Band – Music from Big Pink

Music from Big Pink is the debut album from The Band, a group previously known as Levon and the Hawks and The Canadian Squires, who got started as Ronnie Hawkins's backing band and came to fame (and got their name) touring with Bob Dylan.

With its cover painting by Dylan, three songs either written or co-written by him, and its ragged combining of country, folk, and rock and roll in what would eventually be called Americana, Music from Big Pink met with critical acclaim (though its sales were modest – peaking at #30 on the Billboard Pop Album chart):

• AllMusic gave it a perfect 5 stars, calling it "a watershed work in the history of rock, one that introduced new tones and approaches to the constantly evolving genre"
• CBC Radio ranked it 26th in 2013 in its list of greatest Canadian albums of all time
• Chart magazine named it the eighth best Canadian album of all time in 1996, the 20th best in 2000, and the 14th best in 2005
• Mar*Star ranked it the fourth Canadian greatest album ever in 1992 and the eight greatest in 2011
• Bob Mersereau placed it fourth in 2007 in his The Top 100 Canadian Albums
• Rolling Stone named it the ninth best debut album of all-time and the 34th greatest album of all time
• New Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983) gave it a perfect 5, though the Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) dropped that to 4

The first "greatest rock records of all time" list that I can remember, presumably compiled by a Canadian journalist for (or in response to) Paul Gambaccini's Critic's Choice book in 1977, included this among its top 10 selections, which is probably what prompted me to buy a used copy of it -- I can't remember any of my siblings owning it, despite Rick's Dylan fixation.

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Track Listing

1. "Tears of Rage" (Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel) – 5:21
2. "To Kingdom Come" (Jaime Robbie Robertson) – 3:19
3. "In a Station" (Richard Manuel) – 3:31
4. "Caledonia Mission" (Jaime Robbie Robertson) – 3:53
5. "The Weight" (Jaime Robbie Robertson) – 4:34
6. "We Can Talk" (Richard Manuel) – 3:02
7. "Long Black Veil" (M.J. Wilkin, D. Dill) – 3:02
8. "Chest Fever" (Jaime Robbie Robertson) - 5:15
9. "Lonseome Suzie" (Richard Manuel) – 4:02
10. "This Wheel's On Fire" (Bob Dylan, Rick Danko) – 3:11
11. "I Shall Be Released" (Bob Dylan) – 3:12

Personnel

• Jaime Robbie Robertson – electric and acoustic guitar, vocals (lead on 2)
• Rick Danko – bass guitar, fiddle, vocals (lead on 4, 5, 6, 7, 10)
• Richard Manuel – piano, orgran, drums, vocals (lead on 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11)
• Garth Hudson – electronic organ, piano, clavinet, soprano and tenor saxophone
• Levon Helm – drums, tambourine, vocals (lead on 5, 6)

• The Band – The Band (album)
• The Band – The Last Waltz (album)
• The Band – The Weight (song)
• The Band – Acadian Driftwood (song)
• The Band – Up On Cripple Creek (song)
• The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (song)