The Alpha Band

Last updated
The Alpha Band
Origin United States
Genres Rock
Years active1976 (1976)–1979
Labels Arista Records
Past members T-Bone Burnett
Steven Soles
David Mansfield

The Alpha Band was an American rock band, formed in July 1976 from the remnants of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. [1]

Contents

Band members were T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles, and David Mansfield, [2] plus sidemen who differed from record to record and included: David Kemper (later drummer for Bob Dylan and Jerry Garcia Band); gospel musician Andraé Crouch; and former Beatle Ringo Starr.

The band produced three albums, particularly notable for their intelligent cultural critique. The members of the band, especially Burnett and Mansfield, are known for their important roles as producers of other people's albums subsequently.

Discography

Albums

Related Research Articles

David Mansfield is an American musician and composer.

Steven Soles is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Years After</span> British blues rock band

Ten Years After are a British blues rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US Billboard 200. They are best known for tracks such as "I'm Going Home", "Hear Me Calling", "I'd Love to Change the World" and "Love Like a Man".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jakob Dylan</span> American singer-songwriter

Jakob Luke Dylan is an American singer-songwriter. He rose to fame as the lead singer and primary songwriter for the rock band the Wallflowers.

<i>Slow Train Coming</i> 1979 studio album by Bob Dylan

Slow Train Coming is the 19th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 20, 1979, by Columbia Records. It was Dylan's first album following his conversion to Christianity, and the songs either express personal faith, or stress the importance of Christian teachings and philosophy. The evangelical nature of the record alienated many of Dylan's existing fans; at the same time, many Christians were drawn into his fan base. Slow Train Coming was listed at No. 16 in the 2001 book CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music.

<i>Hard Rain</i> (Bob Dylan album) 1976 live album by Bob Dylan

Hard Rain is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 13, 1976 by Columbia Records. The album was recorded during the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie McCoy</span> American musician

Charles Ray McCoy is a Grammy-winning American session musician, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist. In 2009, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Based in Nashville, McCoy's playing is heard on recordings by Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Leon Russell, and Loretta Lynn. He has recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records. Thirteen of his singles have entered the Billboard country charts. He was a member of Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. In 2007, McCoy was inducted into the International Musicians Hall of Fame as a part a group of session musicians dubbed "The Nashville A-Team". In 2022, he was invited to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolling Thunder Revue</span> 1975–76 concert tour by Bob Dylan

The Rolling Thunder Revue was a 1975–1976 concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan with numerous musicians and collaborators. The purpose of the tour was to allow Dylan, who had now become a major recording artist and concert performer, to play in smaller auditoriums in less populated cities where he could be more intimate with his audiences.

<i>Street-Legal</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Bob Dylan

Street-Legal is the 18th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 15, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was a departure for Dylan, who assembled a large pop-rock band with female backing vocalists for its recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Goldberg</span> Musical artist

Barry Joseph Goldberg is an American blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. Goldberg has co-produced albums by Percy Sledge, Charlie Musselwhite, James Cotton, and the Textones, plus Bob Dylan's version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

"Man of Constant Sorrow" is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook by Burnett dated to around 1913. A version recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928 gave the song its current titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Dylan</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1941)

Bob Dylan is an American singer and songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, he has been a major figure in popular culture during a career spanning more than 60 years. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the civil rights and antiwar movements. His lyrics during this period incorporated a range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defying pop music conventions and appealing to the burgeoning counterculture.

Hughie Flint is an English drummer, known for his stint in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, for his group McGuinness Flint in the early 1970s and for his subsequent association with The Blues Band.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Wyeth</span> American drummer and pianist

Howard Pyle Wyeth, also known as Howie Wyeth, was an American drummer and pianist. Wyeth is remembered for work with the saxophonist James Moody, the rockabilly singer Robert Gordon, the electric guitarist Link Wray, the rhythm and blues singer Don Covay, and the folk singer Christine Lavin. Best known as a drummer for Bob Dylan, he was a member of the Wyeth family of American artists.

<i>The B-52 Band & the Fabulous Skylarks</i> 1972 studio album by T Bone Burnett

The B-52 Band & the Fabulous Skylarks is the first album by T Bone Burnett, released in 1972 as J. Henry Burnett. It would be eight years before he released his first solo album as T Bone Burnett. Burnett would next go on to play with Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue and then release three albums with the Alpha Band.

<i>The Alpha Band</i> (album) 1976 studio album by The Alpha Band

The Alpha Band is the debut album by the rock group The Alpha Band, released in 1976. The band was formed in 1976 from the remnants of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue. The core band members were T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and David Mansfield.

<i>Spark in the Dark</i> 1977 studio album by The Alpha Band

Spark in the Dark is the second album by the rock band The Alpha Band, released in 1977. The core band members remained T-Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and David Mansfield. No less than five drummers were used on the recording, including guest Ringo Starr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T Bone Burnett</span> American guitarist and producer

Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film music, including for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Cold Mountain (2004), Walk the Line (2005) and Crazy Heart (2010); and won another Grammy for producing the studio album Raising Sand (2007), in which he united the contemporary bluegrass of Alison Krauss with the blues rock of Robert Plant.

<i>The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete</i> 2014 compilation album by Bob Dylan and the Band

The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete is a compilation album of unreleased home recordings made in 1967 by Bob Dylan and the group of musicians that would become the Band, released on November 3, 2014 on Legacy Records. It is the ninth installment of the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, available as a six-disc complete set, and as a separate set of highlights – in a two-disc format common to the rest of the series – entitled The Basement Tapes Raw.

<i>Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings</i> 2019 live album box set by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings is a box set of 1975 live recordings by Bob Dylan, released on June 7, 2019. For this tour, Dylan assembled a loose collective of a backing band called Guam and played across North America for several dozen shows. The tie-in Netflix documentary film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese was released the following week. A similar compilation was released in 2002 entitled Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue, as part of Dylan's ongoing Bootleg Series. That compilation was re-released on vinyl as a companion to the later release.

References

  1. Entry for The Alpha Band., AllMusic. Accessed May 21, 2009.
  2. Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 72. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.