Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXXXVI--The Band: It Makes No Difference

Like many folks, my introduction to The Band came from Martin Scorsese's seminal rockumentary, The Last Waltz.  I've watched it as much as I've listened to any album by any artist (helped along by the fact that my youngest son loves it as well and when he was younger he could watch it on an endless loop), and lo, these forty some odd years since I first saw it on HBO when HBO was some newfangled TV oddity, I enjoy it--and The Band--as much as ever.  Much like I noted last week with Johnny Cash and other solo artists, there are few bands (The Beatles, The Who, The Replacements, The Jam) whose music I admire as much as The Band's.

In the early 1960's, four Canadians (Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson) got together with one American (Levon Helm) and worked around Toronto as the backup musicians for Ronnie Hawkins.  Eventually they tired of both Hawkins and playing cover versions and broke away on their own.  They became Bob Dylan's backing band for a few albums and tours before becoming The Band in 1969 and setting the critical world on fire. Over the next eight years, The Band would release seven albums (their first two show up on many best of all time lists), tour incessantly, have some decent commercial success (but nothing like some of their peers), and become critical darlings.  Tired of touring, Robbie Robertson conceived of The Last Waltz in 1976 as a farewell concert and stepped away from the group.  The Band would reunite sans Robertson and resume touring in 1983, eventually releasing three more albums.  Sadly, Richard Manuel committed suicide in 1986, and Rick Danko would die in his sleep in 1999 (after many years of hard living), and The Band ceased to exist.  Through the years, there was much vitriol aimed at Robertson over songwriting credits (see also, money), so much so that Levon Helm refused to reunite with him at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1994 (in fairness, some of what Robertson did does sound just a tad hinky).  In the end, I think The Band ranks with the Beach Boys as American's greatest rock and roll band (actually they would be the greatest in my estimation), but time has not been as kind to them (at least to your average music fan) as bands such as the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, and the aforementioned Beach Boys.  Which is a damn shame--they were really a hell of a group.

Released in 1975 on their Northern Lights--Southern Cross LP, "It Makes No Difference" was never released as a single, so there's no shout out to Billboard magazine this week.  Many consider it to be Robertson's magnum songopus (just trying to keep it interesting), and I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that claim, though "Acadian Driftwood" from the same album would stand right alongside it as far as best song he's ever written.

I've noted often here on FNJ that there are few things rock and roll does better than create songs for the brokenhearted (and you only need one broken heart over the course of your lifetime--and how many of us haven't had at least one of those?--to appreciate such songs), and "It Makes No Difference" is a fine addition to the pantheon of songs devoted to a broken heart.  The song is also a testament to the greatness that can emerge when there is a confluence of all the musical elements--from Robertson's heartfelt lyrics to the backing vocals of Helm and Manuel, from Robertson's subtle yet mimicking guitar to Hudson's saxophone solo.  But truly the wonder of this song is Rick Danko's vocals--Danko captures the heartache of lost love without becoming maudlin and probably delivers the performance of his career. 

Lyric Sheet:  "Without your love, I'm nothing at all/Like an empty hall, it's a lonely fall/Since you've gone it's a losing battle/Stampeding cattle, they rattle the walls..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee