The Weight
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| “The Weight” | ||
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| Single by The Band from the album Music from Big Pink |
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| Released | June 26, 1968 | |
| Format | 45' | |
| Recorded | January 1968 | |
| Genre | Folk rock, roots rock | |
| Length | 4:34 | |
| Label | Capitol | |
| Writer(s) | Robbie Robertson | |
| Producer | John Simon | |
"The Weight" is the title of a 1968 song by The Band. It is one of the group's best known songs and among the most popular songs of the late 1960s counterculture. While the names of the five members of The Band appear on the record label, "The Band" does not. The song was composed by The Band's Robbie Robertson and appears originally on The Band's first album, Music from Big Pink.
It is #41 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[1]
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[edit] Song theme
"The Weight" takes the folk music motif of a traveler, who arrives in Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Once there, he encounters various residents of the town, the song being a story of these encounters.
The residents include a man who cannot direct the traveler to a hotel, Carmen and the Devil walking side by side, "Crazy Chester," who offers a bed in exchange for the traveler taking his dog, and Luke who has gone out to wait for the apocalypse, leaving his young bride neglected.
In Levon Helm's autobiography "This Wheel's on Fire," Helm explains that the people mentioned in the song were based on real people the Band knew. The "Miss Anna Lee" mentioned in the lyric is Helm's longtime friend Anna Lee Amsden[2][3].
[edit] Robertson on "The Weight"
According to Robertson, "The Weight" was somewhat inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel, about which Robertson once said:
- He did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood, people trying to do good in Viridiana and Nazarín, and it's impossible to do good. In "The Weight" it's the same thing. Someone says, "Listen, will you do me this favor? When you get there will you say 'hello' to somebody or will you pick up one of these for me?" "Oh, you're going to Nazareth, do me a favor when you're there." So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it's like, "Holy shit, what has this turned into? I've only come here to say 'hello' for somebody and I've got myself in this incredible predicament." It was very Buñuelish of me at the time.
[edit] Film and commercial play
"The Weight" has featured prominently in many films and television shows, including such movies as Hope Floats; Igby Goes Down (in a cover version by rock band Travis); The Big Chill; Easy Rider; Girl, Interrupted; Patch Adams; 1408; and Starsky & Hutch (as a parody of the scene in Easy Rider); and on television in The Sopranos (Episode 4 of Season 4 is titled "The Weight") and also on My Name Is Earl. It also appeared in an SNL skit, when Zach Braff hosted. It has also been used in commercials for Diet Coke and Cingular/AT&T Wireless, an American telecommunications company.
The song was also included on the Easy Rider Soundtrack, but was performed by the band Smith because of contractual problems preventing use of The Band's version.
"The Weight" is one of three songs performed by The Band featured in the 2003 documentary film, Festival Express.
"The Weight" was one of three songs the Band's 1990s lineup performed for "LET IT ROCK!", a birthday concert/tribute for Ronnie Hawkins.
A fan favourite, "The Weight" is also in two post-Last Waltz concert videos: "The Band Is Back" (1984) and "The Band Live At The New Orleans Jazz Festival" (1998).
Don Imus liked this song and frequently played it on his show. The Levon Helm Band appeared frequently. Imus was fired from CBS Radio on April 12, 2007, in the midst of his charity radiothon. The Radiothon continued on Friday, April 13, 2007 with Imus's wife and newscaster hosting in his place, and the broadcast concluded with the Levon Helm Band performing "The Weight" live.
[edit] Cover versions
"The Weight" has become a modern standard, and hence has been covered by many, many other acts, including Stewart Street, Midnight Ride, the North Mississippi Allstars, moe., Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stoney LaRue, Aaron Pritchett, The Staple Singers, Travis, Grateful Dead, The New Riders of the Purple Sage, O.A.R., Edwin McCain, Spooky Tooth, Hanson, Bleu Edmondson, Old Crow Medicine Show, Panic at the Disco, Aretha Franklin, Joan Osborne, John Denver, Cassandra Wilson, Shannon Curfman, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, Deana Carter, and Dionne Warwick did as well. Ratdog and Bob Weir are also known to cover this song from time to time (notably during shows in Pennsylvania). Additional notable versions are by Lee Ann Womack, the band Smith, and a joint effort by Diana Ross & the Supremes, with The Temptations, others who recorded the song included The Allman Brothers Band, The Derek Trucks Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, Jimmy Barnes with The Badloves, Aaron Pritchett.[4] and Joe Cocker. In The Band's concert film, The Last Waltz, The Staples and The Band perform the song together. Also Jeff Healey used the song on his last album before he passed away. Folk singer Michelle Shocked covers the song as part of her 2007 gospel album ToHeavenURide. Bob Dylan Covers it LIVE ONLY as well. Charly Garcia covered the song in Spanish under the title "El Peso". Chris Stills covered the song in French on his When The Pain Dies Down EP. Czech singer Marie Rottrová covered the song with the band Flamingo in 1970.
A version of the song will also be included as a bonus track on the UK version of Weezer's upcoming sixth album Weezer (The Red Album).
[edit] Bands named for the song
There are three bands named after this song. The lead singer of the Athens, Georgia country band "The Weight" is Joseph Plunket, and the band's first full length album, Compass, was released in 2002 on the now-defunct 12-Volt Records. The record has been followed by several more releases to date, including 2004's Sabot Productions release, Ten Mile Grace. Plunket has since moved to New York City and re-formed the band.
A second band, normally the backing band of Josh Kelley and Curtis Peoples, is also called "The Weight" and consists of Dave Yaden, Darwin Johnson, Slim Gambill, Michael Miley, and Donald Barret. The band released their debut album "Home" in July 2006.
The Scottish band Nazareth also took their name from the first line of this song ("I pulled into Nazareth/Was feelin' about half past dead…").[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. RollingStone.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-02.
- ^ Jacques Steinberg, "New Generation Hops the Mystery Train." New York Times (Online) July 9, 2007.
- ^ KATV.com Channel 7 - All About Arkansas: Anna Lee Amsden.
- ^ Aaron Pritchett Scores 10th Consecutive Top 10 Single at Country Radio With "Done You Wrong"
[edit] External links
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