The Band

Imbolc                                                                         Valentine Moon

Listening to the Band, The Weight.  One of my favorite bands.  Up on Cripple Creek.  The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.  I Shall Be Released.  The back up band for Dylan from 1965-1968 when he went on his Electric Tour, they played together until 1976, ending their touring days with the wonderful Martin Scorsese film, The Last Waltz.

Music congeals around it auras and memories, the mental flavors of a time, a moment in personal history.  Our song.  That song they played.  You know the one.  The music now known as psychedelic or acid rock cannot be heard by someone in the Movement during the ’60’s and early 70’s without instant transportation back, old Army jackets, pot, dope.  Looking out for the man.  Gettin’ back to the land.  Stopping the war.  Youth done up in  neon colors and lived to the Jefferson Airplane, Led Zepplin, the Doors.

Think of the Big Band era and World War II.  Glam rock and bubble gum.  Punk.  All have their devotees and their memories.

Magical memory tours.  That’s an important thing music offers.  I don’t go there often enough.