The Band were a roots rock group consisting of four Canadians and one American: Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm. Between 1958 and 1963, they originally formed as The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. In the mid-1960s they gained recognition backing Bob Dylan, and the 1966 tour was notable as Dylan’s first with an electric band. After leaving Dylan and changing their name to the Band, they released several albums to critical and popular acclaim, highlighted by the songs "The Weight" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." According to AllMusic, "For roughly half-a-decade, from 1968 through 1975, The Band were one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world." Their influence on several generations of musicians has been substantial: Roger Waters called their debut album, Music from Big Pink, the second "most influential record in the history of rock and roll," and music journalist Al Aronowitz called its "country soul....a sound never heard before."
Paul Vaughn Butterfield was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his native Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters and other blues greats, who provided encouragement and opportunities for him to join in jam sessions. He soon began performing with fellow blues enthusiasts Nick Gravenites and Elvin Bishop.
Richard Clare Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter and singer, best known as a member of The Band.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the vocalists for The Band. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of The Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
Richard George Manuel was a Canadian composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a pianist and lead singer of The Band. The five members existed from December 1961 as The Hawks, becoming The Band in 1967, effectively breaking up in 1976, then re-formed in 1983. Manuel was with them until his 1986 suicide, a few hours after The Band performed a show.
Stage Fright is the third studio album by Canadian–American group the Band, released in 1970. It featured two of the group's best known songs, "The Shape I'm In" and "Stage Fright", both of which showcased inspired lead vocal performances and became staples in the group's live shows.
Jericho is the eighth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Coming seventeen years after their "farewell concert", it was released in 1993 and was the first album to feature the latter-day configuration of the group, as well as their first release for the Rhino subsidiary Pyramid Records.
High on the Hog is the ninth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band, released in 1996. As with its predecessor, 1993's Jericho, it relies heavily on cover versions; only two tracks are original. Songs include Bob Dylan's "Forever Young", a live recording of Richard Manuel performing "She Knows", and the closer "Ramble Jungle".
Jubilation is the tenth and final studio album by Canadian/American rock group the Band. Recorded in the spring of 1998 in Levon Helm's home studio in Woodstock, New York, it was released on September 15, 1998. For the first time since the group reformed without guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson, there were more originals than covers. Songs include "Last Train to Memphis", featuring guest guitarist Eric Clapton, Garth Hudson's solo instrumental closer "French Girls", Rick Danko's "High Cotton" and the ode to Ronnie Hawkins, "White Cadillac".
"The Weight" is an original song by the Canadian-American group The Band that was released as Capitol Records single 2269 in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the Sixties, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song in Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."
Rick Danko in Concert was Band bassist and singer Rick Danko's second solo release, issued in 1997 as the first release from Woodstock Records, a small label in which Danko and the Band had interests. Featuring live recordings of eight tracks previously issued on both early-period and late-period Band albums, it was culled from two low-fidelity live shows at the Orpheum Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts, on 22 February 1997, and Atomic Productions, Clinton, New Jersey, on 6 March 1997.
Live on Breeze Hill was The Band bassist Rick Danko's third solo album, and the last released before his death in December 1999. It was credited to the "Rick Danko Band": Rick Danko, Garth Hudson & Aaron Hurwitz. Focusing on an intimate show with Danko fronting a nine-piece group featuring three fellow members of The Band as well as auxiliary member Aaron Hurwitz, the album features a mostly predictable selection of live numbers from the glory days of The Band, with only "Crazy Mama", "Blaze of Glory" and "Next Time You See Me" coming from Danko's post-Band era.
Terence William "Blondie" Chaplin is a singer and guitarist from Durban, South Africa, where he played in the band The Flames in the mid-to late-1960s. He became known to international audiences in the early 1970s as a singer and guitarist for The Beach Boys. He is a long-term backing vocalist, percussionist, and acoustic rhythm guitarist for English band The Rolling Stones on their recordings and tours over a 15-year period, starting in 1997. To date he has released two solo studio albums.
John Platania is a session musician, guitar player, and record producer. He was born in 1948 in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, in Ulster County, near Woodstock.
Eric Andersen is an American folk music singer-songwriter, who has written songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, the Grateful Dead and many others. Early in his career, in the 1960s, he was part of the Greenwich Village folk scene. After two decades and sixteen albums of solo performance he became a member of the group Danko/Fjeld/Andersen.
Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter Carlos Santana. The band has undergone multiple recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Carlos Santana the only consistent member. Santana had early success with their appearance at Woodstock in 1969 and their first three albums, Santana (1969), Abraxas (1970), and Santana III (1971). Other important core members during this period include Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve, David Brown, and José "Chepito" Areas, forming the "classic" line-up.
Kevin Doherty is an Irish songwriter, musician and singer. He has played with various bands since the late 1980s and currently records and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of Four Men and a Dog.
Stanley Martin Szelest was an American musician from Buffalo, New York, known for founding an influential blues band in the 1950s and 1960s, Stan and the Ravens, and later as a keyboardist with Ronnie Hawkins and, briefly, with The Band.
David Frank Malachowski is an American guitarist, producer, composer, singer, musical director and journalist currently residing in Manhattan, NY. He has been a member of Reckless (1978–81) The Greg Austin Band (1985–88) Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen (96-99,) Savoy Brown, (2000-2005) Mechanical Bull (2007-2009) and sideman for Janie Fricke (88), Shania Twain (95-07), Garth Hudson, (2003) Phoebe Legere (2006) Genya Ravan (2012), Anthony Rapp (2010) and Daphne Rubin-Vega (2014-current) as well as being involved in musical theatre, writing for newspapers and magazines, producing and writing songs.
