# The Folk Americana roots hall of fame Inductees: The Band’s time at the top influence remains: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2024/01/26/the-folk-americana-roots-hall-of-fame-inductees-the-bands-time-at-the-top-influence-remains-video-photos/
- Published: 2024-01-26T00:02:22+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame’s** (FARHOF) inaugural class of inductees.

The first induction ceremonies will take place in April although an exact date has
not yet been announced. This is the last article to focus on theDuo or Group of 
Musicianscategory. This category recognizes performers whose initial impact on the
genre was at least 25 years prior to the year of Induction.

Four Canadians and a Southerner from Elaine, Arkansas, came together as a backing
band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins, and for a time were known as The Hawks.
Later, they were better known as The Band and from 1968 through 1975 they were one
of the most popular and influential groups in the world.

Ostensibly a rock band, influences of country, folk, jazz, and other forms of American
roots music were brought together in their work in a way that had a fresh sound 
in an era of psychedelic sound. Their influence and innovation can be found in the
works of Elton John, the Grateful Dead, the Eagles, Wilco, and others.

The Canadians – Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson –
and the Southerner, Levon Helm, were Hawkins’ backing band from 1958 until they 
set out on their own in 1963. By then, they had honed their craft so well that they
outgrew Hawkins and his music.

Robertson years later would say Hawkins “… shot himself in the foot, really, bless
his heart, by sharpening us into such a crackerjack band that we had to go on out
into the world, because we knew what his vision was for himself, and we were all
younger and more ambitious musically.” Hawkins’ strict rules also played a part.
The band grew tired of fines for smoking pot and having girlfriends show up at gigs.

Hawkins’ loss was the music world’s gain. The group performed under various names
before Bob Dylan hired them for U.S. tour in 1965 and world tour in 1966. The group
considered themselves a rock and rhythm and blues band. They knew Dylan as an acoustic
folk artist but did not realize how internationally popular he had become. What 
they did know was that working with Dylan would give them a wider exposure.

Touring as Bob Dylan and the Band, they did not anticipate the negative reception
they would receive. Dylan had gone electric, one of the reasons he hired the group.
And folk music purists were unforgiving. Helm was so put off by the negative reception
he left the tour after one month. He rejoined the group in 1967 after spending the
intervening months working on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

It was in 1967 the group moved to Saugerties, NY, close to Dylan’s home in Woodstock.
Dank, Manuel, and Hudson took up residence in the house that became known as Big
Pink because of its pink exterior. The house, which is now available as a rental
on VRBO, is where Dylan’s “Basement Tapes” were recorded and where the band wrote
the songs for their debut album, _Music From Big Pink_.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.americanbluesscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/510sg2iT5L.
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**Albert Grossman** had assumed management duties for the group and had secured 
a recording contract for them with **Capitol Records.** What they did not have yet
was a name. They thought of calling themselves “The Honkies” or “The Crackers.” 
Indeed, for a time before they began working with Dylan one of the names they used
was Levon and the Crackers.

Capitol Records was not enamored of the names, and in the end the band became The
Band**.** Robbie Robertson recalled that during their time with Dylan everyone just
referred to them as “the band” and the name stuck. Initially they disliked the moniker,
but eventually they grew to like it, thinking it both humble and presumptuous.

_Music From Big Pink_ was critically acclaimed. Most of the songs were written by
Robertson and Manuel, but “I Shall Be Released,” “Tears Of Rage,” and “This Wheel’s
On Fire” were written or co-written by Dylan. Robertson’s “The Weight” was the Band’s
first entry into the music charts topping out at #63. It later gained popularity
and is now one of their best-known songs. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has named
it one of the “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.” Many consider  “The Weight”
an essential part of the American songbook, noting its enduring popularity.

Of course, by the time _Music From Big Pink_ was released The Band had evolved musically
beyond their rockabilly roots learned from Hawkins and the folk influence of Dylan.
One can hear Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B music in The Band’s songs.
Their innovation and experimentation continued through their next two albums, _The
Band_ and _Stage Fright_.

It was around this time internal tensions and disillusionment set in. Robertson 
took more control of the Band’s music and direction leading Helm, at least, to accuse
the former of authoritarianism. Robertson, for his part, claimed his efforts in 
guiding the group were necessary because Danko, Helm, and Manuel were becoming more
unreliable due to heroin usage.

The Band would continue to forge ahead with new albums until 1977. _Islands_ was
the last new full-length album the original five members ever made. It was released
largely to fulfill a 10 LP contractual obligation to Capitol Records. Robertson 
had grown weary of traveling and had already convinced Helm, Danko, Manuel, and 
Hudson to retire from live performances.

The final concert by the original members of The Band took place on Thanksgiving
Day, November 25, 1976. It was filmed by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, a friend of 
Robertson’s. Entitled_ __The Last Waltz_, it is one of the best music films ever
made.

Danko, Helm, Hudson, and Manuel would get back together and begin touring without
Robertson in 1983. They were no longer the headliners they once were and personal
demons followed them.

Richard Manuel, aged 42, hung himself in his motel room after a performance on March
4, 1986. He had been clean and sober since 1978 but recently had begun drinking 
and using drugs again. The Band broke up for good following the death of Rick Danko
on December 10, 1999. He died in his sleep at age 55. Levon Helm died at age 71 
from complications of throat cancer on April 19, 2012, at Memorial Sloan Kettering
Cancer Center in New York City.

Robbie Robertson passed away from a long illness on August 9, 2023, aged 80. He 
most recently had provided music for another Scorcese film, _Killers Of The Flower
Moon_.

As of this writing, Garth Hudson is 86 and living in a care facility in upstate 
New York**. **He was the most proficient musician of the group when he joined Ronnie
Hawkins’ Hawks. One of the conditions Hudson insisted on before joining the Hawks
was that he be paid to give everyone else music lessons.

The Band’s time at the top was brief but their influence remains. “The Weight,” “
Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” are still among the best-
known examples of American root music today.

![](https://i0.wp.com/www.americanbluesscene.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/the-
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