Music From Big Pink

This legendary quintet had already nailed successful stints backing rocker Ronnie Hawkins and electric folkie Bob Dylan by the time they retreated to a big pink house in Woodstock in 1967. They spent most of that year working with Dylan (see The Basement Tapes) and developing songs that would eventually appear on this miraculous, mysterious, and delightfully rambling debut. One listen to the opening cut made it abundantly clear that the Band was no ordinary band: an eerie, mournful, lumbering ballad, "Tears of Rage" (co-written by Dylan and Richard Manuel) sounded like nothing that had come before it--peculiar muted horns, a guitar played through a whirling organ speaker, disjointed percussion, and a tormented vocal performance by Rick Danko. All of the tracks on Big Pink followed suit, each creating its own distinct aura with an odd mix of musical influences and hanging-together-by-a-thread ensemble playing. Robbie Robertson's "The Weight" remains a '60s hallmark while two more Dylan-penned cuts, "This Wheel's on Fire" (co-written with Danko) and "I Shall Be Released," end things in memorable fashion.