17 Jan 2013
As I’ve been doing this Side 1; Song 1 thing, I’ve noticed a clear pattern developing - I like songs that call attention to themselves. Whether through explosive loud-soft dynamics or technical showiness, the bulk of the songs that I’ve gone through tend to fall firmly on the “extroverted” side. They want you to like them. They want to be your best friend.
But what about those songs that deliberately keep the listener at a distance, the ones that don’t court your affection? Is there a place for the soft sell?
The Band’s 1968 debut Music From Big Pink is notable for many things, but at the time it was most notable for what it wasn’t. At the height of the psychedlic era, with bands getting heavier and harder, more heady and ostentatious (prog was coming into its own at this time), The Band were a group against time. They weren’t “the sound of 1968″ and that was precisely their appeal.
First, they didn’t look or act the part. They were rural kids with no hippy leanings. They looked more like Civil War re-enactors. They were bros with Bob Dylan during his laying low in Woodstock period, but they weren’t part of any scene or movement (that is, until the country rock movement tried to co-opt them). Second, they were anonymous – no leader, no star. The were called ”The Band,” a vague declaration that only seemed like braggadocio when they turned out to be great. Their first album isn’t even ascribed to “The Band.” They were anti-celebrity, anti-identity, anti-trend, anti-current, anti-cool. Which is what made them so cool.
They were also anti-Side 1; Song 1.
In an effort to not be like everyone else, The Band even kicked off their first album, their first grand proclamation, with a ballad. A ballad. And kind of a weird, wobbly one at that. “Tears Of Rage” is the sound of a codeine stupor – slurred, dead-eyed, a slowed heart rate even by normal ballad standards.
Let’s get this out of the way – “Tears Of Rage” is a very good song. The Dylan and Richard Manuel-penned tune is lovely and sad, wonderfully sung and interestingly arranged (love those horns), but as a first impression it’s baffling. Who is this song for? Who will it excite? Conventional wisdom would have put something like “Chest Fever” at the top of the batting order. Now that song is an introduction. But “Tears Of Rage”? Sounds like Side 2 filler to me.
But then, that’s precisely what made The Band The Band. You say left, they go right. You say stop, they go. If you were to be a fan of The Band, you had to do it on their terms. They weren’t going to manipulate you into liking them. You had to do so organically. Putting “Tears Of Rage” up front may seem counterintuitive to someone with careerist instincts, but that kind of contrary action is what defined the group and made them so vital. Music From Big Pink and the “first song” status of “Tears Of Rage” are the ultimate expression of The Band’s original democratic ideal.
Previously on Side 1; Song 1:
