We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago…..
A “live” album in the 70’s was pretty straight-forward. It usually gave a faithful rendering of an act’s songs. There may be some additions and covers…and some tunes could be longer with extended solos and jamming built in. But there usually wasn’t much flash. Such is the case with “Rock Of Ages” from The Band released in the summer of 1972.
The two record set chronicled the group’s live dates Dec 29,30 & 31st of 1971 at the Academy of Music in New York City.
One thing that sets this album apart (aside from the great playing & singing of a band riding high) was the addition of a horn section. The group augmented their sound by bringing in the cream of the New York scene, Howard Johnson, Snooky Young, Joe Farrell, Earl McIntyre and JD Parron to play charts written and arranged by New Orleans ace Allen Toussiant. It adds much.
The band itself is a marvel. The playing and singing of Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson is strong and clear. That we know now the downfall and tragedy of the band in a few years adds some pathos to these sides.
They do a big chunk of their songbook including crowd favorites like “The Weight”, “The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down, “Rag Mama Rag” and “Stage Fright”. One of my faves has always been “King Harvest Will Surely Come” and also “The WS Walcott Medicine Show”.
The one oddity is Hudson’s rambling organ solo ‘The Genetic Method”. Most bands would give you a drum solo…not this one.
They also give us some outstanding covers including the first track, a lively “Don’t Do It”, a Holland-Dozier-Holland tune originally done by Marvin Gaye….but the boys from Woodstock make it their own.
A 2000 re-release of the album added another LP which included four songs from Bob Dylan who joined the group for the New Years Eve performance. I include them here…
I had some buddies in high school who were big fans of the group. I sadly, didn’t enter their ranks until I got to college and fell in love with the group’s 1975 LP, “Northern Lights, Southern Cross”. I dove into their back catalog with a vengeance and this is one of the high points. Enjoy.
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