Favourite member of The Band

voted richard manuel, for the singing

sometimes think that robbie gets given too hard a time on ilx/band threads. ok so he comes across as a bit of a dick on the last waltz - but he was obviously the band's best, most consistent songwriter, and his guitar playing is almost the group's secret weapon.

Between Richard and Levon for me. Tough one. Voted Levon.

I think Levon's going to win this

love levon, but love richard more. and he sang whispering pines, so...

my guess is manuel is going to take this (and i'll probably vote manuel, too). ward otm re: robbie, total asshole on the last waltz but dude contributed a shit load of good music to the band

also i don't know enough about the band to know if robbie was a dick the whole time, or even just in their prime years

Manuel-sung tunes are by so far the best that I don't think I'd think much of the Band without him.

hmm pretty impossible to choose. there is a mid 80s version of "it makes no difference" on the recent cafe lena set that danko sings like there's no tomorrow.

Think Garth could be the dark horse here. In a way I kind of see him as the soul of The Band.

yeah, garth is amazing too. like i said impossible to choose.
here's that danko performance i was talking about
https://soundcloud.com/evanschl/rick-danko-it-makes-no

can't tell if danko or garth is the most underrated member

According to his book, Helm thought Hudson was an absolute genius.

team danko

Toss-up between the singers for me, but voted Danko mostly because he seems so sweet and also sort of lost in The Last Waltz.

Garth is my favorite. his keyboard stuff is consistently what jumps out at me the most from their catalog.

all worth voting for, went with levon

Could end up voting for any of them except for Mike LoveRobbie Robertson.

Can we be shown weirdos + Robbie Robertson?

c'mon robbie the damn songs and had the humility not to sing any of them until the band was over

robbie wrote the damn songs, i meant to write

admittedly, he made up for lost time hubris-wise later

Wasn't there some question as to how much Robbie wrote? iirc, when the rest of the Band saw the credits on the brown album, they weren't happy that these songs they'd all collectively come up with were credited solely to Robbie. Manuel I think was hit particularly hard.

And anyway, the Band made great music without Robbie, but Robbie never made great (or even tolerable) music without the Band.

can't believe you'd diss 'somewhere down the crazy river' like that

considered danko, voted garth. richard always kinda creeped me out

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Voted Danko. For both singing (though only just over Manuel) and for playing (he is fantastic).

Went for Levon after much um-ing and ah-ing. His vox on Up On Cripple Creek, The Weight and The Night... are stellar.

Robbie's solos are the best, such a distinctive style

also How to Become Clairvoyant was a real good record

just watched that "ain't in it for my health" levon doc (streaming on netflix now) -- very good film. though seeing him at the doctor getting various things inserted into his nose was uncomfortable viewing. (kind of interesting to hear pelt's version of "sunflower river blues" pop up during one sequence too)

Anyone read Barney Hoskyns' book on The Band? Is it any good?

yeah it's pretty good if i recall correctly. could probably do with an update at this date? maybe he's already done that.

yeah great book

I just watched that Levon doc, too. While I don't recall him saying anything negative about any other particular member of the Band in the footage used (he does single out Manuel for praise), the point is nonetheless made that they were all in it together until the royalty statements started coming in, when Robertson's nearly complete stranglehold on publishing renumeration for the music they made *together* became an irreconcilable difference.

There's a sequence where Billy Bob Thornton is hanging out with Levon and—it's cute—finally works up to asking him some fanboy questions about the old days. He brings up Stage Fright (the album), at which Levon cuts him off to note that by then the Band was basically over, creatively, due to the tensions. Somehow that had never occurred to me. I always kind of assumed that Stage Fright was only good, not great, because who can keep making albums as superb as those first two? But I guess simmering resentment and mistrust would maybe sap you of doing your best work.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Yay Levon!

One person favors total douchebags /youtube

http://prousanutrition.com/images/made_in_usa.jpg

Lazy slacker can't be bothered to learn more'n one instument

http://townmapsusa.com/images/maps/map_of_marvell_ar.jpg

poor the garth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbaum5hYu4U