Nows and Forevers

I didn’t plan on posting about The Band two days in a row, but its last member, Garth Hudson, died today in Woodstock, New York. They’re having a heck of a concert in Heaven with Levon, Robbie, Richard, Rick and Garth.

We have a lot to thank Garth for: recording and saving all of the basement tapes with Dylan; being solely responsible for the emergence of the funky wah-wah pedal (first in this song); and helping to elevate a bar band to immortality. As Garth and the late, great Levon Helm pointed out in a documentary from the ‘90s, there weren’t a lot of rules back then so they kept trying things.

(A useful creative lesson, actually.)

My everlasting memory of Garth Hudson comes from this performance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969: At 1:40, you see him in his element.

It’s pure joy.