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Endless Highway: The Music of The Band »

Posted by: JamesMarcus 2 years, 8 months ago

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Although The Band long ago entered the rock-and-roll pantheon, the songs they recorded have inspired surprisingly few cover versions. Perhaps their funky vibe, rough-hewn harmonies, and tintype vision of the old, weird America seemed too hard to emulate. But a recent CD, "Endless Highway," gives several of these classics a new lease on life.

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JamesMarcus

James Marcus is a writer, translator, critic, and editor. He is the author of Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut and ...

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Comments: 16

Avg rating: (+2/-0 2)
architekker
April 25, 2007, 1:59 p.m.
Who cares about music!
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Webreader
April 25, 2007, 3:20 p.m.
The bloggers quote: "With their funky vibe, rough-hewn harmonies, and tintype vision of the old, weird America . ." was just about the best written word description of the Band's music I've ever seen. The soul of brevity. And to think that some writers in the 70's described them as "The Bland." Shame. I used to live about 25 miles from their stompin' ground, and my friends who lived in a converted chicken coop would host endless evenings with The Band "on the box." Smokin'!! They were certainly an original.
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bluejayway
April 25, 2007, 7:05 p.m.
Thank you, Rick, Richard, Garth, Levon and Robbie for all the great music.
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KingOfTruth
April 26, 2007, 3:05 a.m.
I liked a few of their songs but I was not impressed overall.....I had some of their double albums and was mostly bored....now seeeing them live would probably been better....
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BoxMonkey
April 26, 2007, 3:09 a.m.
Woo-Hoo . The Band . Yeah Baby .
Avg rating: (+3/-0 3)
BoxMonkey
April 26, 2007, 3:17 a.m.
The Last Waltz rocked .
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travelingmood
April 26, 2007, 7:07 a.m.
This CD has been out for a few weeks already. I find it's really good overall but there are a few low points. I would have liked to have someone with a decent set of pipes handle "I Shall Be Released". I especially like Jimmy Herring's guitar on Widespread Panic's cover selection.
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walden3
April 26, 2007, 8:23 a.m.
i remember hearing a story that when the band got together they were pretty bad musicians so they tried to get garth hudson to join. garth was a pretty good musician. the only way he would join is if he could give the rest of the members music lessons.
garth must have been able to play a ton of different instruments. i loved the creepy organ music at the beginning of chest fever.
i remember how lousy i felt when richard manuel hung himself. rick passed away a few years ago. levon is still making music up in NY.
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Avg rating: (+0/-2 -2)
joeeddie
April 26, 2007, 11:54 a.m.
I was never a big fan of The Band but I do like some of their music. The article mentions that they don't have many of their songs covered. Here's a video of one of their covers, "The Weight", which was on an album released in 1999 from Shannon Curfman called "Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions". I recommend it if you are a fan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SKfLw34nP4