This is the Band album that i've always loved. even more so than Big Pink. it's such an incredible representation of America and it's culture throughout all of time. most of the songs are about old American stories and ideas about the south and the Civil War and the issues of that time. but it also says something about the year in which it was made, in a kind of backwards way. obviously psychedelia was in control of the counter (and most of the popular) culture in 1969, but The Band was rebelling against those kinds of ideas. they were surfacing the history of the country in a time when the masses wanted to change it yet again. the music was a melding of blues, rock 'n' roll, bluegrass and even ragtime. all American styles. and sometimes i really am not interested in hearing what America has to say, but this album usually changes that.
This record is a showcase of the immaculate talent that was going on in this band. Robbie Robertson's songwriting is untouchable, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is a premium example of that. Garth Hudson is all over the place, Rag Mama Rag is a premium example of that. Levon Helm's vocal stylings are too good, Up On Cripple Creek is a premium example of that. et cetera. they recorded it in a pool house that was part of a house owned by Sammy Davis Jr. that was rented out. and apparently it was all done very unprofessionally, and i dig that. Robertson said something about how he liked the fact that there was no one behind a glass telling them what to do, and they would just hang out and if anything got done at all, it would have been a productive day. which is the right attitude. i like when things get musically androgynous, and there's not really anything that sounds like The Band. and they were pretty literally doing everything themselves, and that's respectable no matter what.
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