Tag Archives: Levon Helm

In Part One of my review of the new super-deluxe edition of The Band’s 1970 release called Stage Fright, we explored the new Stereo remix of the album including the dramatic restoration of the original track listing as first envisioned by the band. If you missed that review, please click here to jump to it. 

The Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary features not only a 180-gram vinyl LP of the new mix album but also a well designed and great sounding — if simple — Blu-ray Disc containing the album and their 1970 Royal Albert Hall concert mixed into 5.1 surround sound. 

Stage Fright : The Surround Mix

For the purposes of this review I listened to The Band’s new Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary surround sound mix via the DTS-HD Master Audio version on the included Blu-ray Disc. A Dolby TrueHD option is also included which sounds fine but I find it less distinctive in terms of discrete channel detailing. There is also a high resolution LPCM Stereo version included. All of the versions sound excellent overall, presented in 96 kHz, 24-bit fidelity offering a nice balance between crisp highs, firm mid-ranges and more resonant lows without losing the fact that it was at its root a recording made in 1970.   

The new 5.1 mix is gently immersive and very effective at creating a sense of the room the group was playing in while recording the album. The band is largely presented forward facing while the surround channels are used for selective overdubs and room ambiance. For example, on “W.S. Walcott Medicine Show,” the horn section fills up the room largely from behind, blending neatly at times when the solo saxophone takes center stage from the front.  

Levon Helms’ drums are very present, also front and center, and they sound terrific. This mix grows on you nicely, making you feel like you are there in the theater with the group. And given that the live playhouse stage feel was part of the original intention of the album concept (according to the liner notes), in that light I feel this surround sound mix is a strong success on all fronts. 

The Live Royal Albert Hall Concert

Included with Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary is a live concert recorded at the end of The Band’s 1971 European tour at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  EMI recorded the concert on a four track machine it brought into the venue. It is so fortuitous that this show was preserved. According to Robertson’s notes in the booklet, the tour found the group performing at the top of its game and this show really reflects that notion. 

Here they present a powerful 20 song set including a healthy dose of then-new material from the Stage Fright album. Consider how confident they were to open the show with a double whammy of then new songs “The Shape I’m In” and “Time To Kill” before playing familiar fan favorites like “The Weight.” 

They perform about 3/4 of their smash hit second album (the self-titled, brown covered one).  Given the simpler method of recording this concert, the producers wisely also kept the 5.1 mix quite simple. It is basically a Stereo spread across the front left-center-right channels with concert venue time-delay ambiance filling the room via the surround channels. It sounds extremely welcoming and enveloping — I found the 5.1 mix of the Royal Albert Hall concert a much more satisfying way to enjoy this excellent recording compared with the plain Stereo mix option that is also on the Blu-ray Disc. 

Robertson calls this one of their best performances in the liner notes and I can’t help but agree. The Band is clearly on a mission here.  

The CDs. The 45 and Other Things

Both the restored album and the live concert are included on standard CDs in the Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary set. These are handy for mobile use if you still have a car CD player or if you don’t feel like playing the Blu-ray or the vinyl LP.  But, of the three options, it is the least appealing sonics wise. It is perfectly fine as CDs go, don’t get me wrong, but the Blu-ray sounds better and the vinyl sounds warmer still.  

There are, however, some bonus tracks exclusive to the CDs which you’ll want to hear: acoustic rehearsals in a hotel room in Calgary while on tour! This is total fly on the wall stuff, things we were never supposed to hear. And, how wonderful it is to hear these legendary musicians work their way through their own songs and  nuggest like Huey “Piano” Smith’s classic “Rockin’ Pneumonia and The Boogie Woogie Flu.” They may be relatively LoFi recordings but they are no doubt special so you’ll want to hear this. 

In the Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary set you also get a reproduction of a rare Spanish picture sleeve and 45 RPM single featuring “Time To Kill” backed with “The Shape I’m In.” This is a very cool bonus for serious fans as finding original copies of rarities like this is difficult, at least here in the USA (there are some up on Discogs).  

Also in the boxed set are a set of lovely art prints with original photograph of The Band from the period. Suitable for framing, these images underscore the instantly iconic stature this group had at the time.

Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary is a great collection and if you are fan of the group and this album you need to hear it.  I would go so far as to call it an essential set given the way it showcases the music in such a positive new light.  Seriously, as far as I’m concerned this is like getting a brand new Band album to enjoy so in its own way this may well be my favorite deluxe edition from The Band thus far. 

Bravo!

The new super-deluxe edition of The Band’s 1970 release called Stage Fright is both a celebration of the original album and an opportunity to present the music in a better light than it has received in the past. The original edition was engineered and mixed (respectively) by no less than Todd Rundgren and Glyn Johns, so it stands to reason that it was a pretty good sounding album.

