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Takes one to know one

I find what one artist has to say about another fascinating. Here's what Eric Clapton has to say about one such:

"I met the genius of that outfit, who was Richard Manuel. He was as close to genius as I've ever met in a white guy---all the other geniuses I've met have been black Blues players, like B.B. and Buddy Guy. The reason I say they're geniuses is that they do what they do effortlessly with a gift that is so powerful that they don't need to engage in any kind of thinking to pursue it."

I would add Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and even Robbie Robertson (somewhat begrudgingly ;-), the other members of The Band, to the list of geniuses. There has never been, and never again will be, a Group containing so much talent. I listen to their music every single day of my life, and have done so for years. Their debut and second album are in my Top 10 albums of all-time list. Both are available on LP and SACD from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. Ignore them at the cost of your own musical wealth!

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Showing 1 response by wharfy

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wharfy
309 posts
 
Thanks for starting this thread, bdp24!!!

My all time favorite band. I ask rhetorically how could they NOT be great? The work they did with Dylan, before they went out on their own shaped their song writing and their sound. Anyone remember they were on the cover of Time Magazine?

The first two albums are just so great. I can’t think of a debut album that surpasses Big Pink. And the Brown Album is even better than the first, IMO. Every song is a masterpiece. Garth’s synth work on songs like Whispering Pines is evocative of wind in the woods, and on King Harvest underscore the desperation in the narrators'/singers' words and voices.

And what happened to Richard and Rick Danko after 1977, due to drug abuse, is awful. Like many musicians and bands of the time, they were casualties of the era.
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