Capitol/UMeThe 50th anniversary reissue of The Band‘s debut album, Music from Big Pink, arrives today. The release is available in various configurations, including a single CD, a two-LP set, a digital download, and a Super Deluxe box set featuring the CD, the LPs, a high-res Blu-ray audio disc, a 7-inch vinyl single, a photo book and more.
To promote the release, a trailer has been posted on YouTube featuring The Band’s Robbie Robertson sharing his recollections about making the album and discussing highlights of the box set.
The album’s title refers to the pink house in West Saugerties, New York, that the group’s members rented and where they wrote and workshopped the songs for the record.
“The house was just an ordinary place, but it was in the middle of a hundred acres, and it accommodated the situation perfectly,” Robertson explains. “The basement was this setup. All of our instruments were there. Everybody was in this circle of creativity.”
For the reissues, award-winning engineer Bob Clearmountain created new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes of the album. Robbie gushes about both mixes, while noting that listening to the 5.1 mix is “like sitting in the midst of the musicians playing it. You’re sitting in the circle too.”
Robertson also notes that the vinyl version of the Music from Big Pink reissue is mastered at 45 r.p.m. rather than at 33 and 1/3 r.p.m. “It sounds better, it’s crisper, it’s clearer,” he maintains.
In addition, Robertson shares the story about how Bob Dylan contributed the painting that became the album’s cover.
The Music from Big Pink reissues features several bonus tracks, including alternate takes, outtakes and a previously unreleased a cappella version of “I Shall Be Released.”
Here’s the reissue’s track list:
“Tears of Rage”
“To Kingdom Come”
“In a Station”
“Caledonia Mission”
“The Weight”
“We Can Talk”
“Long Black Veil”
“Chest Fever”
“Lonesome Suzie”
“This Wheel’s On Fire”
“I Shall Be Released”
Bonus Tracks:
“Yazoo Street Scandal” (Outtake)
“Tears of Rage” (Alternate Take)
“Long Distance Operator” (Outtake)
“Lonesome Suzie” (Alternate Take)
“Key to the Highway” (Outtake)
“I Shall Be Released” (A Cappella)
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