You know this album. Even if you have somehow managed to miss it over the years, you know it from the countless other albums it has influenced in the 31 years since its release. Music From Big Pink is the closest thing we have to a sacred album in the annals of rock and roll. But let’s put the myth aside for a moment, and discuss the music.

The Band’s debut album was released in 1968, one of the most tumultuous years in the history of this country, and the world for that matter. It was a time of immense social and political change. There was civil unrest, assassination, war raging in Southeast Asia, the rise of the drug culture, and some of the most earth-shaking music ever made as the soundtrack to the whole mess. To say that the Band was unknown would not quite be accurate. They had been slugging it out on the road with Ronnie Hawkins for years, and more recently they had served as Bob Dylan’s backing band. It is fair to say that they weren’t on the radar of most people at the time. So in the midst of all of this change and chaos, what did these four Canadians and one American do? They released an album that took us back to our roots via popular music. Lives were changed. Eric Clapton decided to quit Cream after he heard the album. George Harrison paid close attention to the sound, and became even more disenchanted with the Beatles. (more…)