It makes no difference (The Band) (LP 4146)

The Band  Northern Lights - Southern Cross (Vinyl, Capitol Records, 1975) *****  

Genre: Americana

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ophelia

Gear costume: It Makes No Difference, Arcadian Driftwood 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: This is a late addition to my collection of The Band's albums. I read an article in Mojo Magazine where Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote about this being an album that changed her life. Good enough for me!

I get that, having bought it, listened to it heaps and used it for my Album of the Week with my buddies. It's a cruisey album for The Band as they mesh their skills to perfection in a more relaxed way. It feels holistic in other ways too, as all songs are written by Robbie Robertson. The vocals are shared around democratically to serve the songs.

The feeling throughout the album is great with The Band comfortable in their own skin and doing what they do so brilliantly. It marked the last time The Band worked together in the studio as a band, so it's also a fitting send off.

Where do they all belong? The Band in all their glory.

Trombone Gulch (Audience) (LP 176)

Audience Lunch (Vinyl - Charisma, 1972) ***

Genre: Progressive rock 

Places I remember:  Slow Boat Records (Wellington)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Thunder and Lightnin'




Gear costume: Barracuda Dan 

Active compensatory factors:  There is a strong earthy feel to this album - and a distinct Band resonance: real music by real people.

Audience are a weird band - hard to pin down genre wise. Howard Werth's vocals are very distinctive but he's not a rock voice and the band instruments lend themselves to prog, or Art Rock according to wikipedia (whatever that is - I have no Art Rock genre section in my collection).

This one has Jim Price, and Bobby Keys adding their distinctive patois to the mix. All very confusing. Which is why, I guess, they never reached an, erm, audience.

Where do they all belong? Barclay James Harvest are next up in the prog section. 

Forever Young (Bob Dylan and The Band) (LP 112)

The Band The Last Waltz (CD - Warner Brothers, 1978) *****

Genre: Canadian pop/ rock

Places I remember: The Warehouse CD copy replaced the cassette tape that (I think) Greg Knowles gave me.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Who Do You Love (with Ronnie Hawkins) gets the set off to a storming start after the haunting Theme from The Last Waltz. Big time Bill! Big Time!




Gear costume: Plenty of other gear highlights - maybe the best Band moment is one of my favs - Life Is A Carnival. At the time, Greg and I were very taken with Van the man's spots as well.

Active compensatory factors: G.K. and I went and saw the movie in Queen Street while we were at Auckland University. I had the tape for years, thanks to him, but when I saw it going cheap at The Warehouse, I couldn't resist an upgrade. It is a classic, after all! 

The set shows off the best of both The Band as The Band and how great they were as a band, backing other talented individuals.

The special guests are very very special and his Bobness is in prime form. 

All that and Levon Helm has surely one of the best voices in rock and roll.

Only down point (still) for me is Neil Diamond. Levon was right, Robbie - you shoulda nixed that one.

Where do they all belong? As a high water mark for the seventies, it's pretty much untouchable. 

Endless Highway (The Band) (LP 88)

The Band Live At Watkins Glen (CD - Capitol, 1995) **

Genre: Canadian rock

Places I remember: Kings Recording - Abu Dhabi.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Up On Cripple Creek - Levon Helm in fine form!




Gear costume: Don't Ya Tell Henry

Active compensatory factors: I've deducted a point for the fraudulent nature of this collection. A few tracks are from the actual concert but the vast majority are studio outtakes with an audience noise super imposed over them.

Crazy! The music is okay and my two featured tracks are the pick of the bunch but really...how cynical are Capitol records?

Crappy cover too! looks like someone has shot up the sign, which would be appropriate.

Where do they all belong? In a completist Band fanatic's collection (which I am not).

Endless highway (The Band) (LP 32-33)

The Band Music From Big Pink ****/ The Band **** (CD Twofer pack - Capitol Records, 2000) 


Genre: Canadian pop/rock

Places I remember: Big Pink and I have a chequered past. Initially I bought it on vinyl but somehow it was let go in a move. Instead I opted for Greatest Hits sets until grabbing this Twofer on CD from the Warehouse. I'm not proud of it.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Weight. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. Two classic songs sung by the incomparable Levon Helm.




Gear costume: Chest Fever. Rag Mama Rag.

Active compensatory factors: All the hoopla about Dylan/Band/Basement Tapes/Big Pink is a slight mystery to me, still.

When Dylan reconvened to the West Saugerties area of New York with The Band and workshopped the chunes that would eventually end up as The Basement Tapes they essentially created Americana and influenced everyone.

Not bad considering nothing was officially released at the time.

Big Pink followed on from that experience and has the same feel as The Basement Tapes.

For me, the first example of 'getting it together in the country' (Traffic followed suit by moving to the Sheepcott farm cottage around the same time). Although there are some terrific stand out songs, as a whole I fail to see what the fuss about these works in progress is all about. 

The brown album feels like it mines the same areas but in a slightly more sophisticated way. More confident, they look directly at us from the cover, rather than behind a piece of Bob's art (Big Pink).

What is beyond dispute is the individual brilliance of some of the songs on these two albums. For me, just not albums that contain wall to wall genius. The bonus tracks don't help either - I don't need all those alternative takes thanks very much.

Where do they all belong? The Complete Basement Tapes is what it says on the tin.

You've been waiting in the sun too long (Travis) #546 - 548

Travis Coming Around/ Rock 'N' (Salad) Roll/ The Weight (Sony, 2000)
Travis Sing/ River/ You Don't Know What I'm Like/ Beautiful  (Sony, 2001)
Travis Re-offender/ Definition Of Wrong/ Enemy/ The Sea  (Sony, 2003)

Part two of my Travis-a-thon kicks off with the non-album track Coming Around released in between The Man Who and The Invisible Band (from whence cometh Sing).

It's okay but not to the standard of singles from The Man Who. The omens weren't good...

But then Sing came along and all was well with the world of Travis, for a while.

Re-offender, from 12 Memories, is pleasant but without an edge, Travis by numbers (sorry - couldn't resist).

Hidden gems: The Weight is an AMAZING song and it NEVER gets old. Travis slow it down a tad but otherwise do a faithful version.

The other B sides reflect the general slide in quality control that was going on at the time.  

Just take what you need and leave the rest (Joan Baez)

Joan Baez The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down/ When Time Is Stolen  (Vanguard, VRS 35138 1971)

A Joan Baez hit! Well, yes, although hard to believe, Joan made the top five in the pop charts with this copy of The Band's song about Old Dixie. It peaked at number three I think. You couldn't invent this stuff.

It's the only Joan Baez record I own if you discount her performances with Bob Dylan (The Rolling Thunder Revue) and at Woodstock, and I'm not quite sure how it has escaped the various purges of singles I've had over the years. It's not like I love it to bits or it has sentimental value. I bought it in 1971 and it's never been played much but there it is - still in the singles racks.

It's a catchy song and a great sing along. Well done to J. Robbie Robertson who wrote it. Their version is vastly superior to Joan's but she had the hit with it. Weird ole world innit.

Hidden Gem: Um...no. The B side is a Baez original and done in her trilly folky voice which doesn't move me really. I DO love her Woodstock performance - maybe not Joe Hill so much but Sweet Sir Galahad is a genuine work of art.