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I'm going to write about The Band, even though I'm doing the Johnny's Entertainment fandom thing right now and if i wanted to go around friending people it might be good to write about something they know about, I don't know. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about how much I love the Band, lately. Which I do all the time, but lately even more because the contrast between them and JE is so marked.
This is a little ineloquent because I'm tired and just sort of babbling because I've been wanting to talk about the Band for the past four days and I keep bringing them up in random places. Really, I need Band-loving people to talk to about this or something. I adore them.
If you didn't know, the Band are the people who are currently in my default icon and also a number of my other icons. It consists of Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle), Levon Helm (drum, vocals, mandolin), Garth Hudson (organ, various sized saxophones, accordion, pretty much anything) and Richard Manuel (piano, vocals, drums). Oh, and Robbie Robertson (guitar). Haha. He's the most famous and he wrote almost all their songs (or has been given credit for doing so, I understand that many of them had at least some sort of jam element in their creation) but I'm actually not a fan of him at all. Except that I like his songs. But that's ok, cos if I liked him I guess the Band would be too perfect. Robbie is pretentious and conceited and also fairly responsible for splitting the Band up.
Anyway. I actually think I've posted about them before but whatever. I don't mind repeating myself on this subject. They are actually my favorite group, period. (The Clash is second. The two would never, ever have played at the same event, even if the Band hadn't dissolved just as the Clash was forming. Maybe two years before, I'm not sure of the exact dates.) I have mixed feelings about their name, and this I know i've said somewhere on the internet, so sorry if it was to you, because it makes them really hard to search for and to identify. There might be more Band on Youtube that I can't search for (also the group Tokio Hotel is bothering me cos there's a lot of there stuff and it makes it hard to find the JE group TOKIO. V6 engines, too.) because every single band comes up! And when talking about them to people, I have to be like "The Band. You know, they did 'The Weight'? 'Take a load off, Fanny. . .' No? ::sigh:: They were Bob Dylan's backup band for a while." XD I'm thankful for that, even though I'm not a fan of Bibby Dylan, cos it gives me a reference point for people.
But, despite those problems, I genuinely think that if anyone deserved to be known as simply "The Band," it's them. And it's not necessarily because they're the best musicians ever. Although they are really, really good musicians. Which I'll get to later. But it's also because of the nature of the Band, the way it's set up. The idea is that there would be no front man, no single person out there singing the songs. Everyone would play, everyone would sing. They'd been working as a back-up band for people for, I guess about 8 years? when they put out their first album as The Band, and they didn't want that anymore. They wanted the band - everyone, the drummer as much as the guitarist (well, cos Levon's a hottie) to be equally represented. It's about the five of them together and the sounds they make together. So, they really were the band, and they actually got the name just because everyone in Woodstock, where they were living, started calling them that. Which is charming. But it also suits them so well.
And of course, they're excellent musicians. I mean, I guess I'm no expert. But for one thing, they were professionals. I mean, it wasn't in a "conservatory, studio musician" way (I guess except for Garth, who is AMAZING), they learned to play growing up and traveling around and don't have any more training than other bands of whom I wouldn't get particularly crazy about their instrumental talents. But the Band were supporting themselves with their instrumental ability, and they worked very hard and got very good. But also, they make a really good sound. They play with feeling, the right feeling. The music is energetic, sort of. And it feels. . . real, I guess. Even though I don't have a good ear, it sounds better than anything made on a computer. It sounds analogue, even though I know that's silly cos (and, again, I know very little about music production) it makes sense that something generated on a computer would sound different, but it shouldn't make a difference if something is edited digitally versus on some big mixing track thingie, but it feels like it does. In some dvd or something, Levon talks about how he found some wooden drums and was really happy with the way they sound. And it's weird, cos at the time I was like "geez, how much of a difference can that make?" But when I listen to them, it does sound like their music is made on. . . wooden instruments. Everything feels grounded.
And they work hard to get the sound they want. Sometimes they'll try having each of the three singers do the lead vocals on a song, to see who suits it the most. And they try different ways of playing it and stuff.
I find that I like listening to the Band when I'm outside a lot. It goes well with nature. I guess it's cos of that "wooden" feel. I don't think these descriptions will mean anything to anyone else because I'm not sure what it is about the music that makes me think this. But it sounds natural. As in "all natural," not as in "naturally you'd think that" or something. It feels very real, solid. I guess cos the instruments do sound like instruments. I don't know. It almost has an acoustic sound - certainly not very heavy. (They were post-Cream, by the way, so heavy was happening. But Eric Clapton is a huge fan of the Band and he says he dissolved Cream because he heard the Band and realized that Cream was obsolete.) It has a light sound. Not "lite" like light rock, but airy. It has a solid sound, but it makes you feel light inside, I guess. Or me.
