Richard Manuel (The Band’s pianist/singer) whiny? Wow, you DO need a set of better loudspeakers. ;-) Have you heard his duet with Van Morrison on "4% Pantomime"? How about "The Shape I’m In"? He’s like a white version of Ray Charles. Eric Clapton has said Richard is his favorite white singer, his vocal on "Whispering Pines" bringing him to tears. How about Levon’s vocal on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"? If that is whiny to you, let me recommend Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Big Joe Turner.
You know who disagrees with your assessment of The Band? The aforementioned Clapton (after George Harrison played him Music From Big Pink, Eric told Jack and Ginger he just couldn’t do Cream anymore, and went up to West Saugerties for a few weeks, waiting for The Band to ask him to join), Neil Young (in The Last Waltz, Neil said it was the biggest honor of his life to be asked to join them onstage), Bob Dylan (he called guitarist Robbie Robertson a mathematical genius), Nick Lowe (he said Brinsley Schwartz---the band he was in at the time---was his poor attempt at being England’s The Band), Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, the guys in Los Lobos, the guys in Little Feat, Ry Cooder, Jack DeJohnette (Miles Davis’ drummer), Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt, the list goes on and on.
I didn’t "get" The Band at first. Some people never get them, and that’s all right. Not everybody has to like the same things. But if you like any of the above artists/bands, don’t you wonder why he/she/them likes them as much as they do, and you don’t? When I didn’t get Music From Big Pink when it came out, but all the smartest guys I knew did, I was troubled. It took me a year, but get them I finally did. It changed everything for me, as it had for Clapton.