Except for people like me and Robbie Robertson who didn’t connect with the mix…

Honestly folks, I never quite knew what bothered me about Stage Fright but compared to the glory of their second eponymously titled album especially, the original presentation of Stage Fright has always left me unsatisfied for some reason. 

But when I read Robbie’s opening liner notes to the new Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary collection, I had one of those big “ah hah” moments! In short: the track listing issued on the original album was not the first — and ultimately desired — version of the album and the band was not involved with the final album mix as they were on tour at the time!  

As the lone surviving creative writing member of The Band, Robbie Robertson saw this as an opportunity to re-cast the album in its original form. He addresses all this in the opening paragraphs of the booklet that comes with the Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary set.  

Apparently the decision to put Levon Helm’s “Strawberry Wine” and Richard Manuel’s “Sleeping” up front was designed to encourage them as song writers. But that wasn’t necessarily the best thing for the album’s pacing and vibe ultimately as it starts up with a loose rocker and then slams into a dramatic and beautiful farewell song.

Stage Fright was recorded on a small vintage play house stage in Woodstock, New York. Originally The Band wanted to to make a live recording but they could not get permission from the local community to do a concert there, so they ended up recording the album there in a live remote studio scenario.The original lineup of the tracks was going to proceed more akin to how a live performance might have. 

Now, please stop to pause for a moment and reflect on The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — that record which loosely proceeds like a show by an imaginary band opens with a welcoming overture of-a-sort before diving into the heart of the album. 

Likewise, Stage Fright now opens with the driving “W.S. Walcott Medicine Show” followed by the one-two punch of “The Shape I’m In.”  More or less. Side Two is now Side One, as it follows with the three songs which closed the old version of the album, “Daniel and the Sacred Harp,” “Stage Fright” and “The Rumor.”  Opening Side Two with the “Time To Kill” and “Just Another Whistle Stop” packs a wallop and sets the stage for Richard Manuel’s haunting“Sleeping” which closes the album on a beautiful, if a bit ominous, note. 

Stage Fright was never my favorite album by The Band for numerous reasons, many of which I could never put my finger on. Now I realize that the album never flowed well, and it didn’t draw me in, especially when compared to the prior release. So as soon as I heard the new running order for the album I loved it immediately — all of a sudden the song cycle is making a lot more sense. 

In the booklet included in the set, Robertson also reminds fans that the original album will always be there for them to listen to and enjoy – it is not going away! But if you too were unsatisfied with the old version of Stage Fright, this new version may well be a revelation. 

I think it is wonderful and for me it has made me completely re-consider this album. I’ll put it this way: now it feels like a strong and worthy successor to their 1969 breakthrough, The Band. 

The new Stereo remix is also quite a revelation. This is not just a remaster of the old mix.

Robertson wisely decided to remix the entire album from scratch while they had this opportunity to create something new. He hired legendary engineer Bob Clearmountain to work with him and the results are quite spectacular. Suddenly, Stage Fright sounds finished with a beautiful rich sparkle worthy of being a successor to their game changing second album from 1969 (which I reviewed a couple years ago, click here). 

The high end on Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary is noticeably brighter and crisp without feeling artificial. The low end is richer and rounder, expanding bassist Rick Danko’s work to more beautiful sonic pastures On the original version at times it sounded like the bass guitar was recorded in a tissue box. On this new edition the bass is richer and more open, seeming to capture more of the essence of the room where it was recorded.  

Levon Helms’ drums also sound much more alive and vibrant on the new mix.  His kick drum is much more distinct and the drums in general sound punchy, not like they are in a box. The cymbals are much clearer and they decay beautifully. There is a wonderful sense of detailing going on here. 

Listen on the title track how (I assume) Levon Helm drops out his drums during the solo supporting it with the most sparse of percussion and leaving space for him to drive home the song to the final chorus. Truly, its an orchestral drum performance delivered here and now this craft is much more audible than before.

Robbie’s guitars sound fuller with much amplifier tone coming through the mix. The acoustic instrumentation on “Daniel And The Sacred Heart” is gorgeous – rich strumming acoustic and slide guitars, harpsichord, violin, accordions are all now extremely present and resonant.  The electric guitars on “Time To Kill” are just pure rockin’ joy. 

So combining the new mix and the new track running order, I consider Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary effectively a new album that recasts the music in its most positive light.

And that is a very good thing, indeed because there are some tremendous songs here which became the basis of The Band’s legacy.

The new vinyl pressing, by the way, is excellent. It is pressed on perfectly centered and dead quiet 180-gram black vinyl and comes housed in an audiophile grade lined inner sleeve. So, no problems there. 

In part two of my review of The Band’s Stage Fright – 50th Anniversary, I will explore the Blu-ray disc included in the set which contains the whole album mixed into 5.1 surround sound. It also includes a fantastic concert recorded at The Royal Albert Hall in London, England.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow…