RICK DANKO AND RICHARD MANUEL
''LIVE AT O'TOOLES TAVERN''
JULY 21 2009
RECORDING DATE DECEMBER 12, 1985
50:01
**********
1 Intro 00:32
2 C. C. Rider 04:39
3 My Love 04:46
4 Whistle Stop 05:10
5 Unfaithful Servant 04:10
6 She Knows 03:41
7 Honest I Do 03:44
8 King Harvest 04:47
9 It Makes No Difference 06:48
10 Banter 00:52
11 Chest Fever 06:17
12 Everynight And Everyday 04:29
**********
Editorial Review
www.amazon.com
2009 live archive release from Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, who were key members of the Band. During the '80's, the various members busied themselves with sessions and albums of their own. This performance features Danko and Manuel captured during the late performance at O'Tooles Bar in Scranton PA on the 12th of December 1985. The set list on this recording features the two artists in fine form throughout and also features the Band classics, 'Unfaithful Servant', 'King Harvest' and 'Chest Fever'. As a document of two legendary musicians, this recording is an important one. It was also recorded less than three months before the sad and untimely death of Manuel.
**********
REVIEW
By Stuart Jefferson TOP 100 REVIEWER on September 8, 2009, www.amazon.com
One disc approximately 50 minutes long. The sound is very good,with a few slight imperfections (snaps and pops) here and there. These are most evident when listening to this on headphones-otherwise don't worry. The recording is warm,which suits these tracks,the vocals are up front and very clean. The sound is like sitting up front in a small venue. The notes are minimal-a short paragraph on the recording process,that's it.
This is a live recording from the late Rick Danko and the late Richard Manuel of THE BAND. For anyone who likes the aching,lived in vocal sound of THE BAND,this is for you. Danko's voice is in fine form,sounding very much like he just recorded "Music From Big Pink",or "The Band". Manuel's voice,which is the higher of the two,sounds every bit as good as it did on his solo album "Whispering Pines",from a while ago. When their voices blend,the combination is truly magnificent. Backed primarily by Manuel's electric piano,which also has the sound of his old band,and a bit better sound than the above mentioned live album,this is some truly heartfelt sounding music. Danko takes the lead on most of these tracks,with Manuel filling in when needed to give added weight to the songs. Occasionally there is a bit of guitar mixed in,as on "It Makes No Difference",which is a highlight. Mixed way back on these tracks is the sound of a bass guitar,but its very distant sounding. But really,every listener will have their own favorites here,because the singing and playing is of such a high quality.
All the songs are in a medium slow tempo,which only highlights both men's vocals. The accent is squarely on the two voices-there's no instrumental interplay to get in the way-which is a plus on this recording. There's a couple of well known songs from THE BAND,"King Harvest",and "Chest Fever",and a few other tracks people will recognize. Thankfully there is little between song banter,which heard once,can become tedious. Saying that,track ten is titled "Banter",which is exactly what it is-but its mercifully short.
The song "Chest Fever" lacks the fullness of the full band recording everyone's familiar with,but the plus side is that its very atmospheric. With little instrumental backing,the accent is on the voices,which are very visceral,and Manuel's piano carries the melody along well enough between verses. The vocal blending is rougher sounding,and gives this track a different feel,which is satisfying in its own way. The vocals throughout this album have a slightly woozy,boozy,good time sound-much more so than when they played together in THE BAND. This is evident from the beginning of the first track,"C C Rider",which sets the stage for the rest of this album.
This album is for listeners who liked the worn work shirt,good time sound of THE BAND,when that group just seemed to roll along from song to song. The style is different from their ex-band mate Levon Helm,yet this could sit between his recent releases and THE BAND's pretty comfortably. For this music,while different in its feel and style,springs from the same place-honest music played and sung with great feeling. This is something that listeners will find themselves playing over again and,each time,hearing something new. Isn't that what good music is all about?
**********
BIOGRAPHY/RICK DANKO/AMG
Bruce Eder
Rick Danko was - and will forever be known as - one of the three singing members of the Band, as well as their bassist. Their principal lead singer on the first album, he was second of the members to join the group back in its days backing Ronnie Hawkins, and the second of its members to pass away.
