Pros: Highly entertaining! Every listen gets better! Timeless!
Cons: I simply cannot bring myself to mention any as there are none worth mentioning!
The Bottom Line: This classic rocker of progressive stature rates as one of the all time greats! No collection is complete without this timeless music!
sam-pro's Full Review: Music from Big Pink [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] by T...
Q.= Ok, what's the name of the band? A.= The Band. Yeah but what's their name? Well...The Band. Ok but I want to know the name of the band that's playing on this album..."Music From Big Pink"! ...THE BAND!!!! This Abbott and Costello-like routine played itself out in my head as I gazed in utter astonishment at one of the most interesting album covers I had ever encountered during the summer of 1968. The cover painting itself was by none other than Bob Dylan!
Rumor had it that The Band simply could not agree on a name so simply called themselves...The Band...at least until further notice! Well...further notice never came and the band stayed as The Band.
In 1968 the PROGRESSIVE ROCK format was still in its infancy on the FM airwaves and opened our minds and hearts up to new music and yes...new cultures also as albums like "Missa Luba" even received airplay on AOR stations! But the album for review here..."Music From Big Pink" by The Band did NOT experience such promotion at first! Word of mouth brought it to the attention of the FM jocks sometime later. In fact, one simply hears the various cuts from the classic album more frequently nowadays than when it was initially released in 1968.
Yes, as John Lennon so aptly put it..."strange days indeed!" But this album had really caught my attention and I was determined to give it a whirl even though up to that moment I had not heard anything...I mean not one single solitary song...from the recording! No, there simply was no prior knowledge on my part of this work of art. Being a music lover of meager wallet when the album was placed on sale for $3.19 as opposed to its regular price of $4.19 at Upper Montclair's RECORD RACK in the summer of '68 well...that was simply the clincher for me! I made my purchase and rushed it home. I was about to encounter one of the all time greats in recorded music history!
As I listened to the entire album two or three times I found it to be one of those treasures that grow on you after repeated playings. Certainly songs like "The Weight", "Long Black Veil", "Chest Fever" and "This Wheel's On Fire" caught my attention initially but the others proved to be special in time.
I realized that this unique but obscure record was deserving of greatness so I decided to entertain the neighborhood kids and their moms by blasting the album through the open windows of my second floor bedroom during the remaining summer days. People did actually inquire about the album and my mother kindly cautioned me to lower the volume or my father would probably do it for me.
Now I dare say I was not the only one who broadcast the album in this manner as "word of mouth" spread like wildfire and "The Weight" was released as a single only to be covered by Aretha Franklin shortly thereafter. What the heck was Lady Soul up to by doing this and who woulda thunk it!???? Well it all worked very nicely with The Band's version hanging in the TOP 40 for a somewhat lengthy period and of course Aretha's enjoying even more success.
Well that and the fact that Bob Dylan discovered the group in upstate New York is what finally brought the album for review here..."Music From Big Pink" to the attention of local NY DJ's Scott Muni, Bob Lewis and Brother John. What I could not understand is why it took Muni so long to play the darn thing as he was a huge fan of Dylan! Where was WNEW-FM METROMEDIA STEREO 102.7 on this one???
At any rate I purchased the remastered Capitol CD in its original form without any bonus tracks several years ago and the disc is setup as follows with my rating of each track. Please note that a *** rating indicates a "Fair" mark and that ***** = a great one!
1. "Tears Of Rage" ****
2. "To Kingdom Come" ***
3. "In A Station" ***
4. "Caledonia Mission" ****
5. "The Weight" ***** ..."take a load off Annie" [sounds like Fannie]
6. "We Can Talk" ****
7. "Long Black Veil" ***** ... The album's eeriest moment with these opening haunting lyrics...
"Ten years ago on a cold dark night someone was killed 'neath the town hall light"
8. "Chest Fever" ***** ...Holy smokes if this isn't the bomb!!!! The opening organ riff is worth the price of admission alone! The remainder of the song does not disappoint either!
9. "Lonesome Suzie" ***
10. "This Wheel's On Fire" *****
11. "I Shall Be Released" ****
Overall I would say that this is a pretty good effort by The Band and Capitol. The Band of course went on to become favorites of many but disbanded by the mid 70's due partially to internal strife. That is not an unusual story in the business but certainly "Big Pink" is!
The Band consisted of Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm and "Music From Big Pink" was produced by John Simon. Dylan co-wrote "Tears Of Rage" with Richard Manuel and "This Wheels On Fire" with Rick Danko. Of course he was the sole author of "I Shall Be Released".
This group of individuals was not just some stupid hick-turned-hippie rock band of ignorant songs and simple lyrics from the sticks! Oh no, NOT AT ALL! The lyrics though at times are straightforward and seemingly easy to understand do not reveal themselves fully upon the CD's initial playing. Indeed there is a mystique about them that keeps them fresh and timeless. And I love the stories they tell!!!!
The sounds that alledgedly originated from the walls of a big pink house in West Saugerties, New York [supposedly near Woodstock] were a beautiful blend of soft melancholy hillbilly rockin' raunchy vocals and just plain darn good music. The Band may very well indeed have been the bridge between FOLK and ROCK music. Certainly Bob Dylan serving as confidante and inspiration only fueled this last perception even more! This is evidenced further by the change in his own style.
The album is most entertaining and ages with beauty perfectly almost like a fine wine. Purchase this CD as it is a timeless masterpiece with a richness that will convince you just how good recorded music from 1968 can sound!
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![Music from Big Pink [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster] by The Band](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/72/85/8e/2001989362-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.