The Canadian Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences (CARAS) takes pleasure in announcing that The Band will be inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame during this year’s Juno Awards presentation.
Their musical coontributions have added to the awareness of Canadian artists on a world-wide level, and for this The Band will take their rightful place amongst previous Hall of Famers: The Guess Who (last year’s recipients), Oscar Peterson, Paul Anka, Joni Mitchell, Glenn Gould, Guy Lombardo, The Diamonds, Neil Young, Hank Snow, The Crewcuts, The Four Lads, Wilf Carter and Gordon Lightfoot.
Formed in 1960 as Ronnie Hawkins’ backup band, The Hawks, they played in such long gone, but not forgotten haunts as the Hawk’s Nest and the Brass Rail, releasing several lps to notable acclaim. Teaming up with Bob Dylan in 1968, they toured the U.S., Australia, Britain and Europe together. During this period, Robbie Robertson also contributed to Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde lp, appearing on the “Obviously Five Believers” track.
In 1967 the band settled in Woodstock, N.Y. By 1968, the year Woodstock changed the face of music, The Hawks became The Band, releasing their debut hit lp, Music From Big Pink which features the now-classic hits “The Weight”, “Caledonia Mission” and “Chest Fever” as well as the first officially released version of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” It’s only fitting that The Band be inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame during the year of Woodstock’s 20th Anniversary.
1969 saw the release of their 2nd lp, The Band, which reached #9 on the U.S. charts, earned them Gold status and eventually sold over 1,000,000 copies. With Robertson composing songs such as “Up On Cripple Creek”, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “Rag Mamma Rag” on the lp, it’s easy to understand the success of this album as well as their first solo tour – they even became the first North American band to appear on the cover of Time Magazine!Before disbanding in 1976, The Band had released several other critically acclaimed lps; Stage Fright, Cahoots, Rock of Ages, Moondon Matinee, Northern Lights – Southern Cross, and Before The Flood (which contains both Dylan songs and Band songs recorded live), as well as The Basement Tapes which was officially released in 1975, previously only available on bootleg under the title Great White Wonder. The Band also appeared as back-up group on Dylan’s Planet Waves lp. Their final concert, The Last Waltz was performed Thanksgiving night in San Francisco and filmed for history as the end of their 16 years together.
“The Academy is delighted to announced the selection of The Band as this year’s Juno Hall of Fame winner,” says Peter Steinmetz, President of CARAS. “In its day, The Band accomplished many unique musical and performance achievements, reaching an unparelleled level of international stardom that made Canadians everywhere proud to call them their own. Few Canadian artists have had so great an impact on the international marketplace, and the Academy is proud to recognize The Band’s extraordinary lifetime achievements.”
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