He was born Richard Clare Danko on December 29, 1942, in Greens Corner, Ontario, Canada, near the town of Simcoe. The latter is in a part of Ontario populated by a large number of families descended from expatriate Southerners from the United States, and the echoes of Southern culture ran through the music and language in the area, with a special emphasis on country music. Danko's whole family played or sang, and he was playing banjo for his classmates as early as the first grade. As a boy, he listened to Hank Williams, among other country artists of the late '40s and early '50s, in addition to gospel and R&B, with Sam Cooke and Fats Domino both strong influences during his teen years. He gave up school to go into music full-time when he was in his mid-teens, and made the jump to the big time -- relatively speaking -- by joining Hawkins' backing band, the Hawks, at age 17. Guitarist Robbie Robertson was already a member of a couple of years' standing at that point, and Danko was initially the group's rhythm guitarist, but he soon learned to play bass and switched to the four-string instrument. He not only mastered the electric bass but also the upright acoustic bass, and became an amazingly accomplished player on both instruments at a very young age.
Danko was part of the split with Hawkins when the group broke away from their former employer, and he was along for the ride when they got picked up as Bob Dylan's backing band, and for the switch in name from the Hawks to the Band. And when they emerged to fame in their own right in 1968, it was as equals -- initially, at least, no member was more or less prominent than any other in terms of their sound; this changed somewhat as Robbie Robertson (also their in-house songwriter) began receiving greater exposure, but in the beginning and for the first few years, everyone had an equal part and was equally important in the eyes of the public. Danko's bass work was distinctive enough, but along with Levon Helm and Richard Manuel, he was also one of the three singing members of the group, and his lead vocals were all over their debut album, Music from Big Pink. But Danko was badly injured in an automobile accident soon after that album's release -- people write about Dylan's motorcycle accident from this era, but relatively few realize that the man who sang lead on most of Music from Big Pink broke his neck and back in nine places, and spent months in traction recovering. He was back for their second album, The Band, and he became one of the most memorable new vocalists in rock during this period, his performances on songs such as "When You Awake," "The Unfaithful Servant," and "It Makes No Difference" among the most searingly beautiful in '60s and '70s rock.
The group got through its prime years with some shifts in emphasis and changes in its dynamics -- Manuel and Helm became much more visible as singers after the debut album, and Robertson had what amounted to a lock on the songwriting as well; and eventually, amid the stresses of touring and performing, recording and meeting the obligations of their record label, all of the members decided it was time to move on to develop identities separate from the group. In 1977, less than a year after the Band played what was supposed to be its farewell concert, Danko was signed to Arista Records, and his self-titled debut solo album appeared in 1978, unfortunately a little too close to the release of the Band's swan song, The Last Waltz, as a movie and LP set. Danko got good reviews from those critics who could devote the time and space to it, but the Band's release eclipsed any chance he had to find an audience as a solo artist, and by 1980, Danko was without a recording contract. He subsequently rejoined Helm, Manuel, and keyboardist Garth Hudson in a re-formed version of the Band (sans Robbie Robertson) for a tour, which yielded a superb concert video (released on laser disc as well). It was to be the last time that the four members would work together -- in early March of 1986, pianist/singer Richard Manuel, succumbing to years of struggling with alcohol and drug problems, committed suicide.
Danko re-emerged in the mid-'80s in various musical ensembles and combinations, with other ex-Band members (including a film appearance with Helm, Hudson, and Manuel in the movie Man Outside), as well as working with Paul Butterfield and Jorma Kaukonen, among others. He and Helm became part of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, and he also participated in such live events as the Roger Waters concert presentation of The Wall in Berlin, and -- with his fellow ex-members -- was part of a Band reunion in the Bob Dylan 30th-anniversary tribute concert at Madison Square Garden.
For all of this activity, Danko was not -- and had not been for some time -- a well man. He'd shown signs of having an addictive personality fairly early in his post-Ronnie Hawkins career, and as was later revealed, the car accident in 1968 had exacerbated a precarious psychotic condition. And although he'd kept matters under control, there was a price to be paid in terms of his health. Meanwhile, he kept busy musically, joining with American '60s folkie Eric Andersen and Norwegian singer/songwriter Jonas Fjeld for a project that was released as Danko/Fjeld/Andersen in 1993. That same year, he was part of the re-formed Band's Jericho album, a critical success that was followed three years later by High on the Hog. A year after that came Ridin' on the Blinds, a follow-up to Danko/Fjeld/Andersen, and in 1998 came the Band's Jubilation; it would be the last time that the three active original members worked together on a Band project. Danko toured occasionally during this period, but his physical condition made it difficult for him to go on the road; his weight increased dramatically as his health declined, and he was nowhere near his best at some shows. He was also arrested for an attempt to smuggle heroin into Japan, and during the trial he revealed that he had become addicted to the drug while seeking a relief from the constant pain he'd been in since the car accident in 1968.
