Woodstock, New York · 1967–1976
From the pink house in the hills to the stage of The Last Waltz, The Band turned roots, gospel and country into songs about floods, farmers and half-remembered saints, played by five musicians who sounded like they'd lived every line of them. Start with the songs, or dig into the story below.
The story
How a backing band for Dylan became one of the most influential groups in rock, and how it came apart.
Read the story →The players
Helm, Robertson, Danko, Manuel and Hudson: the voices and hands behind the sound.
Meet the band →The farewell
The 1976 Thanksgiving concert, the guests, the setlist and Scorsese's landmark film.
The whole night →The records
Where to start, what to skip, and which pressings are worth owning on vinyl.
See the ranking →The most-asked questions
1968 · Big Pink
Who is Fanny? Where is Nazareth? The Buñuel films hiding behind “take a load off.”
Read the meaning →1969 · The Brown Album
A Confederate ballad written by a Canadian and sung by an Arkansan: history, sympathy and real controversy.
Read the meaning →1969 · The Brown Album
The Band's biggest US hit, a clavinet that quacks like a Jew's harp, and a gambler's tall tale.
Read the meaning →Garth Hudson outlived the rest of them by decades, and then, in January 2025, he was gone too. Richard, Rick, Levon, Robbie, Garth: none of them are around any more to argue about what a lyric meant or which take is the real one. So these pages do the arguing instead, one song and one record at a time, written by someone who's been listening since long before it seemed necessary to explain why.