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They did not always understand the surrealistic lyrics Dylan then favored. Says Robbie: "We were used to singers who opened their mouths and went 'Whop-bop-bop-lu-bop,' but Bob decided to say something while his mouth was moving, and it was interesting to see how easy it came to him." What also impressed the group was the kind of music they were now making, though it was still loud and eruptive, like the life they led. "It was like a volcano going off." Most people agreed, including Actor Marlon Brando, who once told them: "The two loudest things I've ever heard are a freight train going by and Bob Dylan and The Band."
Just Living
The Band plays differently today. It lives differently too. Both changes reflect a period of contemplation, and a hard-earned equilibrium. Three of them —Robertson, Manuel and Danko—have lately married and have small children born within months of one another. In 1966 the group drifted up to Woodstock, N.Y., to be with Dylan after he broke his neck in a motorcycle accident. As he recuperated, they all played music together informally. Three songs on the Big Pink album also resulted, most notably Dylan's own I Shall Be Released.
Dylan has since left his house there and moved to Greenwich Village. But The Band plays on in Woodstock. "We didn't just knock off," Robbie tells it. "We were doing some things up here. But we weren't out there in front any more. We were fooling with film and stuff and making tapes and hanging out and doing this—what we do up here —well, just living."
After so long on the road, growing up to quiet was not easy. "Getting healthy," Danko jokes, "is getting up in the morning instead of going to bed in the morning." Another member of The Band describes the transformation thus: "Well, we were shooting films up here, and then we were shooting vodka, and first thing you know we took to shooting fresh air. What a habit."
Keep It Flat
The Band's main effort today in music and life is to try to keep things simple and natural. Personally, this means as much freedom and informality as possible within a framework of intense professional discipline. The group could use a leader and front man but does not have one because, as they explain, "nobody wants the job." Musically, the new style means little or no showmanship and as little jiggering around with electronics as possible. "When people make records now," points out Robbie, "they make things very bright. If you want to hear everything, turn up the treble. We decided not to do that. Whatever sound we were going to get, we would get it in the room, not by using some machine. Just record it flat, and not use echo. On our second album, we did use the bathroom as an echo for the chorus of Jawbone, but that's all."