Yet on a good night, or at a good recording session, he could still surprise fans by recapturing much of his past glory. His live album Rick Danko in Concert, recorded at two 1997 shows, is everything one could wish for in a live performance from the man, vocally and instrumentally; and Live on Breeze Hill, although more uneven, cut with the Band's Garth Hudson, has its transcendent and near-transcendent moments, most notably Danko's performance on "Crazy Mama," and even the band standards come off OK. A brief tour in late 1999 proved him closer to the end than anyone wanted to think -- on December 10, 1999, just under three weeks before what would have been his 56th birthday, Rick Danko died in his sleep of heart failure.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/RICHARD MANUEL/AMG
Erik Hage
In a group remembered for their vocal talent, the late Richard Manuel was often seen as the lead singer. His is the first voice you hear on the Band's legendary debut album, Music From Big Pink, a rich baritone so soulful and charged with pathos it's hard to believe it could come from the frail Canadian. His is also the last voice heard on that album, a lonesome, quavering falsetto on Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" that raises the hair on the back of the listener's neck. Sadly, Manuel hanged himself in a motel room in Florida on March 4, 1986.
Manuel, the son of a Stratford, Ontario, mechanic, developed his vocal ability as a youth in the Baptist church choir. He grew up listening to country music, eventually discovering R&B, which would become a huge influence. (His voice would garner frequent comparisons to Ray Charles.) Manuel was the fourth future member of the Band to join the Hawks. In 1961, Levon Helm was the drummer for the Hawks and Robbie Robertson was on bass. Soon, however, Robertson took over as lead guitarist and Rick Danko was added as the new bass player. When Stan Szelest left the group that year, Richard Manuel was brought in as the piano player.
Throughout the legendary career of the Band, Manuel was troubled by drug and alcohol problems. It was only a few years after the Band had reunited in the '80s (without Robertson) -- and during an endless tour of much smaller clubs than the group was accustomed to -- that Manuel committed suicide. No other singer in the group was as admired, however. Even musical giants such as Eric Clapton (who has made no secret of his fascination with Manuel) were in awe of his vocal ability. Clapton would go on to record a tribute to Manuel, "Holy Mother," on his 1986 album August. Ex-bandmate Robbie Robertson would also eulogize Manuel on his 1987 solo debut with "Fallen Angel." Richard Manuel's grave is at the Avondale cemetery in Stratford, Ontario.
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''LIVE AT O'TOOLES TAVERN''
JULY 21 2009
RECORDING DATE DECEMBER 12, 1985
50:01
**********
1 Intro 00:32
2 C. C. Rider 04:39
3 My Love 04:46
4 Whistle Stop 05:10
5 Unfaithful Servant 04:10
6 She Knows 03:41
7 Honest I Do 03:44
8 King Harvest 04:47
9 It Makes No Difference 06:48
10 Banter 00:52
11 Chest Fever 06:17
12 Everynight And Everyday 04:29
**********
Editorial Review
www.amazon.com
2009 live archive release from Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, who were key members of the Band. During the '80's, the various members busied themselves with sessions and albums of their own. This performance features Danko and Manuel captured during the late performance at O'Tooles Bar in Scranton PA on the 12th of December 1985. The set list on this recording features the two artists in fine form throughout and also features the Band classics, 'Unfaithful Servant', 'King Harvest' and 'Chest Fever'. As a document of two legendary musicians, this recording is an important one. It was also recorded less than three months before the sad and untimely death of Manuel.
**********
REVIEW
By Stuart Jefferson TOP 100 REVIEWER on September 8, 2009, www.amazon.com
One disc approximately 50 minutes long. The sound is very good,with a few slight imperfections (snaps and pops) here and there. These are most evident when listening to this on headphones-otherwise don't worry. The recording is warm,which suits these tracks,the vocals are up front and very clean. The sound is like sitting up front in a small venue. The notes are minimal-a short paragraph on the recording process,that's it.
This is a live recording from the late Rick Danko and the late Richard Manuel of THE BAND. For anyone who likes the aching,lived in vocal sound of THE BAND,this is for you. Danko's voice is in fine form,sounding very much like he just recorded "Music From Big Pink",or "The Band". Manuel's voice,which is the higher of the two,sounds every bit as good as it did on his solo album "Whispering Pines",from a while ago. When their voices blend,the combination is truly magnificent. Backed primarily by Manuel's electric piano,which also has the sound of his old band,and a bit better sound than the above mentioned live album,this is some truly heartfelt sounding music. Danko takes the lead on most of these tracks,with Manuel filling in when needed to give added weight to the songs. Occasionally there is a bit of guitar mixed in,as on "It Makes No Difference",which is a highlight. Mixed way back on these tracks is the sound of a bass guitar,but its very distant sounding. But really,every listener will have their own favorites here,because the singing and playing is of such a high quality.
