2. music
  3. 179765-2248

Roger Waters and Graham Nash on The Band.

I’ve just started reading the new book Levon Helm: Rock, Roll & Ramble; The Inside Story Of The Man, The Music, and The Midnight Ramble by John W. Barry (with a forward by Ringo Starr). I’m only on page 25 of the first chapter, and already I have read something I found very surprising:

Roger Waters: "Big Pink changed everything, overnight." (What have I been telling ya’ll? ;-). He continues: "It was sonic. It was the sound that they made all playing together. It was what they created. It was just completely different than anything I had heard before and it was remarkable. They (sic) were great songs as well. When I heard the record I went ’Wow, what was that?’ What a great band they were." No sh*t Sherlock.

Not as surprising is what I read in the paragraphs immediately preceding that of Waters, that being:

"When they served as opening act for the 1974 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young stadium tour, said Graham Nash: ’I would watch their set with great interest, of course.’

"But even though The Band was opening for CSNY, Nash remained in awe of them and, as a result, was too shy to approach any of the guys or chat them up."

’I should have, of course. I’m not particularly un-famous myself. But I was just too shy. They were too incredible a band in my mind...I mean holy sh*t, they were The Band...they were incredible. They were the best band in the world apart from The Beatles, as far as I was concerned. I was just a fan.’

Every good musician I knew felt just as did Roger and Graham, and still do. The best self-contained band (writing, singing, and playing) in the entire history of Rock ’n’ Roll. You see, Graham had the order reversed ;-) . When Abbey Road came out, it sounded like yesterdays news to me. The Band’s first two albums had completely changed the rules of the game. Those two albums still sound fresh, like they were recorded today. Abbey Road sounded dated to me on release day.

128x128bdp24
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,981 posts
 

Yup @bdgregory, Testimony is a surprisingly (to me) great book, probably the overall best I’ve read on The Band. I love the scene Robertson recounts, in which Dylan is listening to the test pressing of MFBP, and when "The Weight" ends he asked who wrote the song. When Robbie responds "I did", he says Dylan stopped dead in his tracks, just staring at him. Dylan’s view of Robbie had been permanently elevated.

Seeing accolades for The Band is not at all unusual (Nick Lowe stated The Brinsley Schwarz Band---of which he was a member---was a UK band trying to be The Band, and failing miserably.), but I wouldn’t expect it from one such as Roger Waters, whose own music couldn’t be more dissimilar from theirs. Though he rightly acknowledges the effect Music From Big Pink had on the musical community (including himself), it doesn’t appear to have in any way influenced the music he himself has made.

I think the second s/t album may be even more influential, and a virtual template for how to be a Rock ’n Roll band. MFPB is impossible to imitate or duplicate, but I hear the s/t album in a LOT of the music coming out of the Americana bands and artists. Those first two Band albums cast a really long shadow.

larsman's avatar
larsman
2,076 posts
 

@bdp24 - Roger had a lot of love for John Prine and his music - they actually got to be friends while John was still here - so he likes a lot of music that is nothing like his own....

bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,981 posts
 

Interesting @larsman. As we all know, ya gotta play the hand you're dealt. Not everyone can be a John Prine or Robbie Robertson (or John Hiatt, Rodney Crowell, Iris DeMent, etc.), so has to be content being in a Stadium Rock Band. Waters---even with his modest talent---has done pretty well for himself. For those who don't recognize humour when they see it, that was a joke. Waters' talent is slightly more than modest ;-) .

serjio's avatar
serjio
371 posts
 

Waters is great - not afraid to tell the truth and has a critical mind ... listen to his interviews from at least the last year.

dynacohum
660 posts
 

I see no need to diminish Abbey Road in order to heap praise on MFBP or The Band. What about Blonde On Blonde, or Are You Experienced?  Or Blue, Surrealistic Pillow, or Let It Bleed or Freak Out?  These were all records that defined the era.

HS Class of ‘69

More to discover