I really feel like I can get into the songs. That's why I sometimes go a while without listening to them, because they have a strong effect on my mood. And it's a good effect, but it's slightly calming and sometimes I feel like being wound up, I guess. I'm not quite sure how it works. I really have to give Robbie credit, they're great songs. Good rock 'n' roll beats (cos the Band isn't "rock," they're "rock 'n' roll," and I really like that about them) lovely melodies. As I said (and repeated a lot), great sounds. They really put me into a good mood. I love to listen to them. When I said "I feel like I can get into" them, I mean I feel it all the way through my body. I listen to it and it feels like I'm infused with the song, sort of. By the way, I try not to be poetic if I can at all avoid it, so the fact that the Band are making me use so many weird terms is a testament to 1) my inability to write about music and 2) the extent of the emotion they engender in me.
And of course, the vocals. I love all three vocalists. Although we like to joke that Rick can sound a bit constipated. XD But his voice is sweet. I also love Rick's floppy dancing and puppy dog eyes. And Levon, of course, I adore his crazy Arkansas singing. I love how Levon gives them, I don't know, rockabilly cred. America cred. His accent is awesome and his singing is awesome. I really like the way they can divide up the songs by sound - if you have playlists that separate out each singer's music, like I do, it's like "ah! Levon's got all the sort of thigh-slapping ones!" XD Jemima Surrender, Ophelia, Yazoo Street Scandal.
Richard's voice is one of my favorites in the world. I love, love, love listening to it. And I love how even though they all shared the singing, the other guys thought of Rich as the lead vocals. And Levon says when they were thinking of going off on their own they were like "well, we had Rich, so we didn't have to worry about the vocals!" They're so proud, and they should be. Back to Clapton, he says of Rich's falsetto that it sends chills down his spine. And it's amazing. As is his regular singing voice. Most of my favorite songs are Rich ones. I don't know. It's like the way they play their instruments - it's not just that it sounds good, it's so full of emotion. Very, very beautiful.
As a side note, it bothers me that Bibby was in a group with those three and he sang. It's just. . . not right.
I also like that 4/5 of them are Canadians. It's just cute. And then Levon's all token American from the South. I like in the Last Waltz (this didn't make it into the movie, it's on the album) they sang Acadian Driftwood and they said "This is a Canada song, so we're going to bring out all the Canadians to sing it with us" and Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and maybe someone else came out. XD Cute!
I was thinking about it in relation to the boy bands I'm currently into, and this isn't meant to slight the latter, but the Band have always sold the music, and never marketed themselves. Until the Last Waltz, I suppose. But especially with their first two albums, and first one in particular, it was very "Here's our music, please listen to it." And people just listened to the music and didn't really know anything about the group that had made it. So it was just the music, out there speaking for itself. I am completely just into my j-pop bands because I'm in love with the boys. I'm not really into the music. I love the way the boys are marketed, and I'm totally OK with the fact of it. But it's also cool and sort of sexy that the Band did what they did. I don't get cute and sacred about music, but their sort of "we're just trying to make the best music we can because we love it" attitude is very nice. It gives a "we're doing this for ourselves, not to please anyone" feeling to it. Although later, and with Robbie, but whatever.
But, even though it wasn't part of their marketing scheme, I do find their personalities charming. (-Robbie) Levon's book, "This Wheel's On Fire," (which should be underlined or italics, sorry) is one of my favorites. It's so entertaining! He's so charming. His stories about their lives are so charming, even when they're dirty. Cos the Band were sort of tucked away in the countryside, but they did get involved in a lot of the more unpleasant aspects of rock 'n' roll. Less so than some groups, but still pretty much fully immersed in the substance abuse culture. I don't know about groupies, they seem a little pre-groupie, but with very healthy sexual appetites. XD
Anyway, I find them really special, as a group, as individuals and as musicians. I'm actually really, really proud to be a fan of theirs. I feel good that I've gotten to know them, since not that many people my age have done so. I guess I have that to be thankful to Katie's boyfriend for! At first I really didn't like them. I was like "Augh, they're country!" But then I watched the Ophelia performance from The Last Waltz and Levon was so sexy and the song was so great that I got completely hooked.
So, there you have it. That was definitely sort of poorly written. I'm really too tired to have done that today, but I really felt like it. I had an intense day at work and at the doctor's (I'm OK, by the way). Oh, and I have to drop an email to my doctor's daughter, because she's considering majoring in religion at Smith. XD
note: edited with their instruments, also I spelled Richard Manuel's last name wrong. O_O It was a typo! Also, I forgot to send that email. I'll do that now. Then go to sleep, it's now 2:30 and I have crazy family stuff to do tomorrow in hot possibly rainy weather with relatives visiting from Hawaii that I basically haven't seen since we had a fight with them 10 years ago. Should be interesting! XD
This is a little ineloquent because I'm tired and just sort of babbling because I've been wanting to talk about the Band for the past four days and I keep bringing them up in random places. Really, I need Band-loving people to talk to about this or something. I adore them.
