The Band biography recommendations?

[DevO]

OR

Which one did you prefer? Are there others out there?

[Jakis]

I've only read The Wheel's on Fire but I loved it.

[Blane]

not really a biography, but a great read about the Band, IMO:

[TheGoodRev]

This Wheel's on Fire changed my whole view on The Band. Haven't read the other one but I highly recommend Levon's book.

[DevO]

This Wheel's on Fire changed my whole view on The Band.

In a good way? I think I will go with Levon's book.. For one, cuz he's in the band, and cuz used copies of it are cheaper than used copies of the other one.

[AD]

I liked Across the Great Divide better. Don't ask me why though. I don't know. It's been a long time since I read Wheel's On Fire.

[hamilton]

I think I will go with Levon's book.. For one, cuz he's in the band...

Sometimes the "outsider's" viewpoint is better, though, as it may be less biased towards certain events. I haven't read either one of these so I'm not implying that this is the case here, just sayin' that it's not necessarily true that the version authored by a band member is always better than the one authored by an outside observer.

[Dr. J]

I read Across the Great Divide and thought it was quite good. I haven't yet read Levon's book.

[timouse]

both are good imo...if you don't already dislike robbie robertson, you probably will by the end of levon's book.

read them both

Edited January 10, 2008 by Guest
spelling

[ersh]

I read both... Levon's first.

I liked it that way. Levon's painted an inside picture... his take on it.. which is a pretty valuable one!

But then the Hoskins book gives an outside look... which is really how you're supposed to see it I guess. When I first heard the band, I had no idea any of the inner workings, just what I heard and loved.

Choose inside or outside first... and enjoy.

[zero]

I'd recommend Across The Great Divide but I've heard from Garth himself that Barney Hoskyns just made some stuff up. In question it was information about Stan Szelest- an intimate of the group who was to replace Manuel when they toured in '89 (first time I saw them) but passed away and Billy Preston got the slot. Szelest was a boogie woogie piano player from Buffalo with a strong left hand - Hoskyns said he used coke or some such thing which was patently untrue - never a drug user.

I know that Hoskyns though also regrets some things he left out of the book like the image of Danko waddling around Bearsville in the latter days and the depressing figure he'd turned into.

Levon's book is great but obviously deeply angry and biased but the insight into the Neil Diamond/ Muddy Waters scenario at the last waltz is illuminating. I love that book though.

If you want to learn very little about the band and get rather confused in the process read Old Weird America (formerly the Invisible Republic) - in a very poetic way this tells about the soil from which the band tilled their mythology but is admittedly very meandering. Greil Marcus is likely the hands down authority on the band with little conflicting opinion.

[MarcO]

the insight into the Neil Diamond/ Muddy Waters scenario at the last waltz is illuminating.

more, please and thank you.