100 Records That Shook The World, # 49

The Band (LP)

Even the cover's horrible. 

The Band

I have to confess I really don't know much about this album (dubbed 'The Brown Album' in reference to The Beatles' White Album). Nor do I know much about The Band, other than Robbie Robertson, the man responsible for some late 80s hits such as "Somewhere Down The Crazy River" and "Broken Arrow", was their main songwriter, Levon Helm was one of them and he's um, quite famous, and oh yeah, they were Bob Dylan's backing band. I also know that this album spawned some of their most well known tunes such as "Up On Cripple Creek", and "Rag Mama Rag", which is quite groovy. It also contained "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", which I have to say, I can't stand. Sorry, all you Band fans out there. All I know is I tried to watch "The Last Waltz" once and after about what seemed like the fifteenth hour of it I had had enough - I was trying to watch it to further my musical education, I mean, here were all these musical luminaries on stage together, so I thought "Well, it should do me some good to watch this" but it is one of those movies that everyone says is amazing, awesome, legendary, and I'm afraid all it did for me was to make me long for the strains of ABBA and a big bowl of Haagen-Dazs. I have never been a fan of what came to be known as 'country-rock', and this is what "The Band" is responsible for. So yes, all you Eagles fans out there, it's all Robbie Robertson's fault.

Anyway, these guys are supposedly legends, as is this album, so enjoy if you can bear to.