And this week, Garth Hudson, keyboard player, and the last surviving member, of the Band went to the great rehearsal room in the sky.

This Bob Dylan song, from their first album Music From Big Pink, was also the B-side to The Weight, so I know it well.

The Band: I Shall Be Released

Eric Garth Hudson: 2/8/1937 – 21/1/2025. So it goes.

This song gained the Band their highest UK chart placing, a no 16 compared to the no 21 The Weight achieved.

The Band: Rag Mama Rag

Last week saw the death of Levon Helm, one time drummer and singer with The Band, who were much more than Bob Dylan’s one-time backing band.

I’ve already posted the Band’s version of The Weight, their second biggest UK hit. Their biggest, curiously, was Rag Mama Rag.

Levon took lead vocal on this one, though.

The Band: Up on Cripple Creek

Levon Helm: 26/5/1940-19/4/2012. So it goes.

The Band’s The Weight has famously obscure lyrics. Nevertheless I did buy the single way back when and also found a very good version of the Bob Dylan song I Shall Be Released on the B-side.

The first version of The Weight I remember hearing, though, and one that got a bit of airplay at the time, was by Jackie DeShannon. She wrote a good few of the familiar songs from the mid nineteen-sixties including a couple of The Searchers’ hits.

Here she is on You Tube.

For comparison purposes here also is The Band’s original version.