September 26, 2002

Last voice of 'The Band' silent

Through A Glass Darkly, by John Myers, Internet Photojournalist

It's no secret to anyone who read my review of the reissue of "The Last Waltz" that I believe The Band is the best rock 'n' roll band that ever played -- which covers a lot of good competition.

The Band broke up in 1976 after playing together for 16 years on the road, and is virtually forgotten now, except for a few hard-core fans of classic rock, mostly old gray heads like me.

Levon Helm, drummer, vocalist, strings player, playing during "The Last Waltz" concert in 1976.

What made the group so special was their incredible unity -- five very talented musicians who melded together during their years on the road into a sum far greater than their parts.

They were four Canadians and an Arkansas plow boy who met when they joined Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, a rockabilly band that toured Canada and the United States.

They decided in 1963 when they broke off from Hawkins to form their own band that they would have no "front man," but would alternate the vocal leads for their songs between the group's three almost equally talented singers.

Canadian Richard Manual sounded a lot like Ray Charles, and perhaps had the best voice of the group.

Canadian Rick Danko sang sort of a high alto with a quaver in his voice.

And Arkansan Levon Helm had the best rock 'n' roll voice, a gravely baritone that could soar and boom and even yodel, as needed.

They toured with Bob Dylan in the late '60s while he was catching boos from his fans for abandoning folk music for rock.

The Band released its first album in 1968, "Music From Big Pink," named for a big pink house where they lived in Woodstock, N.Y.

In the basement of that house in 1967 is where the famous "Basement Tapes" of Dylan jamming with The Band were recorded and bootlegged until finally released years later.

Eric Clapton called "Music From Big Pink" one of the most important influences on his own musical career. He came to Woodstock to visit The Band in 1968 while touring the U.S. with Cream, which he said were turning into "psychedelic loonies."

By the end of '68, Clapton left Cream and started writing and playing in the country-blues style he so admired in The Band.

The Band released an unbroken string of hits, "The Weight,' "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Up on Cripple Creek," "Rag, Mama, Rag," and many more during eight years of records.

Ironically, they split up in 1976 with a final, farewell concert, recorded and shot as a movie, "The Last Waltz," at the insistence of the lead guitarist, Robbie Robertson, who wasn't a singer.

The unity that made them so special had somehow died.

The other four members, Helm, Danko, Manuel and Garth Hudson, reunited in 1983 and resumed touring. But Manuel killed himself after a concert in 1986, apparently depressed over the lack of respect the group got during their reunion touring.

Helm, Danko and Hudson played together off and on until Danko's death in 1999, stilling the second voice of The Band.

And after I wrote the review of "The Last Waltz" reissue, I got an e-mail from Butch Dener, road manager for The Band and later for Helm and his blues band he calls The Barn Burners.

Dener told me Helm "beat throat cancer" but has lost his voice. "Even though he can't sing anymore, he is much happier just playing drums," he wrote.

I hope Helm is happy just playing drums, but the notion that the last voice of The Band has been silenced sure makes me sad.

Capitol Records is reissuing its collection of The Band's records, remastered onto CDs, and so for that I am thankful.