If you didn't know, the Band are the people who are currently in my default icon and also a number of my other icons. It consists of Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle), Levon Helm (drum, vocals, mandolin), Garth Hudson (organ, various sized saxophones, accordion, pretty much anything) and Richard Manuel (piano, vocals, drums). Oh, and Robbie Robertson (guitar). Haha. He's the most famous and he wrote almost all their songs (or has been given credit for doing so, I understand that many of them had at least some sort of jam element in their creation) but I'm actually not a fan of him at all. Except that I like his songs. But that's ok, cos if I liked him I guess the Band would be too perfect. Robbie is pretentious and conceited and also fairly responsible for splitting the Band up.
Anyway. I actually think I've posted about them before but whatever. I don't mind repeating myself on this subject. They are actually my favorite group, period. (The Clash is second. The two would never, ever have played at the same event, even if the Band hadn't dissolved just as the Clash was forming. Maybe two years before, I'm not sure of the exact dates.) I have mixed feelings about their name, and this I know i've said somewhere on the internet, so sorry if it was to you, because it makes them really hard to search for and to identify. There might be more Band on Youtube that I can't search for (also the group Tokio Hotel is bothering me cos there's a lot of there stuff and it makes it hard to find the JE group TOKIO. V6 engines, too.) because every single band comes up! And when talking about them to people, I have to be like "The Band. You know, they did 'The Weight'? 'Take a load off, Fanny. . .' No? ::sigh:: They were Bob Dylan's backup band for a while." XD I'm thankful for that, even though I'm not a fan of Bibby Dylan, cos it gives me a reference point for people.
But, despite those problems, I genuinely think that if anyone deserved to be known as simply "The Band," it's them. And it's not necessarily because they're the best musicians ever. Although they are really, really good musicians. Which I'll get to later. But it's also because of the nature of the Band, the way it's set up. The idea is that there would be no front man, no single person out there singing the songs. Everyone would play, everyone would sing. They'd been working as a back-up band for people for, I guess about 8 years? when they put out their first album as The Band, and they didn't want that anymore. They wanted the band - everyone, the drummer as much as the guitarist (well, cos Levon's a hottie) to be equally represented. It's about the five of them together and the sounds they make together. So, they really were the band, and they actually got the name just because everyone in Woodstock, where they were living, started calling them that. Which is charming. But it also suits them so well.
And of course, they're excellent musicians. I mean, I guess I'm no expert. But for one thing, they were professionals. I mean, it wasn't in a "conservatory, studio musician" way (I guess except for Garth, who is AMAZING), they learned to play growing up and traveling around and don't have any more training than other bands of whom I wouldn't get particularly crazy about their instrumental talents. But the Band were supporting themselves with their instrumental ability, and they worked very hard and got very good. But also, they make a really good sound. They play with feeling, the right feeling. The music is energetic, sort of. And it feels. . . real, I guess. Even though I don't have a good ear, it sounds better than anything made on a computer. It sounds analogue, even though I know that's silly cos (and, again, I know very little about music production) it makes sense that something generated on a computer would sound different, but it shouldn't make a difference if something is edited digitally versus on some big mixing track thingie, but it feels like it does. In some dvd or something, Levon talks about how he found some wooden drums and was really happy with the way they sound. And it's weird, cos at the time I was like "geez, how much of a difference can that make?" But when I listen to them, it does sound like their music is made on. . . wooden instruments. Everything feels grounded.
And they work hard to get the sound they want. Sometimes they'll try having each of the three singers do the lead vocals on a song, to see who suits it the most. And they try different ways of playing it and stuff.
I find that I like listening to the Band when I'm outside a lot. It goes well with nature. I guess it's cos of that "wooden" feel. I don't think these descriptions will mean anything to anyone else because I'm not sure what it is about the music that makes me think this. But it sounds natural. As in "all natural," not as in "naturally you'd think that" or something. It feels very real, solid. I guess cos the instruments do sound like instruments. I don't know. It almost has an acoustic sound - certainly not very heavy. (They were post-Cream, by the way, so heavy was happening. But Eric Clapton is a huge fan of the Band and he says he dissolved Cream because he heard the Band and realized that Cream was obsolete.) It has a light sound. Not "lite" like light rock, but airy. It has a solid sound, but it makes you feel light inside, I guess. Or me.
