Add "Chest Fever" to my very short list. Thanks for the reminder, D. Elf.
Add "Chest Fever" to my very short list. Thanks for the reminder, D. Elf.
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
So many great arrangements. Through the years I've become more and more fond of Garth Hudson's keyboards. Call them a folksier Steely Dan.
I remember tomorrow
"Chest Fever" is a top five song for me. I'm not sure that I love The Band, but I love that fucking song.
I want to dynamite your mind with love tonight.
Never liked them. I'm sure their roots-rock was thoroughly authentic, but it always seemed to ooze that annoying American Deep South "attitude".
Strangely, I really liked some of the solo stuff from Robbie Robertson, especially the first album,
I'm sort of this way with The Band. I like some of their songs, but their albums never clicked for me. Though I find myself tempted to try again.
I'd largely agree with this. They brought some folk, soul, and other eclectic elements to the table, but so did a lot of bands. Their expression of elements was unique, but not the elements themselves, and in the end it was basically rock-centered. I think the term "rock" is broad enough to encompass The Band, and if you wanted to qualify it, you could say rock with some folk influences, without being "folk rock."
Bill
Great music, no matter how you name it.
Just because The Band is not spinning on my turntable ad infinitum, that doesn't mean that I don't respect them. I put in the proviso about The Band not being one of my favorites, so that the responses of narrow minded simpletons, who have no idea of the group's effect on rock music in 60's, would be comfortable when stating their juvenile responses.
Last edited by StevegSr; 02-27-2016 at 10:19 AM.
To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.
right: thats my take on them..........I dont have to dig their music to respect who they are and the impact they had....Im like that with a lot of bands, including The Rolling Stones (sans four of their albums), The Who (sans three albums and a handful of songs from others), Lynyrd Skynyrd (sans one album), and many others.............
Last edited by klothos; 02-27-2016 at 11:13 AM.
I think their music is brilliant. Love it.
Closest they've ever gotten to prog for me is Robbie's solo release w/Peter Gabriel guesting.
and This. Americana/Roots Rock, indeed, and I lump 'em into whatever category CCR is in (though I tend to favor CCR over The Band).
Truth be told, I streamed it not to see The Band, but all the guest artists...
Peter needs to quit hangin' out with Rufus so much...
-=Will you stand by me against the cold night, or are you afraid of the ice?=-
The difference I hear between The Band and CCR is one of both breadth and depth. The Band's music was both broader and deeper: broader in its combination of influences and instrumental colors, and for the most part deeper both musically and lyrically. CCR were a traditionalist singles band, with an appealing but rather one-dimensional sound. The Band were 3-D Technicolor in comparison.
CCR are more rock 'n' roll, really.
Well, maybe so, but I can happily listen to any CCR song on the radio, and could even see myself owning a "best of" compilation, which I would never contemplate with The Band.
I guess that makes me "lowest common denominator" or whatever the pejorative of the day is.
CCR was essentially a guitar band. The Band was a lot more into textures - organ, piano, guitar having an equal balance. Robbie was tired of guitar heroics and solos from all those shows with Ronnie Hawkins so you rarely heard him throwing out solos, outros, etc. Everything was in service to the song and the texture.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Yeah, true, but thats not the discrepency - the question at hand was:
"Why Bar Bands Sound The Way They Do?".
..For decades, CCR has been a staple in bar band sets. why? easy to play and take minimum rehearsal to learn. This is almost a pre-requisite for many bar bands.... and thats not necessarily true with The Band who are generally only slightly more complex, with better vocal harmonies (this part is KEY as Bar Bands often only have one singer doing everything and another guy pretending to do harmony by singing unison with the lead vocalist -- but we are talking about lazy musicians ). This is why you are almost guaranteed to hear "Green River", "Suzy Q", or something along those lines almost every night with a Bar Band. The Band? You may hear "The Weight" or something else if the band is adventurous enough.
take it from me: Im a lazy musician
I think 'Sleeping' by Richard Manuel is a gorgeous song!
CCR was a good old rock and roll band. The Band was a storytelling band.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
It would of course karmically figure that when I went grocery shopping earlier today The Band was playing over the (f/k/a) Muzak system. What made it surprising was it wasn't any of the "big 3" of "Weight, "Dixie" or "Cripple", but of all things "Chest Fever"!
While stopping in the aisle blocking all the other carts to listen since I hadn't heard it for a while & it was of course fresh in my memory, I came to the conclusion that Garth Hudson's 4 chord repetitive riff throughout the song deserves the "instantly recognizable riff" award every bit as much as "Satisfaction", "Sunshine Of Your Love', Smoke On The Water", "Whole Lotta Love" and on and on......
YMMV
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
Believe it or not, this is the first version of Chest Fever I remember hearing as a teen. I would very soon thereafter come to greatly appreciate Garth Hudson, but this Jimmy Greenspoon workout doesn't suck:
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
Here's another cover that doesn't suck.
This might be my favorite cover of a Band tune...
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