The Band Release Live at the Academy of Music 1971 Box Set

A special moment in rock music captured in The Band’s 4 CDs plus DVD release of 4 concerts that became “Rock of Ages”

The Band at the NY Academy of Music December 1971 (Photo Ernst Haas)

Check your wallets for cash this Fall as everyone is vying for your $100 drop on a re-release box set.

The Band, a seminal rock band from the late 1960s/70s, performed and recorded at a small concert in New York City over the holidays in December 1971.

Previously released as “Rock of Ages” in 1972, the concerts are being reissued as a box set Live at the Academy Of Music 1971. 

The Band, NY Academy of Music 1971

For fans of The Band, there is enough new material in “Live at the Academy” plus the DVD to tempt them to offer Amazon.com their credit cards.

The DVD alone has 27 video recordings most people have never seen, ranking it close to The Band’s 1976 movie “The Last Waltz”.

The complete track listing, including 4 live performances with Bob Dylan, follows the text in this story. It’s an impressive set-list of the best of The Band.

The Band starts in Canada

The Band started their musical careers backing Rockin’ Ronnie Hawkins in the clubs along Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario. Hawkins was a refugee from 50’s rockabilly music in Arkansas, USA. Hawkins decided the US market for his style of rock was too crowded so he set up shop in Canada.

Ronnie Hawkins brought Arkansas native Levon Helm with him. Levon would become The Band’s drummer and its distinctive vocalist, although not the only member who sang. Joining Helm were Canadians Robbie Robertson (guitar), Garth Hudson (organ), Richard Manuel (piano and vocals) and Rick Danko (bass and vocals).

Bob Dylan and The Big Pink

After a slow year on their own, Bob Dylan hired the boys and they became his backing band in 1965 and 1966. It was the edgy rocking sound of The Band that drove folk fans of Bob Dylan crazy as he toured the USA and England. The booing got so bad, Levon Helm quit as drummer.

When Dylan holed up in Woodstock New York circa 1967, The Band stayed with him honing their act into “The Band” with their first release “Music From Big Pink.” Their practice sessions formed the double album The Basement Tapes.

The Band and Bob Dylan

This was a watershed time for rock and roll as Dylan and The Band moved away from psychedelic rock to roots or country rock, with Motown and Stax studio influences.

Many musicians cite The Band as major influencers, including Eric Clapton who quit Cream after hearing “Music From the Big Pink.”

Three years and three albums into their new careers as rock stars, The Band had stalled. Sudden wealth, drugs and alcohol ate away at their drive and creativity.

Robbie Robertson tried to assert control of The Band at this point and added a New Orleans horn section led by Allen Toussaint, which freshened up the sound and repertoire.

For 4 nights in December 1971, The Band with Allen Toussaint’s horn section and Bob Dylan as a guest wowed 3,000 fans per night at the NY Academy of Music.

Patrick Salvo was there and wrote this. “At New York’s Academy of Music, in front of over 3,000 paying customers, they piled two dozen legendary songs from their last half decade into one tumultuous, volcanic concert complete with a totally unexpected six-piece brass section and a mind-awakening surprise guest appearance by the fabled yet unpredictable folk-rock poet — Bob Dylan.” “Rock of Ages”:The Band Breaks Its Leafy Silence

“Don’t Do It” by The Band, NY Academy of Music

The 4 nights were distilled into the 1972 release “Rock of Ages.”  Today there are only 2 members of The Band still alive. Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel have passed on. Garth Hudson is still performing and recording. Robbie Robertson is of course a solo performer and movie music composer. Robertson has worked closely with the producer to release this material.

All four of the concerts’ multi-track recordings have been revisited for “Live At The Academy Of Music 1971”. The new collection features “stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes, including 19 previously unreleased performances and newly discovered footage of two songs filmed by Howard Alk and Murray Lerner. ‘Live At The Academy Of Music 1971’ takes a deep dive into The Band’s historic shows for a definitive document of the pioneering group’s stage prowess at the apex of their career.”

“Live At The Academy Of Music 1971″ is presented in a deluxe, 48-page hardbound book with previously unseen photos, a reproduction of Rolling Stone’s original Rock Of Ages review by magazine co-founder Ralph J. Gleason, an essay by The Band’s Robbie Robertson, and appreciations of The Band and the set’s recordings by Mumford & Sons and Jim James of My Morning Jacket.

The collection’s first two discs feature performances of every song played over the course of the four concerts, and the New Year’s Eve soundboard mix on discs 3 and 4 puts the listener in the room for that entire legendary night: Uncut, unedited, taken straight from the master recordings and presented in full for the first time.

The set’s DVD presents the tracks from discs 1 and 2 in 5.1 Surround, plus Alk and Lerner’s filmed performances of ‘King Harvest (Has Surely Come)’ and ‘The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show.'”

