Tuesday, January 21, 2025
I spent Sunday listening to vinyl, starting with Eric Clapton's No Reason to Cry. I must have read something during the week about the studeo where it was recorded- Shangra-La, in Malibu, built by The Band. I've writen before about this Clapton set, but for some reason I was in a receptive frame of mind this time. It is sort of Clapton backed by The Band, and it showcases how tastefull they were. (There aren't individual credits for each song, which is annoying.) I followed that up with Rick Danko's solo set, which I quite like, and then on to The Basement Tapes. Of the latter it seems to me that Robbie Robertson, who produced it, was making the case that he and Dylan were peers and full-fledged collaborators. There must have been something in the zeitgeist because Garth Hudson died this morning, the last surviving member of The Band, and, for me, the member whose sound defined them. Garth and Robbie were the two members that didn't sing- Robertson says in his memoir that he wrote for the voices of Richard, Rick and Levon which is why he didn't take on vocals. Presumably Garth didn't sing because he was too busy playing organ, saxaphone, accordian and whatever else came to hand.
I spent some time a couple of years ago reading Helm's and Robertson's memoirs. The memoir I wish existed was Garth's.
// posted by Bill @ 12:29 PM 
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