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.
Time to Kill
The Band Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The many trails I've burned
But when our paths did cross, love, whew
My whole world made a turn
And we got time to kill
What a thrill, June and July
We got all our love
Now we don't cry no more
Gonna bolt the door
Don't know what we got
But it feels like a lot
We don't need no more
When my day's work is done
We could take in a jamboree
But I just wanna sit down by the fire
With my love right here beside me
We got time to kill, Catskill
Sweet by and by
We got all our love, the sky above
The twinkle in your eye
Now where the wheel might roll
Is where my love and I shall go
We're gonna plant the seed
There ain't nothing we need
We found our own rainbow
My love wants to have her fortune read
And I know that she's in a hurry
If we go along the straight and narrow
You don't even have to worry
We got time to kill, standin' still
Go on, give it a try
We got all our love, mountains of
The trees are so high
We don't need no big car
Don't eat no caviar
When we come to rest, we take to the nest
You know where we are
The Band's song Time To Kill captures the essence of a romantic relationship that is calm, stable and full of love. The lyrics open by stating that the singer has travelled many roads and burned many bridges, but all of this changed when he met his love. It transformed his life completely, and now they have all the time in the world to be with each other.
The couple has gone through difficult times, which left them with buckets of tears, but they don't cry anymore. They have found contentment and are satisfied with what they have. They don't need to aspire for more; rather, they want to spend their time beside each other. They might attend a jamboree, but what they really want is a cosy evening by the fire.
They are happy in their own world and only want to be together. They don't need a luxurious lifestyle or any fancy car. Their love is so pure that it has created their own rainbow, and they are looking forward to a bright future ahead.
Line by Line Meaning
The many roads I've covered
I have travelled many roads
The many trails I've burned
I have created many paths
But when our paths did cross, love, whew
When we met, everything changed
My whole world made a turn
My life changed completely
And we got time to kill
We have free time to enjoy each other's company
What a thrill, June and July
We are excited to spend the summer together
We got all our love
We have a lot of love for each other
Buckets of the tears that we cried
We have been through a lot of difficult times together
Now we don't cry no more
We are no longer sad
Gonna bolt the door
We are going to stay in and enjoy each other's company
Don't know what we got
We are not sure what we have
But it feels like a lot
But it feels like we have everything we need
We don't need no more
We don't need anything else
When my day's work is done
After work
We could take in a jamboree
We could go to a festival
But I just wanna sit down by the fire
But I just want to relax at home
With my love right here beside me
With my partner next to me
We got time to kill, Catskill
We have free time to spend in Catskill
Sweet by and by
A sweet future
The sky above
The sky is beautiful
The twinkle in your eye
You are shining with happiness
Now where the wheel might roll
Wherever we may go
Is where my love and I shall go
We will go together
We're gonna plant the seed
We are going to create something new
There ain't nothing we need
We do not need anything else
We found our own rainbow
We have found our own happiness
My love wants to have her fortune read
My partner wants to see what the future holds
And I know that she's in a hurry
And I know that she is eager
If we go along the straight and narrow
If we take the safe route
You don't even have to worry
You don't need to worry
We got time to kill, standin' still
We have free time to enjoy while standing still
Go on, give it a try
Try it out
Mountains of
A lot of
The trees are so high
The trees are tall
We don't need no big car
We don't need a fancy car
Don't eat no caviar
We don't need expensive food
When we come to rest, we take to the nest
When we want to relax, we go home
You know where we are
You know where to find us
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Robbie Robertson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
johnny zell
The many roads I've covered,
The many trails I've burned,
But when our paths did cross, love, whew!
My whole world made a turn.
And we've got time to kill,
What a thrill, June and July.
We've got all our love,
Buckets of the tears that we cried.
Now we don't cry no more,
Gonna bolt the door.
Don't know what we've got, but it feels like a lot,
We don't need no more.
When my day's work is done,
We can take in a jamboree,
But I just wanna sit down by the fire
With my love right here beside me.
We've got time to kill, Catskill,
Sweet by and by.
We've got all our love, the sky above,
The twinkle in your eye.
Now where the wheel might roll,
Is where my love and I shall go.
We're gonna plant the seed, there ain't nothing we need,
We found our own rainbow.
My love wants to have her fortune read,
And I know that she's in a hurry.
If we go along the straight and narrow,
You don't even have to worry.
We've got time to kill, standin' still,
Go on, give it a try!
We've got all our love, mountains of,
The trees are so high.
We don't need no big car,
Don't eat no caviar.
When we come to rest, we take to the nest,
You know where we are.
Tom Campbell
Anyone would be hard pressed to pick their favorite Band song but this is mine. One point is the entire album was engineered by Todd Rundgren, a brilliant performer and songwriter who knew his way around the studio. He had it mastered just right so you could hear the backup guitar of J. R Robertson during the solo, the ragtime of Garth Hudson, the drums and cowbell of Levon Helm. It's a perfect, happy, funky song!
Patrick Flanagan
I believe that Todd Rundgren and Glyn Johns each had a go. Most of but not all of Johns' masters were used.
Colin Sacks
This is one of my favorite Band songs as well.
Jim Carlile
I know about them, been listening to them for years
brian branham
This album is nearly all Glyn Johns 's mix man.
Sarahtonin
I love this song - the voices, the piano and guitar, everything. There is nothing like this band.
johnny zell
The many roads I've covered,
The many trails I've burned,
But when our paths did cross, love, whew!
My whole world made a turn.
And we've got time to kill,
What a thrill, June and July.
We've got all our love,
Buckets of the tears that we cried.
Now we don't cry no more,
Gonna bolt the door.
Don't know what we've got, but it feels like a lot,
We don't need no more.
When my day's work is done,
We can take in a jamboree,
But I just wanna sit down by the fire
With my love right here beside me.
We've got time to kill, Catskill,
Sweet by and by.
We've got all our love, the sky above,
The twinkle in your eye.
Now where the wheel might roll,
Is where my love and I shall go.
We're gonna plant the seed, there ain't nothing we need,
We found our own rainbow.
My love wants to have her fortune read,
And I know that she's in a hurry.
If we go along the straight and narrow,
You don't even have to worry.
We've got time to kill, standin' still,
Go on, give it a try!
We've got all our love, mountains of,
The trees are so high.
We don't need no big car,
Don't eat no caviar.
When we come to rest, we take to the nest,
You know where we are.
renato e.
O mp
'
ronnie toots
As I get older I wonder......this The Band might be the best stuff to listen to as we go into 2050...its all the country, all the pop, all the folks, hmmm, soo damn comforting, alltheir instruments compliment the song, way diff but the Beatles also did this, never outside the song, make the song perfect
Владимир Канаев
Эту вещь я услышал очень давно, ещё при СССР, - тогда была очень популярна передача - "Запишите на ваши магнитофоны". Пожалуй - одна из самых, в репертуаре группы "The Band"!