All the songs are in a medium slow tempo,which only highlights both men's vocals. The accent is squarely on the two voices-there's no instrumental interplay to get in the way-which is a plus on this recording. There's a couple of well known songs from THE BAND,"King Harvest",and "Chest Fever",and a few other tracks people will recognize. Thankfully there is little between song banter,which heard once,can become tedious. Saying that,track ten is titled "Banter",which is exactly what it is-but its mercifully short.
The song "Chest Fever" lacks the fullness of the full band recording everyone's familiar with,but the plus side is that its very atmospheric. With little instrumental backing,the accent is on the voices,which are very visceral,and Manuel's piano carries the melody along well enough between verses. The vocal blending is rougher sounding,and gives this track a different feel,which is satisfying in its own way. The vocals throughout this album have a slightly woozy,boozy,good time sound-much more so than when they played together in THE BAND. This is evident from the beginning of the first track,"C C Rider",which sets the stage for the rest of this album.
This album is for listeners who liked the worn work shirt,good time sound of THE BAND,when that group just seemed to roll along from song to song. The style is different from their ex-band mate Levon Helm,yet this could sit between his recent releases and THE BAND's pretty comfortably. For this music,while different in its feel and style,springs from the same place-honest music played and sung with great feeling. This is something that listeners will find themselves playing over again and,each time,hearing something new. Isn't that what good music is all about?
**********
BIOGRAPHY/RICK DANKO/AMG
Bruce Eder
Rick Danko was - and will forever be known as - one of the three singing members of the Band, as well as their bassist. Their principal lead singer on the first album, he was second of the members to join the group back in its days backing Ronnie Hawkins, and the second of its members to pass away.
He was born Richard Clare Danko on December 29, 1942, in Greens Corner, Ontario, Canada, near the town of Simcoe. The latter is in a part of Ontario populated by a large number of families descended from expatriate Southerners from the United States, and the echoes of Southern culture ran through the music and language in the area, with a special emphasis on country music. Danko's whole family played or sang, and he was playing banjo for his classmates as early as the first grade. As a boy, he listened to Hank Williams, among other country artists of the late '40s and early '50s, in addition to gospel and R&B, with Sam Cooke and Fats Domino both strong influences during his teen years. He gave up school to go into music full-time when he was in his mid-teens, and made the jump to the big time -- relatively speaking -- by joining Hawkins' backing band, the Hawks, at age 17. Guitarist Robbie Robertson was already a member of a couple of years' standing at that point, and Danko was initially the group's rhythm guitarist, but he soon learned to play bass and switched to the four-string instrument. He not only mastered the electric bass but also the upright acoustic bass, and became an amazingly accomplished player on both instruments at a very young age.
Danko was part of the split with Hawkins when the group broke away from their former employer, and he was along for the ride when they got picked up as Bob Dylan's backing band, and for the switch in name from the Hawks to the Band. And when they emerged to fame in their own right in 1968, it was as equals -- initially, at least, no member was more or less prominent than any other in terms of their sound; this changed somewhat as Robbie Robertson (also their in-house songwriter) began receiving greater exposure, but in the beginning and for the first few years, everyone had an equal part and was equally important in the eyes of the public. Danko's bass work was distinctive enough, but along with Levon Helm and Richard Manuel, he was also one of the three singing members of the group, and his lead vocals were all over their debut album, Music from Big Pink. But Danko was badly injured in an automobile accident soon after that album's release -- people write about Dylan's motorcycle accident from this era, but relatively few realize that the man who sang lead on most of Music from Big Pink broke his neck and back in nine places, and spent months in traction recovering. He was back for their second album, The Band, and he became one of the most memorable new vocalists in rock during this period, his performances on songs such as "When You Awake," "The Unfaithful Servant," and "It Makes No Difference" among the most searingly beautiful in '60s and '70s rock.
The group got through its prime years with some shifts in emphasis and changes in its dynamics -- Manuel and Helm became much more visible as singers after the debut album, and Robertson had what amounted to a lock on the songwriting as well; and eventually, amid the stresses of touring and performing, recording and meeting the obligations of their record label, all of the members decided it was time to move on to develop identities separate from the group. In 1977, less than a year after the Band played what was supposed to be its farewell concert, Danko was signed to Arista Records, and his self-titled debut solo album appeared in 1978, unfortunately a little too close to the release of the Band's swan song, The Last Waltz, as a movie and LP set. Danko got good reviews from those critics who could devote the time and space to it, but the Band's release eclipsed any chance he had to find an audience as a solo artist, and by 1980, Danko was without a recording contract. He subsequently rejoined Helm, Manuel, and keyboardist Garth Hudson in a re-formed version of the Band (sans Robbie Robertson) for a tour, which yielded a superb concert video (released on laser disc as well). It was to be the last time that the four members would work together -- in early March of 1986, pianist/singer Richard Manuel, succumbing to years of struggling with alcohol and drug problems, committed suicide.
