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Rags and Bones: An Exploration of The Band

Contributions by Joshua Coleman, Christine Hand Jones, Kevin C. Neece, Charlotte Pence, George Plasketes, Jeffrey Scholes, Jeff Sellars, Toby Thompson, and Jude Warne

After performing with Ronnie Hawkins as the Hawks (1957–1964), The Band (Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm) eventually rose to fame in the sixties as backing musicians for Bob Dylan. This collaboration with Dylan presented the group with a chance to expand musically and strike out on their own. The Band’s fusion of rock, country, soul, and blues music—all tinged with a southern flavor and musical adventurousness—created a unique soundscape. The combined use of multiple instruments, complex song structures, and poetic lyrics required attentive listening and a sophisticated interpretive framework. It is no surprise, then, that they soon grew to be one of the biggest bands of their era.

In Rags and An Exploration of The Band , scholars and musicians take a broad, multidisciplinary approach to The Band and their music, allowing for examination through sociological, historical, political, religious, technological, cultural, and philosophical means. Each contributor approaches The Band from their field of interest, offering a wide range of investigations into The Band’s music and influence.

Commercially successful and critically lauded, The Band created a paradoxically mythic and hauntingly realistic lyrical landscape for their songs—and their musicianship enlarged this detailed landscape. This collection offers a rounded examination, allowing the multifaceted music and work of The Band to be appreciated by audiences old and new.

186 pages, Paperback

Published November 29, 2022

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Jeff Sellars

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Ethan Warren.
Author 7 books10 followers
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November 5, 2022
Look for my review in the LA Review of Books in 2023!
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110 reviews
March 27, 2024
wicked, good for my dissertation. loved the one on persona and the one on remnant theory..? cant find anymore about that tho which is a shame cos it seems good for my studies. i’ll have to wing it. that essay on The Weight and all the times it has been covered and used in movies was not very interesting
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews