (with Bob Dylan)

chest fever

What are the best solo albums?

Danko's is great; best Band record since Stage Fright.

surely this band was just paving the way for the Walkabouts

from memory the danko solo also features some co-writes with the elusive emmett grogan. i should really pull that one out again sometime, only given it a couple of listens...

Does that one have "Java Blues"?

Yep, that's the one.

http://touch.dangerousminds.net/all/bob_dylan_joni_mitchell_eric_clapton_neil_young_the_band#1

Never seen this footage before, why isn't there a live bootleg series for The Band dammit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFgyD3Uk1JQ

i have never listened to stage fright. i need to check it out

also that footage is great

totally great. The Band stuck pretty close to the script when it came to their live shows -- not sure if there's much that isn't covered in the officially released live recordings. Wouldn't mind hearing their full set at the Isle of Wight in '69 ... there's a late 76 Palladium gig that is pretty solid. And a Royal Albert Hall show (some of which is on A Musical History) that could be good to hear in full.

this is the Band release that needs to happen: http://theband.hiof.no/albums/from_bacon_fat_to_judgement_day.html
Levon and the Hawks: From Bacon Fat to Judgement Day

8-CD + DVD Levon and the Hawks Limited Edition Box Set, documenting the Hawks' evolution from the pre-Hawkins bands of the late 50's to the Basement Tape recordings of Big Pink in 1967. Includes previously unheard historic studio & archival live recordings, rare singles, extensive liner notes, interviews and photos. Included among the material on the DVD are video interviews with Garth Hudson.

[obviously it didn't actually come out this year]