Topic: Garth Hudson, the Band's Last Living Member, Dies at 87

[Simon]

Garth Hudson, the Band's genius multi-instrumentalist and careful archivist, has died. He was 87. The Toronto Star confirmed that he passed away in his sleep this morning at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York. Longtime friend Jan Haust told Rolling Stone that "yesterday was a day of music and hand-holding."

He was the group's last living member – and its most unique. Longtime collaborator Levon Helm once said "you could take anybody out of the Band — Robbie [Robertson], Rick [Danko] or him — and it would still be the Band," their producer John Simon later told the Times-Herald Record. "But it wouldn't be the Band without Garth."

Hudson was born in Windsor, Ontario and raised by a musical family two hours away in London. He initially studied classical music, then fell in love with rock 'n' roll. "I played trumpet and saxophone through high school," Hudson told the Woodstock Times. "Then somewhere about 1952, 1953, I began to pick up Alan Freed's Moondog Matinee from Akron/Cleveland from 5:05 to 5:55. ... It was one of the first successful rock 'n' roll shows. So, I knew someone over there was having more fun than I was."

The 'Royal Albert Hall' Concert, released in 1998, documented Hudson and the Band's then-controversial 1966 tour with Dylan as he went electric. Next, everyone gathered in a pink house near Woodstock in West Saugerties, New York, to explore their next musical adventures. Hudson served as curator for those genre-sparking recordings beginning in the summer of 1967. Bootlegs of the sessions pointed to a newfound focus on roots music that played out on their next official studio recordings, but the The Basement Tapes wouldn't be released until 1975.

By then, Hudson had left an indelible musical stamp on the Band. Trained in piano and music theory, Hudson had a canny intuition for accompaniment. He'd take a conventional turn at the piano on favorites like "The Weight" and "Rag Mama Rag," but also played sax on "Unfaithful Servant," clavinet on "Up On Cripple Creek" and accordion on Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece."

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/the-band-garth-hudson-dies/

[Clive]

I’ve not heard of him but RIP.

[Simon]

I'd have thought The Band was your era.

[Clive]

Doesn’t ring a bell at all and I note that Den hasn’t commented either.