# The Band **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959 "2003-02-09T22:56:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/21 "2003-02-10T03:58:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Yeah but, pretty good rant, eh? > > . And they were unique - their sound was a new, uniquely _American_ rock. \*\* Made all the more amazing by the fact that only one of them was from America. And I quote from [allmusic.com](http://allmusic.com) about “Music From the Big Pink”: Over time, Music From Big Pink came to be regarded as a watershed work in the history of rock, one that introduced new tones and approaches to the constantly evolving genre Eric Clapton loved it and so do I. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/22 "2003-02-10T04:02:24Z")
American, Canadian… When it comes to rock, they’re one and the same. Our musical culture is interchangeable. We listen to _The Eagles_, and you guys listen to _The Guess Who_ or _The Tragically Hip_. It’s interesting that British rock has a difference to it, aside from accents. It’s typically recognizable. But American/Canadian rock truly isn’t. I think the other members of the band were Canadian, weren’t they? I know Robbie Robertson was. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/23 "2003-02-10T08:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\* > **Avril Levigne:** Oh yeah, you’re a real tough kid. I’ve got news for you, sweetie. Street cred isn’t earned by going through traumas like missing the Boxing Day sale at the Gap. Get the sneer off your face, pull up your damned pants, and go back to school. So far, you look like a younger Alanis Morrisette, without the talent. > \*\* And stop making that face all the time. Cyndi Lauper did that, twenty years ago, and look where she is. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/24 "2003-02-10T09:09:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sperfur \* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Eutychus \* > > No, but I took a load off fanny once. > > \*\*For free? \*\* Probably. And then he put the load right on me :mad: ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/25 "2003-02-10T11:15:18Z")
The Band are almost everything …… they _are_ the link between ‘modern’ music and ye olde North American folk tradition (which, itself, came from … ). I mean; How do you get from, for example, Guthrie and the old time boys to, say, Dylan \> Springsteen \> et al without The Band ? What is it with the quality of rants recently, this is another unimaginative pile of shit ? ---
**Author:** ![todd33rpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@todd33rpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/todd33rpm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/26 "2003-02-10T11:40:06Z")
[nit-picking] No, **A1C Joe** , you were _not_ mostly referring to the first album. The Band’s first album, _Music From Big Pink_, doesn’t include “Across The Great Divide.” _The Band_, aka “The Brown Album,” is their second, and it does. Now then. Carry on…if you have to. [/nit-picking] All the members except Levon Helm were from Canada…Levon was from Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![Consuela\_Bobuela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Consuela\_Bobuela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Consuela_Bobuela)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/27 "2003-02-10T11:57:37Z")
“The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is one of my all time favorite songs. The rest of The Band’s songs ain’t shabby either. I listen to them as much as I do CCR. Love that music. A1C, are you like, an N\*Sync fan or what? ---
**Author:** ![A1C\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d07c76/32.png) [@A1C\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A1C_Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/28 "2003-02-10T13:47:54Z")
No, I’m more of a Hendix, Floyd fan. Maybe I don’t like them because I’m not that interested in folk music. It surprises me becuase I’m kind of partial to the Grateful Dead. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/29 "2003-02-10T14:31:21Z")
Well, The Band didn’t usually stretch out with long instrumental jams in concert the way Jimi or the Dead did. Except for Garth Hudson, who would wail on things like “Chest Fever.” Perhaps that’s why you find them dull. _Rock of Ages_ is my favorite live album of theirs mainly because the Allen Toussaint horn arrangements really lit a fire behind the group. An album like _Live at Watkins Glen_ sounds like they’re just re-creating their studio recordings (not necessarily a bad thing, as their studio recordings are some of the best rock and roll ever made). ---
**Author:** ![ignatius\_reilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/db5fbb/32.png) [@ignatius\_reilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatius_reilly)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/30 "2003-02-10T15:27:27Z")
Just chiming in to say that their eponymous second album is undoubtedly my favorite album of all time. Best songs? “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”, the latter containing the most heartbreaking and beautiful vocal performance I’ve ever heard. The vocal on “Tears of Rage” from Big Pink is pretty amazing too. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/31 "2003-02-10T17:14:23Z")
Not like The Band? [Hank Hill] That boy ain’t right. [/Hank Hill] * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/32 "2003-02-10T21:05:20Z")
Sometimes my husband sings “The Weight” and substitutes “shoot a load on Granny”. Always a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![blanx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f04885/32.png) [@blanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blanx)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/33 "2003-02-10T21:25:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*Wherein **Sam** achieves his life long ambition and becomes a curmudgeon. \*\* It’s not his fault- it’s the gold rollin’ through his veins, like a thousand railroad trains… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/34 "2003-02-10T22:16:43Z")
I’m sorry, but The Band just stinks. I’ve never understood their appeal. At least one singer is always off-key, and the instruments sound like they haven’t been tuned. But hey, I know next to nothing about music in general. Just expressing a personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/35 "2003-02-10T22:38:56Z")
Well, your penultimate statement goes without saying. Are you sure you understand the concept of “off-key” ? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/36 "2003-02-11T00:01:04Z")
**Manduck** , your above post is a perfect use of the angry smilie. I’m dying with laugher. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/37 "2003-02-11T00:07:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ludovic \* > \*\*The Band! I love threads! \*\* 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/38 "2003-02-11T02:00:41Z")
The refrain of “The Weight” holds the all-time award for “Best Use of a Conjunction in a Rock 'N Roll Song.” [sub]I made that award up, but so what? If there were such an award, what other song would it go to?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959/39 "2003-02-11T15:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Well, your penultimate statement goes without saying. Are you sure you understand the concept of “off-key” ? \*\* Yup. Take a listen to the aforementioned chorus of “The Weight.” Hell, even to my untrained ear, at least two (and possibly more) of the singers go through puberty on the word “free.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-band/153959.md?page=1)