On This Day, July 1, 1968…
The Band – Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm – released their debut album, Music from Big Pink.
The album was named after a house in Saugerties, New York, shared by Danko, Manuel and Hudson, where some of the songs on the album were composed. It was recorded after the group toured as Bob Dylan’s backing band, and features a Dylan painting as the cover art.
Music from Big Pink features The Band’s future classic “The Weight,” which was written by Robertson. While it only reached #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song became more popular following The Band’s performance at Woodstock, and the song’s inclusion in the movie Easy Rider.
The Band broke up in 1976 following their November 25, 1976, concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, which was filmed for what would become the critically acclaimed concert documentary The Last Waltz.
They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
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