The members of The Band first worked together as The Hawks, the backing band of rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins from 1959 until 1963. Afterwards, Bob Dylan recruited the quintet for his history-making 1965/1966 world tour and they joined him on the informal recordings that became the acclaimed Basement Tapes.
Dubbed "The Band" by their peers, the group left the comfort of their communal home in Saugerties, NY to begin recording as a group unto themselves. The Band recorded two of the most important albums of the late 1960s: their 1968 debut Music from Big Pink (featuring the hit single "The Weight") and 1969's The Band. These critically praised albums helped conceive country rock as something more than a genre, but rather as a celebration of "Americana." As such, throughout their career they would repopularize traditional American musical forms during the psychedelic era. The Band dissolved in 1976; Martin Scorcese's landmark concert film "The Last Waltz" documented their final performance. They reformed in 1983 without founding guitarist and main songwriter Robbie Robertson.
Although always more popular with music journalists and fellow musicians than the general public, The Band has remained an admired and influential group. They have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Their music fused many elements: primarily old country music and early rock and roll, though the rhythm section often had a bouncy, funky punch reminiscent of Stax or Motown, and Robertson cites Curtis Mayfield and the Staple Singers as major influences. At its best, however, The Band's music was an organic synthesis of many musical genres which became more than the sum of its parts. The group's songwriting was also remarkable as, unlike much earlier rock and roll, and following upon the example set previously by The Byrds, very few of their early compositions were based on conventional blues and doo-wop chord changes.
The Band comprised Robbie Robertson (guitar); Richard Manuel (piano, harmonica, drums, saxophone); Garth Hudson (organ, piano, clavinet, accordion, synthesizer, saxophone); Rick Danko (bass guitar, violin, trombone); and Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, bass guitar) Excepting Robertson, all were multi-instrumentalists; each person's primary instrument is listed first. There was little instrument-switching when they played live, but when recording, the musicians could offer all manner of subtle aural colors and textures to enhance songs. Hudson in particular was able to coax an impressive range of timbres from his Lowrey electronic organ; on the choruses of "Tears of Rage", for example, it sounds startlingly like a mellotron. Helm's drumming was rarely flashy, but he was often praised for his subtlety and funkiness. Critic Jon Carroll famously declared that Helm was "the only drummer who can make you cry," while prolific session drummer Jim Keltner admits to appropriating several of Helm's techniques.
Singers Manuel, Danko, and Helm each brought a distinctive voice to The Band: Helm's gritty, southern voice had more than a hint of country, Danko sang in a soaring, unfettered tenor, and Manuel alternated between fragile falsetto and a wounded baritone. The singers regularly blended in unorthodox, but uncommonly effective harmonies. Though the singing was more or less evenly shared between the three men, both Danko and Helm have stated that they saw Manuel as the Band's "lead" singer.
Robertson was the unit's chief songwriter (though he sang lead vocals on only three or four songs in The Band's career). This role, and Robertson's resulting claim to the copyright of most of the compositions, would become a point of much antipathy between the group's members, especially between Robertson and Helm.
Producer John Simon is cited as a "sixth member" of The Band for producing and playing on Music from Big Pink, co-producing and playing on The Band, and playing on other songs up through The Band's 1993 reunion album Jericho.
On 10 December 1999 is when Rick Danko died in his sleep at age 56. He had been a long-time drug user. In 1997 he had been found guilty of trying to smuggle heroin into Japan. He told the presiding judge that he had begun using the drug (together with prescription morphine) to fight life-long pain resulting from a 1968 auto accident. No drugs were found in his system at the time of his death. Following the death of Rick Danko, The Band broke up for good.
Levon Helm died on 19 April 2012 from complications of throat cancer.
Rag Mama Rag
The Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rag, mama, rag, what did you do?
I crawled up to the railroad track
Let the four nineteen scratch my back
Sag, mama, sag
What's come over you?
Rag, mama, rag, I'm a pulling out your gag
Got a tail I need to drag
I ask about your turtle
And you ask about the weather
Well, I can't jump a hurdle
And we can't get together
We could be relaxing in my sleeping bag
But all you want to do for me, mama
Is rag, mama, rag, there's nowhere to go
Rag, mama, rag, come on resin up the bow
Rag, mama, rag, where do ya roam?
Rag, mama, rag, bring your skinny little body back home
It's dog eat dog and cat eat mouse
You can rag, mama, rag all over my house
Hail stones beating on the roof
The bourbon is a hundred proof,
Its you and me and the telephone
Our destiny is quite well known.
We don't need to sit and brag
All we gotta do is
Rag, mama, rag, mama, rag
Rag, mama, rag
Where do you roam?
Rag, mama, rag, bring your skinny little body back home
The Band's upbeat song "Rag Mama Rag" is a rollicking good time from start to finish. The singer is pleading with his mother (presumably) to stop bothering him and giving him the runaround. He uses a few different metaphors to express his frustration, such as "Gonna turn you loose like an old caboose / Got a tail I need to drag," and "It's dog eat dog and cat eat mouse / You can rag, mama, rag all over my house." The singer also laments the fact that he and his mother can't seem to connect on anything, even something as simple as conversation topics ("I ask about your turtle / And you ask about the weather / Well, I can't jump a hurdle / And we can't get together"). Despite these grievances, the singer's tone remains playful and high-spirited throughout the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Rag, mama, rag, I can't believe it's true
Expresses disbelief at something the mother has done
Rag, mama, rag, what did you do?
Asks the mother what she has done
I crawled up to the railroad track
Let the four nineteen scratch my back
Describes the singer's experience of lying on a railroad track and feeling the vibrations of a passing train
Sag, mama, sag
What's come over you?
Asks the mother why she is feeling down
Rag, mama, rag, I'm a pulling out your gag
Gonna turn you lose like an old caboose
Got a tail I need to drag
The singer is saying that he will no longer hold back the mother's words and that he needs to move on with his own life
I ask about your turtle
And you ask about the weather
Well, I can't jump a hurdle
And we can't get together
The two people in the conversation cannot connect on any topic as they are too different
We could be relaxing in my sleeping bag
But all you want to do for me, mama
Is rag, mama, rag, there's nowhere to go
Rag, mama, rag, come on resin up the bow
The singer suggests that they could be spending time together in a cozy sleeping bag, but the mother just wants to play music and have fun
Rag, mama, rag, where do ya roam?
Rag, mama, rag, bring your skinny little body back home
The singer is asking where the mother has been and wants her to come back home
It's dog eat dog and cat eat mouse
You can rag, mama, rag all over my house
The world is a harsh place and the mother can do whatever she wants in the singer's house
Hail stones beating on the roof
The bourbon is a hundred proof,
Its you and me and the telephone
Our destiny is quite well known.
The weather is bad and they are drinking, but their fate is already decided
We don't need to sit and brag
All we gotta do is
Rag, mama, rag, mama, rag
Rag, mama, rag
Where do you roam?
Rag, mama, rag, bring your skinny little body back home
The two people do not need to talk about their problems, they just need to enjoy each other's company and play music together
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Robbie Robertson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind