New biography of The Band’s Richard Manuel reveals his ‘critical part’ in the group’s success

The Band‘s Richard Manuel is the subject of a new biography, Richard Manuel: His Life and Music, from the Hawks and Bob Dylan to The Band.

One of The Band’s three main vocalists, as well as pianist, occasional drummer and sometime songwriter, Manuel died by suicide in 1986. The book by Stephen T. Lewis has new interviews with friends, family and colleagues, like Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, plus detailed commentary on Manuel’s entire musical output. 

Lewis tells ABC Audio he decided to focus on Manuel after watching the 2019 documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band.

“I think I was hoping for more out of [the film],” Lewis says. “And while the idea had been spinning around, all that kind of gave me the inspiration to say, ‘Hey, let’s dive a little deeper into this guy’s life.'”

Lewis details Manuel’s background, his musical roots and his self-destructive tendencies.

“I think once fame took over, it was hard for him to stay creative,” Lewis notes, describing Manuel as a perfectionist who couldn’t take the pressure. “The record label was like, ‘We need 12 songs.’ Robbie [Robertson], a different kind of guy, is like, ‘Twelve songs. Let’s go!’ Richard’s like, ‘Twelve songs?!’ … That was his undoing in a lot of ways.”

The Band was hugely influential, inspiring the likes of Clapton, The Beatles and Elton John, but they’re not often mentioned with other top bands of that era. Lewis feels his book might help correct that.

“Their music was so honest and so real that it wasn’t popular,” he says. “But over the years, I feel like it’s getting the respect that’s due. And that’s kind of the reason I wrote about Richard, is if you have a band that moves rock music in an entire direction, he’s got such a critical part in that.”