Rock of Ages

Description

The Last Waltz gets bigger billing, but The Bands 1972 live album Rock of Ages is actually the better representation of a live Band album. Recorded at the tail end of the groups Cahoots tour and over the course of four nights at New Yorks Academy of Music at the end of December 1971, the incendiary concert set bookmarks the close of the first phase of the collectives career.

Rather than follow the lead of most other live records made at the time (and many since), The Band resists any temptation to improvise or extend its material. Instead, the group plays with an intensity, chemistry, and spirit thats nearly unrivaled by any other live album. The quintet also draws on a secret weapon: One Allen Toussaint, who tailors expert horn arrangements for multiple songs, a move that spices renditions of classics such as Dont Do It and Chest Fever. To top it all off, the horn charts are performed by the Rock of Ages Horn Sectiona five-piece ensemble that includes legendary trumpeter Snooky Young (Count Basie, Lionel Hampton) and saxophonist Joe Farrell (Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones).

I felt very much at home with The Band. You could tell in their music they know where theyre coming from and they know where theyre going. Each one had an extremely special interest in what they were doing. Toussaint, as told to Rob Bowman

Do they ever. Unencumbered by the myriad guests and grandiose sense that define The Last Waltz, and energized by Toussaints invaluable work, Rock of Ages is the sound of a great band pulling out all the stops. Robbie Robertsons guitar solos take Unfaithful Servant to a higher ground; The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show kicks with raunchy R&B abandon; Garth Hudson delivers a show-stealing performance on The Genetic Method, a thrilling organ piece that incorporates elements of Anglican church music, folk, classical, and popas well as Auld Lang Syne, due to its being recorded on New Years Eve.