Saturday matinee - The Band

I became a fan of The Band late in their career, at the point when they were about to break up. I'd heard 'em over the years on the radio and knew they'd become famous as Bob Dylan's backup band, but they just seemed too laid back for my taste. But one night I was watching television and saw them do a version of "Georgia on My Mind", and it just blew me away. So when their next album "Northern Lights - Southern Cross" came out, I bought it.

It was a wonderful album. Songs ranged from the funky "Ophelia" to "It Makes No Difference", and the incredible ode to the French Canadians, "Acadian Driftwood", which went on to become an earworm of mine - a song that haunts me to this day.

Shortly after the release of "Northern Lights - Southern Cross", The Band announced that they were breaking up. To commemorate the occasion, they released a movie called "The Last Waltz"; a documentary of their last concert. "The Last Waltz" was memorable for two things: (1) It was directed by Martin Scorsese, and (2) in post-production, several of the musicians decided to overdub their solos. So although the soundtrack was advertised as live, it really wasn't. The reaction to this news was interesting. Several other bands released concert albums shortly afterward, and titled them "Absolutely Live", "Guaranteed Live" and things like that.

There aren't many videos of The Band, but here are three:

I Shall Be Released:


The Weight:


Although this video doesn't shown the group, here's a video of Acadian Driftwood: