The Band FAQ

In The Band FAQ, author Peter Aaron digs deep to discuss different facets of The Band’s collective and individual stories. He

• provides intensive analysis of their recordings;
• highlights their key concerts, collaborations with Bob Dylan, outside projects, musical and non-musical influences, and their contemporary artists;
• examines the group’s formidable effect on popular music and their still-thriving legacy.

In a way that no prior rock act had done, The Band assimilated, remade, and contagiously celebrated the rich, deep tributaries of American vernacular music. Blues, country, jazz, folk, gospel, soul, rock ‘n’ roll—the members soaked it all up, distilling what they heard and felt into an alchemical brew all their own. Via this vibrant concoction, the group—Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson—reshaped popular music, creating the genre now known as roots rock and giving us classic songs like “The Weight,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

A selection of rare images rounds out the book, making it a must-have for new and longtime fans. Softcover, 375 pages, 71 black-and-white illustrations, with a trim size of six by nine inches. Published by Backbeat Books in 2016. The ISBN is 9781617136139.

About Peter Aaron

 Mr. Aaron is the author of If You Like the Ramones…, and the music editor of Chronogram magazine. He was the frontman for the Chrome Cranks, an influential New York band. His writing has appeared in the Village Voice, the Boston Herald, and other publications.