My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for an advance copy of this new look at the history and music of a musical group that had the simplest of names, but left a mighty legacy in what we listen to today, though much of what we know about them is a lot of legend, a lot of anger and lot of assumptions from the band.

I really never knew much about The Band until their first box set came out when I was working in a music store. I knew some songs, but honestly had put them in the same class as Charlie Daniels, Molly Hatchet and others. Seventies country bands, that has a song or two but nothing I would like. As with most things in life, I was wrong. My manager played the box set every shirt he worked. A customer shared some of his old vinyl bootlegs, translated to cassette for me to hear when I mentioned them. My interest went from hmm to oh yeah I get it. Four men from Canada, one American, multi-instrumentalists all singing songs about America's past, whose music I could hear in many of the bands I was listening to at the time Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks and more. Learning about The Band was hard. Depending on the documentary, the book, even the liner notes in boxed set could set one off in one direction or another. This guy's a jerk, this guy is a mess, he broke up, we broke up, we got together. The truth, like legends and songs are always open to interpretation. This book might be the closest we get, the last words on The Band. Last Waltz: The Full Story of The Band by music historian and writer Craig Harris is a history of the band, its music, where it started to go wrong, and what came after.

The book begins in the South, deep in the countryside with a look at the importance of music to people, for entertainment, for passing the time, and for making their lives, mostly rough and tumble better. As country began to turn to rockabilly and finally rock and roll, readers met Ronnie Hawkins, the Hawk a person who without the members of the Band and the world would be far different. The Hawk gained a following with his crazy shows, a mix of popular songs, blues classics and energy. Levon Helm was his drummer, an American with a love of rhythm and pure hardstock country. Moving north to Canada, the Hawk became a popular act in the Northeast, adding more Canadians to the mix. Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manual and Rick Danko. Soon the Hawk got to be too much, and the group went through names and ideas quickly as they tried to find themselves. Along the way the teamed with Bob Dylan, some of them there when Dylan went electric, moved to Woodstock where most of their most creative times were. And broke up on film, or did they. Along the way stories were made up, feuds started, credit taken, taken away, and much more.

A really good look at a musical entity that had such a huge influence on so much that followed. I named a few bands earlier, but there are a lot more bands that would claim The Band as an influence. Harris really captures this feeling writing just as well about the sound, as the fury of performing, and the fury that seemed to fill many of these bandmates. Harris isn't afraid to point out well this is wrong, that's wrong, that surprisingly is right. There is a lot to clear up. The book starts well in the past, but sets the mood for the most important thing in the book. The music. The way they could play for hours trying to get something right. Working on lyrics, switching instruments for a different view. There was a lot of love for the music, its a shame so much enmity was spent on each other.

A good book for fans of The Band. With Garth Hudson passing this year, getting to the truth might be hard. This is really a wonderful book, both for those who enjoy the music, and for those who want to know more about music history. This is the second book by Craig Harris I have read, I look forward to his next one.