The Band Vinyl Records – Music from Big Pink & Essential Albums on Vinyl

The Band are one of the most important and influential groups in North American music. Four Canadians — Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson — plus the Arkansas drummer Levon Helm, they came together backing Ronnie Hawkins in the early 60s, then spent 1965-66 as Bob Dylan's touring band through the infamous Judas! electric tours. When Dylan retreated to Woodstock after his motorcycle accident they followed, settling into a pink house in West Saugerties and developing a sound that had no precedent: an Americana synthesis of gospel, country, blues and R&B that felt like a secret history of the continent.

Music from Big Pink (1968) and the self-titled follow-up (1969) are two of the most important records of the rock era. Stage Fright, Cahoots, Northern Lights – Southern Cross, and the monumental concert film The Last Waltz followed. Three of the five members — Manuel, Danko, Helm — have since died, but the recordings remain extraordinary. The Band on vinyl is a particular pleasure — Hudson's organ, Helm's drumming, the way three different voices share the songs — all warm and three-dimensional on a proper pressing. The Capitol 180g reissues are consistently superb.

Best The Band Albums on Vinyl

The Band (1969)
Their masterpiece — the self-titled second album, known to fans as the "Brown Album". The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up on Cripple Creek, Rag Mama Rag, King Harvest (Has Surely Come) — a record genuinely rooted in the American past and impossible to place in the year it was made. Essential.

Music from Big Pink (1968)
The debut. The Weight, Tears of Rage (with Dylan), I Shall Be Released, Chest Fever — recorded in the basement of a rented house in West Saugerties, with Dylan contributing songs and the cover painting. One of the most influential debut albums ever made.

The Last Waltz (1978)
The triple-album live document of the band's final concert with the original lineup, at Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving 1976. Guests include Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters. Scorsese's film captures it brilliantly, but the 3xLP is the essential listen.

Stage Fright (1970)
The third album, often undervalued. The Shape I'm In, Time to Kill, The Rumor, Stage Fright — a darker, more paranoid record than what came before, and the one that most clearly documents the band's internal tensions. Increasingly appreciated.

Northern Lights – Southern Cross (1975)
The fifth studio album and a genuine late-career highlight. Acadian Driftwood, It Makes No Difference, Ophelia — Robertson's most ambitious writing, Hudson's most extraordinary keyboard arrangements. The last great studio album the original lineup made.

If You Like The Band vinyl records, check these out:

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