Danko re-emerged in the mid-'80s in various musical ensembles and combinations, with other ex-Band members (including a film appearance with Helm, Hudson, and Manuel in the movie Man Outside), as well as working with Paul Butterfield and Jorma Kaukonen, among others. He and Helm became part of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, and he also participated in such live events as the Roger Waters concert presentation of The Wall in Berlin, and -- with his fellow ex-members -- was part of a Band reunion in the Bob Dylan 30th-anniversary tribute concert at Madison Square Garden.
For all of this activity, Danko was not -- and had not been for some time -- a well man. He'd shown signs of having an addictive personality fairly early in his post-Ronnie Hawkins career, and as was later revealed, the car accident in 1968 had exacerbated a precarious psychotic condition. And although he'd kept matters under control, there was a price to be paid in terms of his health. Meanwhile, he kept busy musically, joining with American '60s folkie Eric Andersen and Norwegian singer/songwriter Jonas Fjeld for a project that was released as Danko/Fjeld/Andersen in 1993. That same year, he was part of the re-formed Band's Jericho album, a critical success that was followed three years later by High on the Hog. A year after that came Ridin' on the Blinds, a follow-up to Danko/Fjeld/Andersen, and in 1998 came the Band's Jubilation; it would be the last time that the three active original members worked together on a Band project. Danko toured occasionally during this period, but his physical condition made it difficult for him to go on the road; his weight increased dramatically as his health declined, and he was nowhere near his best at some shows. He was also arrested for an attempt to smuggle heroin into Japan, and during the trial he revealed that he had become addicted to the drug while seeking a relief from the constant pain he'd been in since the car accident in 1968.
Yet on a good night, or at a good recording session, he could still surprise fans by recapturing much of his past glory. His live album Rick Danko in Concert, recorded at two 1997 shows, is everything one could wish for in a live performance from the man, vocally and instrumentally; and Live on Breeze Hill, although more uneven, cut with the Band's Garth Hudson, has its transcendent and near-transcendent moments, most notably Danko's performance on "Crazy Mama," and even the band standards come off OK. A brief tour in late 1999 proved him closer to the end than anyone wanted to think -- on December 10, 1999, just under three weeks before what would have been his 56th birthday, Rick Danko died in his sleep of heart failure.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/RICHARD MANUEL/AMG
Erik Hage
In a group remembered for their vocal talent, the late Richard Manuel was often seen as the lead singer. His is the first voice you hear on the Band's legendary debut album, Music From Big Pink, a rich baritone so soulful and charged with pathos it's hard to believe it could come from the frail Canadian. His is also the last voice heard on that album, a lonesome, quavering falsetto on Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" that raises the hair on the back of the listener's neck. Sadly, Manuel hanged himself in a motel room in Florida on March 4, 1986.
Manuel, the son of a Stratford, Ontario, mechanic, developed his vocal ability as a youth in the Baptist church choir. He grew up listening to country music, eventually discovering R&B, which would become a huge influence. (His voice would garner frequent comparisons to Ray Charles.) Manuel was the fourth future member of the Band to join the Hawks. In 1961, Levon Helm was the drummer for the Hawks and Robbie Robertson was on bass. Soon, however, Robertson took over as lead guitarist and Rick Danko was added as the new bass player. When Stan Szelest left the group that year, Richard Manuel was brought in as the piano player.
Throughout the legendary career of the Band, Manuel was troubled by drug and alcohol problems. It was only a few years after the Band had reunited in the '80s (without Robertson) -- and during an endless tour of much smaller clubs than the group was accustomed to -- that Manuel committed suicide. No other singer in the group was as admired, however. Even musical giants such as Eric Clapton (who has made no secret of his fascination with Manuel) were in awe of his vocal ability. Clapton would go on to record a tribute to Manuel, "Holy Mother," on his 1986 album August. Ex-bandmate Robbie Robertson would also eulogize Manuel on his 1987 solo debut with "Fallen Angel." Richard Manuel's grave is at the Avondale cemetery in Stratford, Ontario.
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
