The Band: A History

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Interview: Sandra Tooze Aug 14, 2020

Show notes

The Band: A History interviews author Sandra Tooze about her new book Levon Helm: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond. Sandra is author of the acclaimed book Muddy Waters: The Mojo Man where she originally interviewed Levon Helm. We discuss Levon's career, spanning his early years, through The Band era and the post-Band era of The Barnburners, Midnight Rambles and more.

Sandra's book comes out August 25, 2020 and you can order is online now.

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The Band: A History is part of Pantheon Podcasts. Listen to The Band: A History and a variety of other great podcasts over on Pantheon.

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Interview: Garth Hudson Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

Something from the vault! We interviewed Garth Hudson a few years back. This interview mainly details a project I was working on about Richard Manuel, meaning most of the questions pertain to Garth's experiences with Richard Manuel.

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Moondog Matinee - Part Two May 31, 2020

Show notes

When The Band entered the studio to continue to record Moondog Matinee, they switched locations. This time they flew out to Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, California, to finish the last few songs. Los Angeles had been pulling The Band westward for some time. With the rest of the album to finish, The Band couldn't turn down a request from George Harrison and Ringo Starr to help them record in the studio as well.

"Levons Barn" song provided by Adam Traum (https://www.adamtraumguitar.com/)

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Moondog Matinee - Part One May 01, 2020

Show notes

"That was all we could do at the time. We couldn't get along—we all knew that fairness was a bunch of shit. We all knew we were getting screwed, so we couldn't sit down and create no more music. 'Up on Cripple Creek' and all that stuff was over—all that collaboration was over, and that” said Levon reflecting on the period just before the recording of "Moondog Matinee".

In 1971, "Rock of Ages" led to an unofficial hiatus for The Band. Independently, The Band worked on various projects separately, whether it was producing, writing or performing. There were also attempts at getting The Band back together to work on their next studio album. Though, none of those attempts led to anything fruitful. Richard hadn’t written a song or at least presented a song to the group in some time, and Robbie wasn’t offering up much either since he was hitting some serious writer’s block.

Eventually, The Band came out of touring retirement in 1973, which led to a legendary performance at Watkins Glen with The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers. Feeding off the energy of their live performances and feeling like more of a collective again, and hoping to revive the creative juices needed to keep on producing albums for Capitol Records, it was decided that an album of covers eventually led to "Moondog Matinee".

Check out my recent appearance on Love That Album here.

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Interview: Elliott Landy Mar 22, 2020

Show notes

The Band: A History sits down with famed photographer Elliott Landy to discuss his lengthy career in photography and the time he spent with The Band in their formative years. Landy has since gone on to publish a number of books including his second book about The Band entitled "Contacting The Band" which is currently being crowdfunded.

You can find information about "Contacting The Band" and support the campaign here.

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Rock of Ages Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

“Everybody had been so easily satisfied before and then it got harder to do what we did at ease… The feeling that the group had become what we’d rebelled against… that’s what a lot of the music after The Band was about.'' Robbie Robertson reflected in 1982 on the Rock of Ages period in The Band's history.

It had felt like a while since The Band actually felt like a well-oiled unit. Truth be told, The Band’s success was like a mousetrap, it had finally sprung, and they were now stuck in more ways than one. Each group member was going through their own personal struggles in one way or another. Each member had their own life with their wives, children and friends. It seems like they didn’t know how to communicate or to stop the ever-moving freight train from taking a second to slow down and come up with a plan on how to move forward in their new environment.

After “Cahoots,” there was a momentary sigh of relief. It was a desperate attempt at keeping it all together. Collectively, The Band’s two leaders, Levon and Robbie, realized that it was finally time to put a stop to it. Their success led them to take more lead in directing their career. To help and maybe try and reclaim what they had felt what they had when they were making music alone in the mountains of Woodstock with the world not caring about them making music. But they wouldn’t go out with a whimper but with a bang.

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Cahoots Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

In 1993 Rick Danko told The News-Star: "I think we shipped a million copies of that second album and that changed a lot of people’s lives — in particular, the Band’s. After that, we were only getting together once a year, for a couple of months, to record. It was like we were too decadent to play.”

1970 was a hard year, but it wouldn't get any easier in 1971. Having struggled through "Stage Fright" and taking on the disastrous Festival Express music festival, The Band was burnt out and in a dark space. However, it was back into the studio to record a new album, even if they didn't want to. From the exterior, The Band was the perfect group. They were pretty universally loved by their fans, their critics and their peers. The opposite was true for the five guys in the group; once, a group of tight-knit brothers was shattering. Creative droughts, drugs and alcohol continued to plague them deeply. "Cahoots" is a manifestation of the period. The songs crafted for the album don't do anything to hide it.

Now, with "Cahoots" their fourth studio album released to the world in 1971, The Band's shiny veneer was fading. The public started to sense The Band wasn't in a happy place, and The Band didn't know how much longer they were going to be able to keep it up.

"Levons Barn" song provided by Adam Traum (https://www.adamtraumguitar.com/)

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Interview: Daniel Roher Nov 25, 2019

Show notes

The Band: A History sits down with Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band filmmaker Daniel Roher to discuss the making of his documentary on Robbie Robertson. We discuss Roher's career in the Canadian documentary world, elevating his craft, the luck of landing "Once Were Brothers" and all that went into making the film, from star-studded interviews, Robbie and Levon's feud, Garth's exclusion and much, much more.

You can find information about "Once Were Brothers" and where it is screening here. You can also find Daniel Roher on Instagram here.

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Stage Fright Nov 03, 2019

Show notes

Rick Danko stated once: “Those first royalty checks we got almost killed some of us”.

By 1970, The Band started to reap the rewards of their first two albums. Remember, it has only been two years since the release of “Music From Big Pink”. It may feel like an elongated period of time, but The Band was a workhorse powering through producing an album yearly while also staying busy on other projects. They were now receiving millions of dollars for the songs they wrote and performed.

Frustrating from multiple avenues were starting to creep into what The Band had established. Drugs, alcohol, money, etc., were all working towards destroying what The Band had built. With little time and a label to keep happy, as well as an attempt to push all the issues aside, The Band went back into the studio to record their third album, "Stage Fright". ⁣

⁣However, it wouldn't be as easy this time. "Stage Fright" tested the group and pushed The Band to its limits. ⁣

"Levons Barn" song provided by Adam Traum (https://www.adamtraumguitar.com/)

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Divide & Conquer Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

The Band's follow-up self-titled album "The Band" was a success and bigger than their first effort. You'd think they'd slow down and smell the roses, but they didn't. The Band never followed the same path as everyone else and continued to dive deep into recording. Oftentimes as individuals rather than a group, each member spent serious time in 1969 and 1970 working on their friend's projects, including work for John Martyn, Todd Rundgren, Jesse Winchester and John Simon.

However, with success came the demands of a fanbase and a label. The Band spent time on the road in 1969 for the first time in an extended capacity. The success opened the door to a new lifestyle, a place where everyone wanted to be their friend, and everyone had a party. With touring also came press in a meaningful way. The Band broke ground being the first American band in TIME magazine. The Band was also re-introduced to the press with a very spicy interview given by Ronnie Hawkins and much, much more.

The Band embraced this lifestyle, but it would just be a matter of time before it all began to break down. With a label expecting more albums, The Band would be back in the studio in 1970, creating their third album. Time will tell if it will all pay off for The Band.

"Levons Barn" song provided by Adam Traum (https://www.adamtraumguitar.com/)

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