Wednesday, January 22,
2025
Time: 3:40 PM
Song: It Makes No Difference
Artist: The Band
Mode of Consumption: From The Last Waltz video on YouTube
Garth Hudson, the last living member of The Band, died
yesterday at the age of 87. He’s the guy with the saxophone solo near the end of
this version of the song, which was recorded as the group’s “Going Away” concert/movie
entitled the “The Last Waltz” from 1976. Hudson, like pretty much every member
of the group, wore many hats for the band. He was a master at the keyboards,
organ, accordion, saxophone, and seemingly any instrument he decided to pick
up. The only thing he didn’t do was sing – the only member of The Band who didn’t
Unlike many who thrive in popular music, Hudson was a
classically trained musician. I mean, John Lennon and Paul McCartney both
admitted to not being able to read sheet music. The Beatles needed Geroge
Martin to fill the musical gaps to make their visions reality. Many others from
the world of rock have gone on the record to say they only knew three or four
chords when they hit it big.
But that wasn’t Hudson, and that wasn’t The Band. They came
on the scene as the backing band to Ronnie Hawkins and then to Bob Dylan on his
first electric tour. Their sound borrowed from Dylan’s folkish roots, but much
like Dylan, refused to be pigeonholed into it. They blitz the eardrums with
layers of sound, harmonies, and instruments. Four of the five members could
take over lead vocals at any time.
Their position in the music landscape is a curious one. While
on one hand they’ve faded from the popular music conversation, on the other
they are often pointed to as the originators of the Americana sound (ironic
since most of the group was Canadian).
It's a fascinating story, almost mythic. From their roots
with Dylan, including the summer spent in a pink house that birthed many Dylan
songs and the group’s debut album “Music From Big Pink.” They released a series
of hits over the next decade, carving out a sound mixed with folk, rock,
country, and jazz. Together they were magic, but as it goes, that magic couldn’t
hold them together.
Like so many bands, the rest of the story is a series of acrimonious
spats mostly on the business side. Robertson tired of touring. Helm disputed Robertson’s
writing credits on many of the group’s big hits. A version of the group
reunited in the 80s and 90s without Robertson and Richard Manuel, who died in
1986.
Rich Danko died in 1999 in his sleep.
Levon Helm died in 2012 from cancer.
Robertson died in 2023.
Now Hudson is gone.
That sax sounds a bit sadder today.
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