Jericho (The Band album)

Jericho is the eighth studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band. Coming seventeen years after their "farewell concert", it was released in 1993 and was the first album to feature the latter-day configuration of the group, as well as their first release for the Rhino subsidiary Pyramid Records.

Jericho
A colorful painting of Big Pink
Studio album by
the Band
ReleasedNovember 2, 1993 (1993-11-02)
RecordedMid-1993, except "Country Boy" (October 1985) and "Atlantic City" (1990–91)
Studio
GenreRock
Length56:53
LabelRhino
ProducerJohn Simon, Aaron L. Hurwitz, the Band
The Band chronology
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down: The Best of the Band Live in Concert
(1990)		 Jericho
(1993)		 Across the Great Divide
(1994)

Original members Levon Helm (drums/mandolin/guitar/vocal), Rick Danko (bass/guitar/vocal) and Garth Hudson (organ/keyboards/horns) were joined by Jim Weider (who had played guitar for the group from the time of their 1983 reformation), Randy Ciarlante (who had joined on drums in 1990) and Richard Bell (who had joined as keyboardist in 1991). There were an additional fourteen guest musicians. Having so many guests would be commonplace on the latter-day group's albums.

Recording

In 1985, the Band went into the studio for the first time since 1977 with the intent of recording tracks for an eventual album. Richard Manuel had recently expressed interest in writing new material for the group,[1] and had written "Breaking New Ground" with Gerry Goffin and Carole King.[2] However, on March 6, 1986, Manuel was found dead of suicide,[3] and the Band abandoned efforts to make an album for several years.[4]

In 1990, Sony offered the Band a recording contract. The group hired fellow Hawks member Stan Szelest to replace Manuel on keyboards, and proceeded to record new material with songwriter Jules Shear. However, these recordings were rejected by Sony, which suggested the group take submissions from various songwriters. Just as recording continued, Szelest died of a heart attack. The Band then requested release from Sony and found a new contract with Great Pyramid Records. Without Manuel or Robbie Robertson as songwriters, the group relied mostly on outside sources, such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bruce Springsteen, and their friends Bob Dylan and Artie Traum. A few sessions also involved Champion Jack Dupree. "Country Boy", a song from the 1985 sessions with Manuel on vocals, was also selected for inclusion on the album. John Simon, who had produced the Band's first two albums, was again brought in to produce along with Aaron L. Hurwitz (engineer, record producer),[5] to form the collection which would ultimately become Jericho. The album was finally completed in 1993, with new members Richard Bell, Randy Ciarlante and Jim Weider on keyboards, second drums and lead guitar respectively.[4]

Cover

The album cover is a painting by Peter Max of the "Big Pink" house in West Saugerties, New York, where Bob Dylan and the Band recorded music during the mid to late 1960s.[6] The albums The Basement Tapes and Music from Big Pink both originated from the music created in this house.[7][8] The painting depicts the same view of the house used in the photographs on the cover of Music from Big Pink.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Rolling Stone[10]

Mark Deming of AllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5. He wrote that while Robertson's strong songwriting and stinging lead guitar were sorely missed, the remaining musicians and guests performed well and Jericho "did unexpectedly prove that the Band could function very well without Robertson".[9] Rolling Stone called their version of "Atlantic City" a "clear highlight".[11] "Stuff You Gotta Watch" was included in the 1994 film Little Big League.

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Remedy"Colin Linden, Jim Weider4:25
2."Blind Willie McTell"Bob Dylan6:42
3."The Caves of Jericho"Richard Bell, Levon Helm, John Simon5:23
4."Atlantic City"Bruce Springsteen5:16
5."Too Soon Gone"Jules Shear, Stan Szelest3:59
6."Country Boy"Marshall Barer, Fred Brooks3:17
7."Move to Japan"Joe Flood, Levon Helm, John Simon, Stan Szelest, Jim Weider4:25
8."Amazon (River of Dreams)"Artie Traum6:00
9."Stuff You Gotta Watch"Muddy Waters2:50
10."Same Thing"Willie Dixon4:31
11."Shine a Light"Marty Grebb, Daniel Moore4:12
12."Blues Stay Away from Me"Alton & Rabon Delmore, Henry Glover, Wayne Raney6:01

Personnel
The Band
Guest musicians
Production

References
  1. Spencer, Ruth Albert (March 21, 1985). "Conversations with The Band: Richard Manuel". Woodstock Times. Vol. 14, no. 12. Retrieved August 8, 2015 – via theband.hiof.no.
  2. "Carole King Discography". caroleking.com. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
  3. Pareles, Jon (March 6, 1986). "Richard Manuel, 40, Rock Singer and Pianist". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
  4. Viney, Peter. "Band Demos". theband.hiof.no. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  5. "Jericho". theband.hiof.no. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  6. Dickinson, Chris (January 20, 1994). "The Band | Theater Critic's Choice". Chicago Reader. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  7. Hoskyns, Barney (1993). Across the Great Divide: The Band and America. Viking. p. 137. ISBN 0-670-84144-7.
  8. Bowman, Rob (July 26, 1991). "The Band: Life Is A Carnival". Goldmine. Vol. 17, no. 15. Retrieved November 3, 2009 – via theband.hiof.no.
  9. Deming, Mark. Jericho Review at AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  10. Walls, Richard C. (February 24, 1994). "Jericho". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
  11. Greene, Andy (August 15, 2013). "Flashback: The Band Cover Bruce Springsteen". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
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