“The stereo mixes for the first two discs and the DVD’s 5.1 Surround mix were done by Bob Clearmountain, with the stereo mixes for discs 3 and 4 helmed by Sebastian Robertson and Jon Castelli, assisted by Ryan Nasci. The collection was mastered by Patricia Sullivan at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The concerts were originally recorded by Phil Ramone with Mark Harman.”

The Band: Live at the Academy Of Music 1971 will be released on September 17, 2013 and is available for pre-order today.

Live at the Academy of Music Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (Friday, December 31)
2. The Shape I’m In (Friday, December 31)
3. Caledonia Mission (Thursday, December 30)
4. Don’t Do It (Wednesday, December 29)
5. Stage Fright (Friday, December 31)
6. I Shall Be Released (Thursday, December 30)
7. Up On Cripple Creek (Thursday, December 30)
8. This Wheel’s On Fire (Wednesday, December 29)
9. Strawberry Wine (Tuesday, December 28) (Previously Unissued Performance)
10. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Friday, December 31)
11. Time To Kill (Tuesday, December 28)
12. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Wednesday, December 29)
13. Across The Great Divide (Thursday, December 30)

Disc: 2
1. Life Is A Carnival (Thursday, December 30)
2. Get Up Jake (Thursday, December 30)
3. Rag Mama Rag (Friday, December 31)
4. Unfaithful Servant (Friday, December 31)
5. The Weight (Thursday, December 30)
6. Rockin’ Chair (Wednesday, December 29)
7. Smoke Signal (Tuesday, December 28)
8. The Rumor (Thursday, December 30)
9. The Genetic Method (Friday, December 31)
10. Chest Fever (Tuesday, December 28)
11. (I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes (Wednesday, December 29)
12. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (Wednesday, December 29)
13. Down In The Flood (The Band with Bob Dylan) (Friday, December 31)
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece (The Band with Bob Dylan) (Friday, December 31)
15. Don’t Ya Tell Henry (The Band with Bob Dylan) (Friday, December 31)
16. Like A Rolling Stone (The Band with Bob Dylan) (Friday, December 31)

Disc: 3
1. Up On Cripple Creek (Previously Unissued Performance)
2. The Shape I’m In
3. The Rumor (Previously Unissued Performance)
4. Time To Kill (Previously Unissued Performance)
5. Rockin’ Chair (Previously Unissued Performance)
6. This Wheel’s On Fire (Previously Unissued Performance)
7. Get Up Jake (Previously Unissued Performance)
8. Smoke Signal (Previously Unissued Performance)
9. I Shall Be Released (Previously Unissued Performance)
10. The Weight (Previously Unissued Performance)
11. Stage Fright

Disc: 4
1. Life Is A Carnival (Previously Unissued Performance)
2. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
3. Caledonia Mission (Previously Unissued Performance)
4. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show
5. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (Previously Unissued Performance)
6. Across The Great Divide (Previously Unissued Performance)
7. Unfaithful Servant
8. Don’t Do It (Previously Unissued Performance)
9. The Genetic Method
10. Chest Fever (Previously Unissued Performance)
11. Rag Mama Rag
12. (I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes (Previously Unissued Performance)
13. Down In The Flood (with Bob Dylan)
14. When I Paint My Masterpiece (with Bob Dylan)
15. Don’t Ya Tell Henry (with Bob Dylan)
16. Like A Rolling Stone (with Bob Dylan)

Disc: 5
1. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (DVD)
2. The Shape I’m In (DVD)
3. Caledonia Mission (DVD)
4. Don’t Do It (DVD)
5. Stage Fright (DVD)
6. I Shall Be Released (DVD)
7. Up On Cripple Creek (DVD)
8. The Wheel’s On Fire (DVD)
9. Strawberry Wine (Previously Unissued Performance)(DVD)
10. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)(DVD)
11. Time To Kill (DVD)
12. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (DVD)
13. Across The Great Divide (DVD)
14. Life Is A Carnival (DVD)
15. Get Up Jake (DVD)
16. Rag Mama Rag (DVD)
17. Unfaithful Servant (DVD)
18. The Weight (DVD)
19. Rockin’ Chair (DVD)
20. Smoke Signal (DVD)
21. The Rumor (DVD)
22. The Genetic Method (DVD)
23. Chest Fever (DVD)
24. (I Don’t Want To) Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes (DVD)
25. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever (DVD)
26. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (Previously Unissued Performance) (Archival Film Clips-December 30, 1971)(DVD)
27. The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show (Previously Unissued Performance) (Archival Film Clips-December 30, 1971)(DVD)

From American Songwriter and Amazon.com.