Beautiful! Thanks, John. The long, stoned ramble you mentioned is something one of us will have to ask Garth about when we see him next. Had a group of my own after college (Freedom Alley) that did the same thing as the Basement Boys. We sat in a circle and recorded hours and hours of music. Check the music section on my website (broadwayextended.com). We recorded on cassettes and sure coulda used Garth's help. I played harmonica and the boys would always label me as the colorizer, to me a high compliment. In another mention of Garth's passing, that characterization was said about him. I'm nowhere near his level of genius and creativity, but my experiences allow me to appreciate the brush strokes Garth provided so much more. Lemme know if you ever find that ramble!
Thanks John. There's so many stories around these guys. I've read all the biographies of The Band members I think, and watched many interviews. So many classic songs now, and their sound. Early on when I heard The Band's music I thought they sounded like a band that kept laying while falling down the stairs - everything falling apart and holding together at the same time. Maybe it's this quality that attracted guys like Young and Clapton, and many others to play with them.
Nice article on Garth Hudson here (thanks for sharing, John). I talked to him at length about The Basement Tapes. One thing that really threw him was the question “whose idea was it to record the sessions?”. He became quite shaken - “I’ve never thought about that before”. After a couple of hours obsessively brooding on it he concluded that it had been Albert Grossman’s idea, and that Grossman had wanted to protect his commercial interests by recording any music, anything at all, that was played in the basement.
This is so sad. It’s interesting that you write so well about music AND baseball. Baseball feels lyrical to me in a lot of ways. I know my dad thought so. Maybe you agree.
Thanks! That's an interesting comment and I think you're right. I never would have thought that I'd write three books about music - Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and two about baseball - Last Time Out and Diamond Duels (out in March) back when I was in high school...
Beautiful! Thanks, John. The long, stoned ramble you mentioned is something one of us will have to ask Garth about when we see him next. Had a group of my own after college (Freedom Alley) that did the same thing as the Basement Boys. We sat in a circle and recorded hours and hours of music. Check the music section on my website (broadwayextended.com). We recorded on cassettes and sure coulda used Garth's help. I played harmonica and the boys would always label me as the colorizer, to me a high compliment. In another mention of Garth's passing, that characterization was said about him. I'm nowhere near his level of genius and creativity, but my experiences allow me to appreciate the brush strokes Garth provided so much more. Lemme know if you ever find that ramble!
You bet I will. Thanks for the nice note.
Thanks John. There's so many stories around these guys. I've read all the biographies of The Band members I think, and watched many interviews. So many classic songs now, and their sound. Early on when I heard The Band's music I thought they sounded like a band that kept laying while falling down the stairs - everything falling apart and holding together at the same time. Maybe it's this quality that attracted guys like Young and Clapton, and many others to play with them.
Nice article on Garth Hudson here (thanks for sharing, John). I talked to him at length about The Basement Tapes. One thing that really threw him was the question “whose idea was it to record the sessions?”. He became quite shaken - “I’ve never thought about that before”. After a couple of hours obsessively brooding on it he concluded that it had been Albert Grossman’s idea, and that Grossman had wanted to protect his commercial interests by recording any music, anything at all, that was played in the basement.
Rest in peace, Garth! ❤️💛👍🏻🎶
May his memory be a blessing
This is so sad. It’s interesting that you write so well about music AND baseball. Baseball feels lyrical to me in a lot of ways. I know my dad thought so. Maybe you agree.
Thanks! That's an interesting comment and I think you're right. I never would have thought that I'd write three books about music - Bob Dylan: A Descriptive, Critical Discography and two about baseball - Last Time Out and Diamond Duels (out in March) back when I was in high school...
Have you read The Brothers K?
Not for a long time.
I have read this - Russian authors and Saunders. https://open.substack.com/pub/johnnogowski/p/on-saunders-kindness-and-swimming?r=7pf7u&utm_medium=ios
Great, great article. So sad to lose the last member of The Band. Always unsung, always GREAT! Goodbye Garth. RIP