Garth Hudson

[JamesVincent]

Hudson, the last surviving member of The Band, passed away today. For me, at least, that actually has great significance since they were one of the biggest musical influences in my early life and still remain a great enjoyment. RIP all.

[Burnaby49]

My favorite band. The first time I heard them was in 1969 when Up On Cripple Creek came out as a single. I was instantly a life-time fan. This was what hooked me, coming loud and clear through a cheap car radio;

Hudson provided innovative accompaniment. For example, the song "Up on Cripple Creek" features Hudson playing a clavinet through a wah-wah pedal to create a swampy sound reminiscent of a Jew's harp or the croak of a frog. This clavinet–wah wah pedal configuration was later adopted by many funk musicians.

Their second album,The Band, is my favorite rock album of all time rivaled only by Blonde on Blonde. I have it on the 50th Anniversary CD along with the Audio Fidelity Gold CD and the Remastered Series. The third Album on my favorites list is Rock of Ages, their superb 1971 live album. Garth Hudson is the standout on that set with his Genetic Method, an almost eight minute long improvised solo masterpiece played on the Lowery organ.

I always considered Garth the key musician in The Band. He was a master at all keyboard instruments along with being a great saxophone player.

Fittingly he died at Woodstock New York where, in 1966-67, Bob Dylan and The Band recorded The Basement Tapes. There's a YouTube video I've watched numerous times where, forty-seven years after recording The Basement Tapes, Garth made a visit back to Big Pink to reminisce;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBc_4dPQusI

[JamesVincent]

Robbie Robertson was probably my favorite among favorites. The innovation of his playing and sound blew me away as a kid first learning guitar. For years the only tape in my car was Best of the Band. As we've talked about before I've had multiple copies of The Last Waltz on different formats over the years and still pull it out several times a year to just sit and enjoy.

Still, trying to pick one person out of an incredibly talented group is hard. Levon Helm's drumming wasn't particularly technical but it was always on time and perfect for the music they played. His singing was great for someone who was chopping wood and singing at the same time.

All of them were top notch and in that time period were among the best of the best.

[Pottapaug1938]

Rick Danko and Richard Manuel were no slouches, either. On The Weight, Helm, Danko, and Manuel took the low, middle, and high harmonies respectively; and Manuel added some high "hee, hee, hee" fills in between verses. Danko's "I said 'wait a minute, Chester...." verse has to be cone of the coolest on a Band song.