We recently rec'd an honest question from one our readers (Rob Mullins):
I am a new fan of The Band and love their music. Can anyone out there give me a brief history of the "Brown Album"? I can't seem to find it anywhere....or even that it exists. Love the blog, Thanks
We responded w/ the following:
The Brown album (1969), also self-titled The Band (Brown album is sort of a nickname for the album) was predominantly recorded in LA w/ producer John Simon who resides near Woodstock, NY & was almost considered the 6th member of The Band. The Band was housed & recorded much of the album in a frmr home of Sammy Davis, Jr. (it’s currently for sale for $2-3 mill – we have a past posting about it). The Brown album is one of the most original albums ever made, especially when The Band did not subscribe to the typical hippy culture & genre of the time. The Band created its own sound. The cover of the album was photographed by famed Woodstock, NY resident & official ’69 Woodstock Festival photographer Elliott Landy (his house is located fairly close to Big Pink). The pic was taken on John Joy Rd (now paved) & we have a post about it as well. One of the best ways to learn about the album is to rent or purchase A&E’s Classic Albums episode about the Brown album. Everyone except Richard Manuel was interviewed, including John Simon.
All you veteran fans & associates to The Band, please feel to chime in. Thanks, Rob.
1 comment:
The Band wanted to name the album 'Harvest' (my favorite unused album title) however, the record company didn't want any confusion on the name of the band on the second album so they wanted 'The Band' written on the cover. The Band, however, was not interested in having a bunch of words on the cover and opted to just write: 'The Band'
!DEW
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