Yes @coltrane1, The Band are too subtle for some listeners. They were for me, it taking me a year of listening to finally "get" Music From Big Pink. Perhaps you need to listen to them some more, or perhaps you, like some musicians I know, will never get them. No pejorative implications intended.
As for "previously published hit tunes", what the heck are ya talkin' bout? The s/t brown album contains 100% Band member composed songs. So does Music From Big Pink, with the exception of
1- "Tears Of Rage", co-written by Band pianist/singer Richard Manuel and Bob Dylan. Dylan rarely writes with anyone else, a sign of the respect he had for Manuel's songwriting talent.
2- "I Shall Be Released', written by Bob Dylan during the year (1967) he and The Band (then still known as The Hawks) spent recording publishing demos in the basement of Big Pink. They contributed to the development of the song, so imo have some right to consider it part of their original repertoire.
3- "Long Black Veil", recorded by Country & Western artist Left Frizzell (hardly a "Rock artist") long before The Band did. They included the song on MFBP for an artistic reason, the explaining of which would take up too much time and space.
So, of the 23 songs included in their first two albums, none was a "previously published hit tune by other Rock artists". I mean, unless you consider Lefty Frizzell a Rock artist, and "Long Black Veil" a "hit tune".
