The Band Ends 15-year Hiatus with 1993 album Jericho
In 1976, The Band supposedly called it quits with The Last Waltz, their farewell concert that included a star-studded cast. Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and others joined the farewell party that was released as a motion picture two years later.
It was leader Robbie Robertson’s final appearance with the group that had their share of classic songs in addition to providing back-up for Dylan and Eric Clapton.
Robertson retired for a time but The Band played on and hit the road in 1983. They toured for quite some time but didn’t return to the studio until 1993, seven years after the death of keyboardist and founding member Richard Manuel and two years after the death of Stan Szlest, another member.
With no contributions from Robertson and limited work from Manuel (who appears on a lost 1985 track “Country Boy”) and Szlest (who died in 1991), no one knew what to expect from Jericho, a 1993 work that was long-awaited for by die-hard fans.
Jericho proves that The Band can function just fine without Robertson, those his songwriting is missed.
Levon Helm emerges as The Band’s leader here but that’s not much of a stretch considering that his voice provides the group’s signature vocal sound.
Helm’s vocals are sharp as always. Jim Weider replaces Robertson on guitar. Original members Rick Danko and Garth Hudson also appear and make significant contributions on Jericho.
Manuel’s one appearance on “County Boy” is classic and proves that his soulful vocals would be sorely missed. Szelest contributed “Too Soon Gone” before his death. It’s a great song but it’s extremely eerie, considered that it was recorded and released posthumously. In these tunes, we see that Manuel and Szelest are indeed, too soon gone.
Robertson’s signature guitar and poignant songwriting are noticeably absent, so the band relies on cover songs for the bulk of the LP’s material. In addition to Manuel’s and Szelest’s original songs, The Band’s members composed “Remedy”, “Move to Japan”, and “The Caves of Jericho”.
These works can stand alongside the group’s early classics such as “The Weight”, “Up On Cripple Creek”, and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”.
The cover tunes here include Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City”, Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell”, Willie Dixon’s “The Same Thing”, Muddy Waters’ “Stuff You Gotta Watch”, Artie Traum’s “Amazon (River of Dreams)”.
Often times, cover songs are a sign of lack of creativity, especially an LP that contains this number of them. But here, that’s not the case.
Helm has often recorded covers and he makes them his own (as he does on Jericho). The group’s version of “Atlantic City”, throws Springsteen’s out the window. The other covers are also admirable.
This album is a great work because it proved that The Band could still record captivating songs without Robertson as their leader.