I really feel like I can get into the songs. That's why I sometimes go a while without listening to them, because they have a strong effect on my mood. And it's a good effect, but it's slightly calming and sometimes I feel like being wound up, I guess. I'm not quite sure how it works. I really have to give Robbie credit, they're great songs. Good rock 'n' roll beats (cos the Band isn't "rock," they're "rock 'n' roll," and I really like that about them) lovely melodies. As I said (and repeated a lot), great sounds. They really put me into a good mood. I love to listen to them. When I said "I feel like I can get into" them, I mean I feel it all the way through my body. I listen to it and it feels like I'm infused with the song, sort of. By the way, I try not to be poetic if I can at all avoid it, so the fact that the Band are making me use so many weird terms is a testament to 1) my inability to write about music and 2) the extent of the emotion they engender in me.
And of course, the vocals. I love all three vocalists. Although we like to joke that Rick can sound a bit constipated. XD But his voice is sweet. I also love Rick's floppy dancing and puppy dog eyes. And Levon, of course, I adore his crazy Arkansas singing. I love how Levon gives them, I don't know, rockabilly cred. America cred. His accent is awesome and his singing is awesome. I really like the way they can divide up the songs by sound - if you have playlists that separate out each singer's music, like I do, it's like "ah! Levon's got all the sort of thigh-slapping ones!" XD Jemima Surrender, Ophelia, Yazoo Street Scandal.
Richard's voice is one of my favorites in the world. I love, love, love listening to it. And I love how even though they all shared the singing, the other guys thought of Rich as the lead vocals. And Levon says when they were thinking of going off on their own they were like "well, we had Rich, so we didn't have to worry about the vocals!" They're so proud, and they should be. Back to Clapton, he says of Rich's falsetto that it sends chills down his spine. And it's amazing. As is his regular singing voice. Most of my favorite songs are Rich ones. I don't know. It's like the way they play their instruments - it's not just that it sounds good, it's so full of emotion. Very, very beautiful.
As a side note, it bothers me that Bibby was in a group with those three and he sang. It's just. . . not right.
I also like that 4/5 of them are Canadians. It's just cute. And then Levon's all token American from the South. I like in the Last Waltz (this didn't make it into the movie, it's on the album) they sang Acadian Driftwood and they said "This is a Canada song, so we're going to bring out all the Canadians to sing it with us" and Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and maybe someone else came out. XD Cute!
I was thinking about it in relation to the boy bands I'm currently into, and this isn't meant to slight the latter, but the Band have always sold the music, and never marketed themselves. Until the Last Waltz, I suppose. But especially with their first two albums, and first one in particular, it was very "Here's our music, please listen to it." And people just listened to the music and didn't really know anything about the group that had made it. So it was just the music, out there speaking for itself. I am completely just into my j-pop bands because I'm in love with the boys. I'm not really into the music. I love the way the boys are marketed, and I'm totally OK with the fact of it. But it's also cool and sort of sexy that the Band did what they did. I don't get cute and sacred about music, but their sort of "we're just trying to make the best music we can because we love it" attitude is very nice. It gives a "we're doing this for ourselves, not to please anyone" feeling to it. Although later, and with Robbie, but whatever.
But, even though it wasn't part of their marketing scheme, I do find their personalities charming. (-Robbie) Levon's book, "This Wheel's On Fire," (which should be underlined or italics, sorry) is one of my favorites. It's so entertaining! He's so charming. His stories about their lives are so charming, even when they're dirty. Cos the Band were sort of tucked away in the countryside, but they did get involved in a lot of the more unpleasant aspects of rock 'n' roll. Less so than some groups, but still pretty much fully immersed in the substance abuse culture. I don't know about groupies, they seem a little pre-groupie, but with very healthy sexual appetites. XD
Anyway, I find them really special, as a group, as individuals and as musicians. I'm actually really, really proud to be a fan of theirs. I feel good that I've gotten to know them, since not that many people my age have done so. I guess I have that to be thankful to Katie's boyfriend for! At first I really didn't like them. I was like "Augh, they're country!" But then I watched the Ophelia performance from The Last Waltz and Levon was so sexy and the song was so great that I got completely hooked.
So, there you have it. That was definitely sort of poorly written. I'm really too tired to have done that today, but I really felt like it. I had an intense day at work and at the doctor's (I'm OK, by the way). Oh, and I have to drop an email to my doctor's daughter, because she's considering majoring in religion at Smith. XD
note: edited with their instruments, also I spelled Richard Manuel's last name wrong. O_O It was a typo! Also, I forgot to send that email. I'll do that now. Then go to sleep, it's now 2:30 and I have crazy family stuff to do tomorrow in hot possibly rainy weather with relatives visiting from Hawaii that I basically haven't seen since we had a fight with them 10 years ago. Should be interesting! XD
