Music My Mom Taught Me #1 : Given this Sunday’s Hallmark holiday, here comes a series of posts today-and-onward revisiting the roots of my musical knowledge, as handed down by my still-hip mother, Candace, with deep gratitude.
No question what comes first: the Band.
THE capital-B Band.
I will never forget the day Mom stumbled upon Scorsese’s concert film ‘The Last Waltz’ on The Movie Channel back in ‘82, and how excitedly she hollered for me to come watch. ‘I just saw the most incredible thing!’ she told me, scarcely looking away from the TV, filled with the image of Neil Diamond in a hideous blue suit.
‘Have you ever heard of the Band?’ Mom asked.
‘What band?’ I wondered.
‘No,’ she replied, ‘THE Band.’
‘That’s what I meant: What’s the band?’
‘Right: It’s THE Band.’
‘OK, OK … THE band. But what band?’
‘No, THE Band.’
‘Mom …’
‘THE Band. Like capital-B Band.’
‘They’re the Capital B Band?’
‘No, no … just the Band.’
‘Just … the Band.’
‘Right.’
‘The … Band.’
‘Yup.’
Pretty sure I rolled my eyes. ‘Whatever, Mom. *That’s* Neil Diamond,’ I insisted.
But then she reported her findings from the past half-hour or so: the galvanizing start of the movie, which is actually the final moment in the true-Band’s history, their final encore … and how Dr. John had sat in, and Neil Young, ‘and some guy named Ronnie Hawkins? And I could’ve sworn Joni Mitchell was singing a little bit ago.’ Then Joni appeared on screen: ‘Look! I was right! What is this movie?!? How have I never heard of it before?!?’
That moment set off a musical exploration into the Band’s (and thereby Dylan’s and other) catalog(s) that bonded us like superglue. She’d already introduced me to the Beatles and the Stones via her old records, a post for later. But THIS … this group, these albums — that’s what palpably lit my pilot light. Wheel’s on fire, indeed.
(Note: All LP pics in these posts are my mother’s originals.)