The Magnetism of the American South, the Appalacian Mountains, and the Canadian North: The Band Change History with Music from the Big Pink

Out-of-Print Audiophile Version: Mobile Fidelity's Numbered-Edition Hybrid SACD Plays with Incredible Imaging and Dynamics

You've likely heard the story. Now hear the results of one of the most famous sessions in history with reference clarity and warmth. 

In late 1965 and early 1966, Bob Dylan shattered the boundaries between folk and rock music on a controversial tour that found the generation spokesman plugging in and shocking purist audiences that reviled in horror at the sight of their hero playing electric with a bunch of ragtag Canadian mates. Then known as the Hawks, the Band was that backing group, serving Dylan not only on the road but, playing with him after his motorcycle accident, on his seminal Basement Tapes collection.

Recorded in 1968, The Band's Music from Big Pink stems from the same locale as The Basement Tapes: a pink farmhouse in upstate Woodstock, New York. It is just as rustic, timeless, and mysterious as that other celebrated work. A debut for the ages, the album features two songs co-written with Dylan: "This Wheel's on Fire" and "Tears of Rage," as well as what is universally recognized as the definitive version of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." More famously, it also includes "The Weight," a standard covered by everyone from the Grateful Dead to Weezer to Aretha Franklin. But the power of this set doesn't lie in one song but the entire album.

A groundbreaking statement, Music from Big Pink lays bare the magnetism of the American South, Appalachian traditions, and country-rock innovations. That guitarist Robbie Robertson, pianist Garth Hudson, bassist Rick Danko, drummer/vocalist Levon Helm, and organist Richard Manuel are all household names only adds to the proof of this must-have record's everlasting appeal. This is the majesty of what Greil Marcus called "the old, weird America."

Mastered from the original master tapes, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition (and out-of-print) hybrid SACD practically gives you a spot on the floor at Big Pink as the sessions went down. Curl up, close your eyes, and listen as the music's sublimely organic sounds appear with full-range dynamics, proper  imaging, and tremendous soundstaging.