Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DLXXIII--The Band: Acadian Driftwood

 There's something happening here, but what it is ain't exactly clear, there's a man with a gun over there, telling me...I'm (only one day!) late again....

My introduction to this week's tune, amazingly enough, did not occur with my viewing of their classic rockumentary The Last Waltz.  For whatever reason, though The Band did play the song on that magical night of their final concert (of sorts), director Martin Scorsese chose to not include the song on his film, as did those who assembled the soundtrack album.  Nope, I first heard it on an early greatest hits package of theirs, and while I wouldn't say it was love at first listen, as time wore on it became one of my favorites....

I wrote about The Band in Vol. CLXXXVI, and if I do say so myself, it was a hell of a bio paragraph so I won't be adding much here.  I also wrote about them backing Bob Dylan in Vol. CDLXIX, which means I've written about the songs of one of my favorite bands of all-time only twice (though they've been referenced in nine posts).  Yikes, I've a little work to do.  Sadly, The Band's career was permanently closed last year with the death of Garth Hudson, their only remaining survivor.  Luckily for me, their music lives on forever.

"Acadian Driftwood" was the fourth song on what would be their originals incatnation's final studio album, the rather polar oppositely named Northern Lights-Southern Cross.  The song was released as the B-side of their track "Twilight," which did not chart.  The album peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  "Acadian Driftwood" is an historical account (songwriter Robbie Robertson had a few inaccuracies) of the Expulsion of the Acadians, an ethnic cleansing by Great Britain from 1755 to 1764 from what is now known as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the state of Maine.  Robertson drew from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, Evangeline (itself an account of the Acadian expulsion), for inspiration.

One of the (many) musical elements The Band excelled at was illuminating the exquisite vocals of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Ricard Manuel, and "Acadian Driftwood" is an example par excellence of that ability.  Each gives his vocal take on the tragedy of the Acadians and propels the deep emotion behind the song.  Lyrically, Robertson captures the sorrow and perseverance of the Acadians with a soft eloquence.  Finally, musically the band plays with an understated ambiance, except for the fiddling of Byron Berline which carries the song from beginning to end.  The song closes with some singsong lyrics sung in French, akin to a lullaby.  A masterwork from one of America's finest bands ever, says the guy who's been worshipping them for the last fifty-some-odd years....

Lyric Sheet:  "We had kin livin' south of the border/They're a little older and they been around/They wrote in a letter life is a whole lot better/So pull up your stakes, children, and come on down..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emaycee

What a way to ride, oh what a way to go

One of the greatest nights in rock and roll history

Late one night in 1979 I was watching a newfangled movie channel called HBO and a concert by a band that I'd heard of, but had never heard any of their music, came on and within the first couple of songs I was mesmerized.  It was, as I've mentioned a time or two here, The Last Waltz and it was the beginning of a love affair with The Band that's now forty-four years running strong (and even captured my youngest son, as well).  I could not overstate how much that concert changed the way I looked at music, how much it influenced my future listening to music, and how much joy, even to this day, it has given me.

Sadly, it seems that far too many of my original posts these days are for the deaths of my rock and roll icons, and today is no different.  After a yearlong battle with prostate cancer, Robbie Robertson, The Band's lead guitarist and songwriter, passed away today.  There are many, many people who are historians of rock and roll and/or have written about music professionally who could do much more justice to Robertson's career than I.  What little I can say, can be summed up with what I feel each time one of my heroes heads for the Great Rock and Roll Concert on the Other Side--that a small piece of me has gone with them.

"Acadian Driftwood" wasn't featured in the original release of The Last Waltz, but as I explored their catalog it became one of my favorite songs of theirs, and it seems a fitting tribute to Robertson (lyrics here).  Enjoy:  

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee