I was in the mood to listen to the music of The Band so I started with their third album, Stage Fright. Stage Fright peaked at number 5 on the Billboard albums chart, surpassing the group’s first two albums, which reached numbers 30 and 9, respectively. It was one of three albums by the group, including The Band and Rock of Ages, to be certified gold (more than 500,000 albums sold).
But many critics didn’t like Stage Fright much. One reason why is that at least three of The Band’s members were using heroin during the recording of this album.
Listening to The Best of the Band brought back a lot of memories of the late 1960s and early 1970s. While The Band was linked with Bob Dylan, they managed to create their own sound and style. Are you a fan of The Band? Any favorites on Stage Fright or The Best of the Band?
| 01 | Strawberry WineWritten-By – Robertson*, Helm*Written-By – Robertson*, Helm* | 2:36 | |
| 02 | SleepingWritten-By – Robertson*, Manuel*Written-By – Robertson*, Manuel* | 3:17 | |
| 03 | Time To Kill | 3:28 | |
| 04 | Just Another Whistle StopWritten-By – Robertson*, Manuel*Written-By – Robertson*, Manuel* | 3:55 | |
| 05 | All La Glory | 3:35 | |
| 06 | The Shape I’m In | 4:01 | |
| 07 | The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show | 3:00 | |
| 08 | Daniel And The Sacred Harp | 4:14 | |
| 09 | Stage Fright | 3:44 | |
| 10 | The Rumor | 4:16 | |
| Bonus Tracks: | |||
| 11 | Daniel And The Sacred Harp (Alternate Take) | 5:02 | |
| 12 | Time To Kill (Alternate Mix) | 3:26 | |
| 13 | The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (Alternate Mix) | 3:05 | |
| 14 | Radio Commercial | 1:05 |
| Up On Cripple Creek | 4:29 | ||
| The Shape I’m In | 3:58 | ||
| The Weight | 4:40 | ||
| It Makes No Difference | 6:30 | ||
| Life Is A Carnival | 3:55 | ||
| Twilight | 3:15 | ||
| Don’t Do It | 4:20 | ||
| Tears Of Rage | 5:16 | ||
| Stage Fright | 3:40 | ||
| Ophelia | 3:29 | ||
| The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down | 3:30 |
I’m a big fan. The first two albums are classic. The Best of is very skimpy and leaves off a lot of great songs such as Chest Fever and When I Paint My Masterpiece.
Steve, I completely agree with you on THE BEST OF THE BAND. Many great songs are missing.
Apparently I was living in an alternate universe. Saving money by not getting a radio in our first car (1968 Renault) may have contributed to the death of rock music for me. I did not wake up until the mid-eighties when my kids listened to rock 24-7.
Patti, I listened to music on my commute to work each day. And, I bent the College rules (not to install non-approved software and files on the College computer) to fill my hard drive with music so I was able to enjoy music at work, too.
Gimme THE RUMOR ad THE WEIGHT. And I have a natural affinity for DANIEL & THE SACRED HARP.
Dan, your selections are all great songs! Excellent taste in music!
I always liked The Band, and still do. If I don’t listen to them as much as I used to, it’s just natural selection applied to music. It happens, but it doesn’t diminish my appreciation of them.
Michael, same here. It’s been a while since I listened to entire CDs of The Band’s music. But, I got into a mood where I yearned to revisit those great years when they were a super group so found these two CDs and enjoyed listening to them!
Yes, a huge fan. We were lucky enough to see the late Levon Helm and his band at the Beacon several times starting about 15 years ago. Once he introduced his cardiologist in the audience!
This isn’t as good as the first two albums – Chest Fever and The Weight and This Wheel’s on Fire and I Shall Be Released and Tears of Rage and Long Black Veil on one album! – but I do like it. We’ve been listening lately to their LIVE AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC 1971 (my brother was at several of those concerts!) and THE LAST WALTZ soundtrack.
Jeff, I would have enjoyed seeing and hearing Levon Helm! Love that Helm introduced his cardiologist to the audience! I have more CDs of The Band around here somewhere. These are the two albums I stumbled across when I was in the mood to hear those great songs The Band specialized in!
Jackie reminds me that you don’t like tribute albums, but she does recommend the excellent LOVE FOR LEVON: A BENEFIT TO SAVE THE BARN. Some of the selections include:
The Shape I’m In – Warren Haynes
Long Black Veil – Gregg Allman
This Wheel’s On Fire
Move Along Train – Mavis Staples
Life is a Carnival – Allen Toussaint
When I Paint My Masterpiece – John Prine and Garth Hudson
Whispering Pines – Lucinda Williams
Rag Mama Rag – John Hiatt
I Shall Be Released – Grace Potter & Don Was
Tears of Rage – Ray LaMontagne & John Mayer
Rockin’ Chair – Dierks Bentley
Chest Fever – Dierks Bentley & Garth Hudson
Get Up Jake – Eric Church
Tennessee Jed – John Mayer
Up on Cripple Creek – Joe Walsh
The Weight – all
Jeff, I’m not against tribute albums, I’m against poorly executed tribute albums. LOVE OF LEVON looks like a winner. I’ll track down a copy! Thank Jackie for the heads up!
Joe introduced me to The Band back in the day. I came to it late with The Last Waltz and then had to catch up.
I like everything on The Best of The Band. Doesn’t sound like Stage Fright would be for me.
Beth, from the Liner Notes that came with the remastered version of STAGE FRIGHT, the recording process for that album was difficult because of all the drug use.
The Weight and the night they drove old Dixie down are among my favorites and I also liked them supporting Bob Dylan.
OT
I also had no money for a radio in my first car, a small second hand Fiat 500 (max speed 65 miles) but I made an adapter for my tape recorder, that was before cassettes.
That was in 1963 as a student after I worked In the summer at the Mercedes factory.
Those were the days !
Wolf, the last Nissan Rogue I bought in 2019 was the last Nissan car line that would have CD players in them. Some year soon, I wouldn’t be surprised if car companies stop including radios in their automobiles and other vehicles! Streaming services like Sirius/XM Radio will be the only options.
Other than “The Weight”, I’m not a fan. Just not my style, I guess.
I loved watching the last waltz. Dixie down is probably my favorite as I’ve probably heard it the most.
Waiting to go home from LCC.
Maggie, have a safe trip! The Criterion Collection just released a new version of THE LAST WALTZ! I’ll be reviewing it soon!