Garth Hudson, the Last Living Member of The Band, Has Passed Away

The multi-instrumentalist, composer, and music historian, essential in giving the seminal Americana-Rock group their distinctive sound, was 87.

Today, Garth Hudson passed away. Before I’d even heard the news, I was listening to The Band in my car, specifically their song “Bessie Smith,” with Hudson’s melodic organ solo. The world has lost a musical library. As Rob Sheffield writes for Rolling Stone, Hudson “represented something profound and ancient in the American spirit.”

Most everything I could say about Mr. Hudson I already have in this venue, in both essay and video format. So I am sharing those posts again below, which analyze and appreciate Hudson’s essential contributions to The Band’s sound specifically and more broadly his indelible impact on all of American music. For a taste of why Hudson sounded like no other keyboard player of his era, check out this video from just a couple years ago where he plays some old-time hymns on the piano. He didn’t just play the blues, as Rock & Roll was sonically saturated with at the time. He drew upon traditional hymns, lesser known folk ballads, jazz, and his classical training to create a gumbo that is untouched to this day.

It’s been over 60 years since the members of The Band — Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, Richard Manuel, and Garth Hudson — first started playing together as rockabilly Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band in Toronto, Canada. Throughout that time, The Band’s staying power, their enduring influence, even, yes, the timeless spiritual nature of their music, especially in comparison to most of their contemporaries who stayed firmly locked in the 1960s and 70s, speaks for itself. As I wrote about Hudson over a year ago now: “I do know that, when the day finally comes, I will feel a little different about this world and my place in it, if ever so slightly, when Garth, the last of them, is borne away on those snow-white wings to join the angel band.” Drop the needle on your favorite The Band album, maybe all of them, with intention today.

Peace.

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