Capitol/UMe will celebrate The Band’s pioneering self-titled album, The Band, with a suite of newly remixed and expanded 50th Anniversary Edition boxset…
When The Band’s eponymous second album was released fifty years ago, not much more was known about the reclusive group than when they released their landmark debut, Music From Big Pink, to widespread critical praise and bewilderment, just the year before.
Truly The Band – Garth Hudson (keyboards, piano, horn), Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums), Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle) and Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals) – was an enigma. But this, the release of The Band, cemented their status as one of the most exciting and revolutionary bands of their time, on the strength of now-classic songs like The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up On Cripple Creek, and Rag Mama Rag. The album is preserved in the National Recording Registry and is included in the book 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die.
On 15 November Capitol/UMe will celebrate The Band’s pioneering self-titled album with a suite of newly remixed and expanded 50th Anniversary Edition packages, including a Blu-ray/2LP/7-inch vinyl boxed set with a hardbound book; 180-gram 2LP black vinyl, and limited edition 180-gram 2LP “tiger’s eye” colour vinyl packages.
All the Anniversary Edition releases were overseen by Robertson and feature a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain from the original multi-track masters, similar to the acclaimed 50th anniversary collections of last year’s Music From Big Pink releases. The 50th Anniversary Edition’s boxset configurations also include 13 outtakes, featuring six previously unreleased outtakes and alternate recordings from The Band sessions, as well as The Band’s legendary Woodstock performance, which has never been officially released.
Exclusively for the box set, Clearmountain has also created a new 5.1 surround mix for the album and bonus tracks, presented on Blu-ray with the new stereo, both in high resolution audio (96kHz/24bit). All the new audio mixes have been mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering.