The
Band: A Musical History
Other Editions
April 2007 a single
disc version and a single
disc / DVD were issued. The single disc is not meant to be a
greatest hits collection.
Press Release
The Band: A Musical
History 5-CD + DVD Box Set to be Released by Capitol/EMI
Monday July 11, 11:30 am ET
Executive Produced by Robbie Robertson, Career-Spanning Set Contains
111 Tracks and Filmed Concert and TV Performances, Including 37
Never Before Released
Presented in Hardbound 108-Page Book
In Stores: September 27, 2005
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., July 11
/PRNewswire/ -- Executive produced by Robbie Robertson, The Band's
new career-spanning box set, "A Musical History," is the
most comprehensive collection ever created for the group. Packaged
within a 108-page hardcover book brimming with previously unseen
photos and memorabilia are five CDs and one DVD documenting The
Band's entire recording career from 1963 to 1976. Among the set's
111 audio and video tracks are 37 previously unreleased recordings
and filmed clips captured live and in-studio. To be released on
September 27 by Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing, this definitive
collection features a cover painting of The Band by world-renowned
artist Ed Ruscha and extensive biographical liner notes by the
Grammy-winning writer Rob Bowman. In-demand producer partners Cheryl
Pawelski and Andrew Sandoval, who also teamed for the in-depth
restoration of The Band's original Capitol albums in 2000 and 2001,
joined Robertson on the project.
"This is by far the
most comprehensive, in-depth, and beautifully put together
collection of The Band's musical journey," says The Band's
Robbie Robertson.
Among "A Musical
History's" previously unreleased audio tracks are live and
studio recordings The Band created with Bob Dylan and Ronnie
Hawkins, as well as various song sketches. The DVD's nine film clips
include rare and previously unreleased concert performances, a
filmed studio jam, and three songs The Band performed on
"Saturday Night Live" in 1976, never before issued in
their entirety.
"A Musical
History's" release concludes a comprehensive restoration
campaign for The Band's entire Capitol Records catalog. In 2000 and
2001, The Band's original Capitol albums were remastered and
reissued with bonus tracks: "Music From Big Pink" (1968);
"The Band" (1969); "Stage Fright" (1970);
"Cahoots" (1971); "Rock Of Ages" (1972); "Moondog
Matinee" (1973); "Northern Lights-Southern Cross"
(1975); "Islands" (1977); and a new "Greatest
Hits" compilation was released.
By the late 1960s, The Band
was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the
world, and the group's members shared an extensive collaborative
history dating back to the late 1950s and early '60s. Between 1958
and 1962, the then-teenaged multi-instrumentalists Levon Helm
(drums, vocals), Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals), Rick
Danko (bass, vocals), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums) and
Garth Hudson (keyboards, horns) first performed and recorded
together as members of the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins called
the Hawks. In late 1963, the Hawks struck out on their own and
became Levon & the Hawks, playing and recording under this name
in 1964 and 1965.
In 1965, Robertson met with
Bob Dylan in New York, just as Dylan was seeking an electric
guitarist for his touring band. The Band was born, with all of the
former Hawks backing Bob Dylan on the road from October 1965 through
1966 as he incensed audiences in the U.S., Australia and Europe,
performing electric sets. Disheartened by the vocally disdainful
'folkie purist' audience response to their first plugged-in
performances with Dylan, Helm left The Band in November 1965.
After the 1966 tour
concluded, The Band woodshedded for the next year in upstate New
York, often in the company of Bob Dylan, forging a highly original
sound that in one way or another encompassed the panoply of American
roots music: country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the
honking tenor sax tradition, Anglican hymns, funeral dirges, brass
band music, folk music, modern rock, fused and synthesized in ways
that no one had ever thought possible before. Levon Helm re-joined
The Band in 1967, as the group prepared to record their first
full-length album, "Music From Big Pink." The Band's
line-up remained intact until they disbanded in November 1976,
following the live recording and Martin Scorsese's filmed
documentation of their final concert for "The Last Waltz."
Released in 1968,
"Music From Big Pink" received glowing reviews; a
journalist for Life magazine wrote that The Band "dipped into
the well of tradition and came up with a bucketful of clear, cool,
country soul that washed the ears with a sound never heard
before," and icons such as Eric Clapton and George Harrison
extolled the virtues of the album in print. While it only reached
the #30 slot on Billboard's album charts when it was initially
released, over time it has become recognized as one of the most
important and classic albums in the history of rock.
Between 1968 and 1976, The
Band released seven albums, and two additional releases followed in
1977 and 1978. The aforementioned "Music From Big Pink"
(1968) was adorned with an original folk art cover painting by Bob
Dylan. The eponymous album "The Band" (1969) sailed into
Billboard's Top 10 and is hailed as one of rock's seminal releases.
"Stage Fright" (1970) was recorded at the Woodstock
Playhouse without an audience (due to local government's worries
about a potential fan rush on the town from the greater Northeast),
and climbed to #5 on the album charts, the highest position any Band
album would ever attain. "Cahoots" (1971) peaked at #21 on
the chart. The double live album "Rock Of Ages" (1972)
peaked at #6 on Billboard's album charts. "Moondog
Matinee" (1973) was a collection of covers recorded in
Bearsville and Hollywood which reached #28 on the chart.
"Northern Lights-Southern Cross" (1975), which peaked at
#26, was The Band's first studio recording of original material
since 1971 (1974 had seen a studio album collaboration with Bob
Dylan, "Planet Waves," and a live album from their
subsequent tour, "Before The Flood"). "Islands"
(recorded in 1975 and released in 1977) was The Band's final studio
album, a collection of odds and ends they had not intended for a
specific album. "The Last Waltz," filmed in 1976 by Martin
Scorsese and recorded live with all-star ensemble of guest
performers, was theatrically released with an accompanying 3-album
soundtrack in 1978, capping The Band's original recorded legacy.
Although Richard Manuel,
Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm got back together and went
back on the road in 1983 under the name The Band, without all five
original members it was never the same. Wracked by demons for far
too long, in March 1986 Richard Manuel committed suicide in a
Florida motel. In 1989, The Band was inducted into the Canadian Juno
Hall of Fame and five years later they were accorded the same honor
by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. With the exception of Manuel, all
of the former members of The Band have issued a variety of solo
recordings over the years, enjoying successful careers as
individuals. Sadly, Rick Danko passed away in his sleep on December
10, 1999.
The Band's legacy lives on,
both in their own recordings and in their tangible influence on
popular music since they first hit the scene, wowing not only Bob
Dylan, but many other major players of the day, including Eric
Clapton, George Harrison and Miles Davis. Making Americana music
before the term even existed, Rick, Levon, Garth, Richard and Robbie
collectively constituted the only ensemble to ever rightfully earn
the sobriquet "The Band."
Source: Capitol/EMI Music Catalog Marketing
Order: Amazon
Other
Editions
April 2007 a single
disc version and a single
disc / DVD were issued. The single disc is not meant to be a
greatest hits collection.
