The Band - The Band [50th Anniversary]

Released on the 22nd September, 1969, the eponymous second studio effort by The Band is a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. It was recorded in the pool house of a home rented by the group in the Hollywood Hills which was once owned by Judy Garland, Wally Cox and, at the time the group worked there, Sammy Davis, Jr. According to Robbie Robertson, the location was chosen to give the songs a Basement Tapes–like feel in what was termed “a clubhouse concept.”

The album includes many of The Band’s best-known and critically acclaimed songs, including “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” which Rolling Stone named the 249th greatest song of all time. The magazine also ranked the album number 45 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Time magazine included it in their unranked 2006 list of the 100 greatest albums.

Robert Christgau, who spent 37 years as the chief music critic and senior editor for The Village Voice, declared it better than Abbey Road, which had been released four days following, writing that The Band’s LP is an “A-plus record if I’ve ever rated one.”

The album is preserved in the National Recording Registry.

The 2CD and 2LP editions feature a new stereo mix of the album by Bob Clearmountain, the previously unreleased complete “Live At Woodstock” performance from 1969, and thirteen bonus tracks including six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate versions.

The Super Deluxe package also features an exclusive book with a new essay by Anthony DeCurtis and classic photos by Elliott Landy. The new stereo mix is also cut at 45RPM and available on 180-Gram 2LP alongside a reproduction of The Band’s 1969 7-inch vinyl single for "Rag Mama Rag" (b/w “The Unfaithful Servant”). Lastly, there is a 5.1 surround mix and 96/24 high res audio on Blu-Ray.

The Band Remastered
Across The Great Divide
Rag Mama Rag
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
When You Awake
Up On Cripple Creek
Whispering Pines
Jemima Surrender
Rockin’ Chair
Look Out Cleveland
Jawbone
The Unfaithful Servant
King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

2019 Bonus Tracks (Previously unreleased)
Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Take)
Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version)
The Unfaithful Servant (Alternate Version)
Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix)
Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down)
Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix)

Live At Woodstock (1969)
Chest Fever
Tears of Rage
We Can Talk
Don’t Ya Tell Henry
Baby Don’t You Do It
Ain’t No More Cane on the Brazos
Long Black Veil
This Wheel’s on Fire
I Shall Be Released
The Weight
Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

Studio Bonus Tracks (from 2000 reissue)
Get Up Jake (Outtake – Stereo Mix)
Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Vocal Take – Rough Mix)
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Alternate Mix)
Up On Cripple Creek (Alternate Take)
Whispering Pines (Alternate Take)
Jemima Surrender (Alternate Take)
King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Alternate Performance)