On Nov. 15, Capitol/UMe celebrated The Band’s self-titled 1969 second album—their followup to Music from Big Pink—with a suite of newly remixed and expanded 50th Anniversary Edition packages, including a Super Deluxe 2-CD/Blu-ray/2-LP/7-inch vinyl boxed set with a hardbound book; 2-CD, digital, 180-gram 2-LP black vinyl, and limited edition 180-gram 2-LP “tiger’s eye” color vinyl packages.
All the Anniversary Edition releases were overseen by guitarist/songwriter Robbie Robertson and feature a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain from the original multi-track masters, similar to the 50th anniversary collections of last year’s Big Pink releases. The 50th Anniversary Edition’s CD, digital and boxed set configurations also include 13 outtakes, featuring six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate recordings from The Band sessions.
Listen to an earlier version of “Up on Cripple Creek” from the collection
The collection also includes The Band’s legendary Woodstock performance, which has never been officially released. See the complete track listing below.
Exclusively for the boxed set, Clearmountain has also created a new 5.1 surround mix for the album and bonus tracks, presented on Blu-ray with the new stereo, both in high resolution audio (96kHz/24bit). All the new audio mixes have been mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering.
Listen to the 2019 mix of “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
The Band, The Band album cover photo, John Joy Road, Woodstock, NY, 1969. (L-R: Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson) (Photo: © Elliott Landy, LandyVision Inc.; used with permission)
The boxed set also includes an exclusive reproduction of The Band’s 1969 7-inch vinyl single for “Rag Mama Rag”/“The Unfaithful Servant” in their new stereo mixes and a hardbound book with an extensive new essay by author and music critic Anthony DeCurtis and classic photos by Elliott Landy.
[Landy is offering Best Classic Bands readers 10% off the purchase price of a sepia-tone lithograph signed by the photographer of The Band album cover. The iconic photo was taken in the rain on a back road in Woodstock, NY, in 1969. Click here for details and use code BCB.]
Related: Robbie Robertson reunited with Elliott Landy in November 2019
Listen to a previously unreleased, alternate version of “Rag Mama Rag,” with a slowed-down tempo and opening with some rollicking ragtime piano in place of fiddle
For the album’s new vinyl editions, Chris Bellman cut the vinyl lacquers for the album’s new stereo mix at 45 rpm at Bernie Grundman Mastering, expanding the album’s vinyl footprint from one LP to two.
Watch The Band perform “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” at the Last Waltz concert in 1976
Related: “The Last Waltz” – An audience member revisits
Preorder links for The Band (50th Anniversary Edition) are below.
The Band was released on September 22, 1969. In short order, the Band appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, one of only two television appearances the group would ever make, and it had a hit single with “Up on Cripple Creek.” In addition, The Band appeared on the cover of Time magazine in January of 1970, the first North American group ever to do so.
Related: Our Album Rewind review of The Band
The Band is preserved in the National Recording Registry.
The Band (50th Anniversary Edition) Track Listing
CD1; Digital
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
1. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Take) *
2. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version) *
3. The Unfaithful Servant (Alternate Version) *
4. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix) *
5. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down) *
6. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix) *
* Previous unreleased
CD2; Digital
Live At Woodstock, 1969 (Original Rough Mixes)
1. Chest Fever
2. Tears Of Rage
3. We Can Talk
4. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
5. Baby Don’t You Do It
6. Ain’t No More Cane On The Brazos
7. Long Black Veil
8. This Wheel’s On Fire
9. I Shall Be Released
10. The Weight
11. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
Additional Studio Bonus Tracks:
12. Get Up Jake (Outtake – Stereo Mix)
13. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Vocal Take – Rough Mix)
14. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Alternate Mix)
15. Up On Cripple Creek (Alternate Take)
16. Whispering Pines (Alternate Take)
17. Jemima Surrender (Alternate Take)
18. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Alternate Performance)
Blu-ray (Stereo and 5.1 Surround – High Resolution Audio: 96 kHz/24 bit)
1. Across The Great Divide
2. Rag Mama Rag
3. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
4. When You Awake
5. Up On Cripple Creek
6. Whispering Pines
7. Jemima Surrender
8. Rockin’ Chair
9. Look Out Cleveland
10. Jawbone
11. The Unfaithful Servant
12. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
Bonus Tracks:
13. Up On Cripple Creek (Earlier Version)
14. Rag Mama Rag (Alternate Version)
15. The Unfaithful Servant Alternate Version)
16. Look Out Cleveland (Instrumental Mix)
17. Rockin’ Chair (A Cappella / Stripped Down)
18. Up On Cripple Creek (Instrumental Mix)
“Classic Albums – The Band” (Documentary)
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI already have their Woodstock cd.Also have the Who
It was a crap album then and still is one. Faux country music…not even 50% of a good Gram Parsons recording, or Gene Clark. better you should go out and buy a Marty Stuart album!