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Once Were Brothers in theaters Friday, February 28th

The new documentary on the greatest self-contained (songs, instruments, vocals) Rock ’n’ Roll band in the music’s history---The Band, is in theaters tomorrow. Quotations from the movie:

John Hammond Jr.: "Bob Dylan thought they were phenomenal. So he hired the guys."

Taj Mahal: "If there was any American musicians that were comparable to what The Beatles were, it woulda been them."

Bruce Springsteen: "There is no band that emphasizes becoming greater than the sum of their parts than The Band. (I disagree; even taken individually, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Richard Manual, Garth Hudson, and Robbie Robertson are master musicians, singers, and songwriters).

Bruce continues: "When they came together, something miraculous occurred."

Eric Clapton: (upon hearing Music From Big Pink) "I thought, this is huge. It changed my life."

Mine too, along with every good musician I knew then and have known since.

128x128bdp24
asvjerry's avatar
asvjerry
4,601 posts
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-daYplQj5CE

Yeah...so there....or, maybe, over there....no, over here.....
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,216 posts
 
The first two albums get the most attention, but don’t underestimate the orher studio recordings. They’re pretty awesome.
winnardt
173 posts
 
I agree with bdp24 and I don't get what all the fuss is about. Yes, they may have been influential in creating that "down home country soul garage band" sound, but I just don't get connected to or emotionally moved by much of what they were doing (believe me, I've tried). I think their sound is sort of muddy and the vocals are kind of lazy. I prefer a crisper, more energized style of rock, so you can count me as one who just doesn't "get it". And to have only one song listed in many greatest songs of all time lists (The Weight) doesn't say much for the song writing abilities. Just trying to be honest here.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"The Art of Noise; the group, not your response."
Once upon a time, I entered the record store in Italy and they had racks arranged by genre. The first one, with the sign just above the records, was "musica leggera" and under it the record...Art of Noise.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
Prompted by this thread, I listened to The Band and Music From the Big Pink last night.

It was good, better than I had remembered it, but still just a great example of a garage band, as the poster above implied.

It may be that time alignment is also an issue. Maybe those who have not been around when The Band was at its peak simply do not have that emotional, maybe even nostalgic, connection. We may be looking at them as just another band among many that we have heard until 2020, and not the breakthrough artist of 1969.
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