Though American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead were radical departures from the music The Dead had been making prior to those two albums, if one knew about Garcia’s early involvement in Folk and Bluegrass music during his formative years (I love those pictures of Garcia playing banjo---banjo!---on the Palo Alto Stanford campus, not far up El Camino Real from where I was growing up in Cupertino), it shouldn’t have been a complete surprise. And as the music being made by some of the Dead’s friends and contemporaries (Crosby, Stills, and Nash, etc.) was trending towards the acoustic/short song/harmony singing format and style (as opposed to the Dead’s long, free-form---in terms of song structure and improvisational nature), it was a natural transition for them to move in that direction.
To see who were the actual leaders in that back-to-the-Country movement, and who were the followers, watch the documentary film Festival Express. Then remind oneself of the two albums The Band made in 1968 and ’69, and compare them with The Dead’s two contemporaneous albums: 1968’s Anthem Of The Sun and 69’s Aoxomoxoa. Not to mention Dylan, who had been recording in Nashville long before any other Rockers of his generation. Compare John Wesley Harding (’68) and Nashville Skyline (’69) with Anthem Of The Sun and Aoxomoxoa, recorded and released contemporaneously. Dylan had earlier (1965) completely changed John Lennon’s approach to songwriting. "You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away" was nothing more than John’s Dylan imitation.
But ya’ll missed the point about the Hippie ethos: In The Last Waltz (and in Martin Scorsese’s later documentary on The Band), Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko discuss not sharing in many regards the sentiments of the Hippies. Not to mention Dylan, who, after almost single-handedly codifying the basic tenants of the counter-culture that emerged in his wake (it would be an exaggeration to claim he created it), turned his back on that very community.
While The Airplane on the West Coast, The MC5 in the Midwest, and politically-minded "radicals" on the East coast were calling for revolution, and rejecting all that American (and in fact all Western) civilization embraced, The Band posed with their parents, grandparents, and other relatives on the inside gatefold cover of the Big Pink album. So much for hating your parents ;-) . When Dylan and The Hawks toured Europe and England in 1966, Bob hung a giant American flag behind the stage, sticking his finger in the eye of the growing hate-The U.S.A. sentiment embraced by his audience in those countries.
I love what Rick Danko said in one Last Waltz scene: "We’re not trying to save the world, only improve the neighborhood." Hillbilly wisdom ;-) .
To see who were the actual leaders in that back-to-the-Country movement, and who were the followers, watch the documentary film Festival Express. Then remind oneself of the two albums The Band made in 1968 and ’69, and compare them with The Dead’s two contemporaneous albums: 1968’s Anthem Of The Sun and 69’s Aoxomoxoa. Not to mention Dylan, who had been recording in Nashville long before any other Rockers of his generation. Compare John Wesley Harding (’68) and Nashville Skyline (’69) with Anthem Of The Sun and Aoxomoxoa, recorded and released contemporaneously. Dylan had earlier (1965) completely changed John Lennon’s approach to songwriting. "You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away" was nothing more than John’s Dylan imitation.
But ya’ll missed the point about the Hippie ethos: In The Last Waltz (and in Martin Scorsese’s later documentary on The Band), Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, and Rick Danko discuss not sharing in many regards the sentiments of the Hippies. Not to mention Dylan, who, after almost single-handedly codifying the basic tenants of the counter-culture that emerged in his wake (it would be an exaggeration to claim he created it), turned his back on that very community.
While The Airplane on the West Coast, The MC5 in the Midwest, and politically-minded "radicals" on the East coast were calling for revolution, and rejecting all that American (and in fact all Western) civilization embraced, The Band posed with their parents, grandparents, and other relatives on the inside gatefold cover of the Big Pink album. So much for hating your parents ;-) . When Dylan and The Hawks toured Europe and England in 1966, Bob hung a giant American flag behind the stage, sticking his finger in the eye of the growing hate-The U.S.A. sentiment embraced by his audience in those countries.
I love what Rick Danko said in one Last Waltz scene: "We’re not trying to save the world, only improve the neighborhood." Hillbilly wisdom ;-) .