Good points, one and all. onhwy61, all The Band albums are quality, but the first two get all the attention because they were so revolutionary and ground-breaking. Plus, they had no filler songs---it was all Grade A material. The last album had only eight songs, four per LP side---not a good sign from a band known, in the age of overly-long jam songs, for short, concise songs. There were some great songs on it, but some not-so-great. Some of them just meandered on, filling space.
They did a fun album of the material they had played in their Bar Band days---Moondog Matinee, all 1950’s-type songs. And a great live album, plus one when they accompanied Dylan on the road in ’74. The 3rd and 4th have some fantastic songs---Richard’s duet with Van Morrison on "4% Pantomime" kills.
But Richard was developing a drinking problem, and was finding himself unable to write anymore. Levon was harboring a lot of resentment towards Robbie, which affected band morale. Robbie’s lyrics were becoming self-conscious and calculated, and, just like The Beatles, it felt like they went on past their "sell by" date; it felt like the wind was no longer in their sails, they were just going through the motions. They sounded tired, which they may have been---Garth was over 40 years old, the others not much younger. Rock ’n’ Roll is a young man’s game. I’m just thankful they’re not up there making fools of themselves as are Mick and Keith ;-).
They sure left a legacy, didn’t they? All the people in the Americana movement and scene acknowledge The Band as their model for how to make music. All my favorite writers, singers, and musicians work in The Band’s shadow, benefitting from their excellence. Nick Lowe said his band Brinsley Schwartz was an attempt---a poor one, in his opinion---to be England’s The Band. Neil Young’s Harvest album was an obvious attempt to make an album like The Band’s 2nd/Brown album. You also hear The Band in Workingman’s Dead; problem was, nobody in The Dead could sing!
