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The Secret Chord
The Secret Chord: To Kingdom Come by the Band
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The Secret Chord: To Kingdom Come by the Band

Musical tension between the sacred and profane.

In honor of the passing of keyboard great Garth Hudson of The Band.

Image: spotlightnews.com

Transcript


Hello all, and welcome to episode 44 of the Secret Chord Podcast. This week, I'm excited to talk about one of my favorite bands, which is actually called the Band. The band was a Canadian American rock group formed in Toronto in 1967. It was described by music critic Bruce Elder as one of the world's most popular and influential rock groups. Their music was adored by critics who took them as seriously as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, which is not too bad. The band successfully combined elements of Americana, folk rock, jazz, country, and R&B and were a significant influence on later musicians such as the Eagles, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, the Flaming Lips, and someone who I just discovered recently, Wilco.

So, as I mentioned, the band consisted of four Canadians and one American, Rick Danko, who played bass guitar, vocals, and fiddle; Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm on drums. Between 1958 and 1963, they originally formed as a band called The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. In the mid-1960s, they increased their profile by becoming Bob Dylan's backing band. His 1966 tour was notable and controversial as Dylan's first with an electric band, and the audience didn't really love it, at least some of them. After leaving Dylan and changing their name to the band, they released several albums to critical and widespread acclaim with a string of hits like The Wait and the Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. According to all music, their influence on several generations of musicians has been substantial. And music journalist Aronowitz called their country Soul a sound never heard before.

The group was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them as number 50 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. And in 2008, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, The Weight was ranked 41st on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Now back to their association with Bob Dylan for a second. In a 1971 review for Cream magazine, critic David Marsh wrote, “If I speak in an almost worshipful sense about this music, it is not because I have lost perspective. It is precisely because I have found it within music. Yes, that was made five years ago, but it is there and unignorable.” Their first album, Music From the Big Pink, in 1968, was widely acclaimed. The album included three songs co-written by Bob Dylan, This Wheels On Fire, Tears of Rage, and I Shall Be Released, as well as The Weight, the use of which in the film Easy Rider would make it one of their best-known songs.

Though the rhythm section often was reminiscent of Stacks or Motown style, rhythm and blues. Robbie Robertson cites Curtis Mayfield and the Staple Singers as major influences, synthesizing many musical genres. With only about 10 songs to an album, it's highly instructive to note what a group picks. Their inclusion of a classic Negro spiritual tells us a lot about where they were coming from and their dedication to many forms of indigenous American musical styles. Field Hollers laid the foundations for the blues, spirituals, and eventually rhythm and blues, which became rock and roll, which, therefore, has spiritual roots. This is Off the Moondog Matinee album from 1973. This is Didn't It Rain.

You can almost hear the echo of a train chugging past the field where people were out working and singing to ease the burden, but also to educate, in this case, about the classical biblical theme of Noah's Ark. The song has been covered many times, and truth be told, my very favorite is Mahalia Jackson's. Still, I really like what the band added to it. The band had four great singers, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm, each with a very distinctive voice. Helm's Southern accent was prevalent in his raw and powerful vocals. Danko sang in an unusual choppy enunciation, and Manuel often altered between falsetto and a soulful baritone. The singers regularly blended harmoniously, and the singing was more or less evenly shared. Among the four, both Danko and Helm have stated that they saw Manuel as the band's lead singer.

Every member was also a multi-instrumentalist. There was little instrument switching when they played live, but when recording, the musicians could make up different configurations in service of the song keyboardist. Garth Hudson, in particular, could coax a wide range of timbers from his Lowry organ on the choruses of tears of rage. Helm's drumming was often praised by critics. John Carroll once declared that Helm was the only drummer who could make you cry. Now, we said that rock and roll has roots in the spiritual, and that's true. It's also true that there's a side to the music. And in fact, the terms rock and roll and Jazz were both euphemisms for sexuality. Part of what has made this music so potent for so long is this dichotomy. There's a tension in it at once, pulling us higher and lower like life itself.

I've mentioned this in the past, but I've often wondered how musicians who didn't lead such exemplary lives could make such elevated art. And I long ago concluded that the high parts come from the soul and the rest from their core reality, which tends to exert a negative influence. In the film The Last Waltz, Garth Hudson said, “There's a view that Jazz is evil because it comes from evil people. But actually, the greatest priests on 52nd Street and on the streets of New York City were the musicians. They were doing the greatest healing work and knew how to punch through music, which would cure and make people feel good.” Now, I would argue that it's not always just about feeling good, but his point is well taken. There's a certain risk where musicians go in order to create that happiness in us, and truth be told, that plays can chew them up and leave them for dead if they're not careful. There's something almost Promethean in scaling those musical heights and bringing down the fire.

Let's hear another tune that deals explicitly with that theme from 1975’s Northern Lights, Southern Cross. This is Forbidden Fruit by the great The band.

That is such a great tune. This tune sounds much more pop-like than some of their other work. Listen to this section between 1:35 and 1:55 and tell me they're not anticipating the upcoming disco revolution. It's just great stuff. And in terms of the lyrics, they say:

High and lonesome out on Times Square, haven't got a dime, ain't got a prayer. Deliver us, Lord, from this golden calf. People only want what they cannot have. How can I walk with this ball and chain? How can I land in this hurricane? Or is this part of man's evolution to be torn between truth and illusion? Forbidden fruits, that's the root that you better not take forbidden fruits. Just watch out for the sign of this snake.

Once again, we see overt biblical themes and a linkage between humanity's tendency to pursue falsehood and cheap substitutes for what is ultimately and truly pleasurable and long-lasting. The golden calf and the snake are symbols of this myopic tendency to have what is easy and fast while, by and large, true pleasure, which I would define as a transcendent pleasure, takes quite a lot of time and effort to develop. And though they sing about it and seem aware of it, most of the members of the band struggled with addictions and had fairly tough lives.

Interestingly, lead guitarist Robbie Robertson used drugs specifically to attempt to generate transcendental experience. In an interview, they asked him once,

Have you taken peyote?

Sure.

Did you get that direct line to God?

Yeah, it's such a natural part of us. But people go to churches, and an interpreter, a priest, rabbi, whatever says, okay, I'll see if I can get you in touch with God.

This says no interpreter is necessary. So again, I get where Robbie is coming from, but I don't agree that religious leaders are the conduits to get us to God any more than a personal trainer is a conduit to fitness. They are resources, wells of inspiration. But at the end of the day, each individual is solely responsible for their own spiritual well-being. Psychedelic is a conduit as well and one that could come with a price tag to boot. Now, for our main feature, let's hear all of To Kingdom Come from their 1968 debut album, Music from Big Pink. This is To Kingdom Come by the Great, The band.

Another fantastic song. I love the vocals shared by Robbie and Richard Manuel here. If I close my eyes, I hear Sky and the Family Stone. I also love the carnival piano and organ and the psychedelic guitar riffs. And once again, the band gives us biblical themes. The golden calf, bearing false witness, etc. And, of course, the title Kingdom Come is an area of theology known as eschatology or anticipating the end of days in most spiritual traditions. This is a time associated with peace, joy, and universal harmony. Almost all people can identify with this desire. And though there are very many stumbling blocks along the road, I subjectively think that we'll eventually get there.

In the meantime, we have the music to walk us down the path. These are my thoughts on the great The band, their music, and their spirituality. Hope you've enjoyed considering these ideas. And as always, we'll be back next time with more music and more ideas. Thank you for listening.

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