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Springsteen and Clapton on their favorite, heh, band.

I went and saw Once Were Brothers; Robbie Robertson And The Band in a theater early last year, and now tonight on a DVD at home. It is alternately both thrilling and irritating, but that’s not the point of this thread. If you don’t already know how very, very special The Band were, and the deep impact they made on Rock ’n’ Roll, here is what Bruce and Eric had to say about them in the film:

- Springsteen: "I think I was in a little coffee shop in Redbank, New Jersey. I kid came in with Music From Big Pink, put it on the sound system. And suddenly this music comes on, and everything changes."

- Clapton: "When I heard Big Pink, it was like someone had nailed me through my chest onto the wall. I was immediately converted. I thought ’This is what I want to do’. It changed my life."

Mine too.
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Showing 3 responses by edcyn

edcyn
1,876 posts
 
I never warmed to The Band, this despite (or perhaps because) I must have heard the Big Pink LP thousands (okay, maybe only hundreds) of times at buddies' houses through the years. I went to a special pre-release screening of the movie, as well. To my ears they were whiny, forced and slow. Yeah, I know... Dem's fightin' words!
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
Thanks guys for bringing up the Byrds. I started listening to rock-and-roll radio stations because of the Beatles (before that I pretty much only listened to Classical), but it was the Byrds that I truly fell for. The soaring harmonies. The chiming guitars. I was too young to see them when they first showed up, but I then saw them every time they played in L.A. I saw them at the Troubadour and either the Roxy or the Whiskey. I might have told this story before, but I saw them at the Santa Monica Civic or the Aquarius, where they they showed up as a trio. David Crosby had apparently quit that day. Some dude in the audience shouted, "Where's David Crosby?" Chris Hillman growled, "He's dead!"  McGuinn played both the lead and rhythm guitar parts. A real trooper...

In any case, I stand by my dislike of The Band. Sorry dudes!  I just never liked their sound. It seems as if they trudged instead of danced through their songs. To my ears they sounded didactic and whiny, not liberated.
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
I loved Springsteen and the E Street Band. Sincerity. Energy. The singularity of mood and purpose they could invoke.  Comedy.  Drama. The concerts were long, to be sure, but the numbers never degenerated into endless, self-indulgent jamming...something that afflicted other bands I could (but won't) mention.   
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