#117 Music From Big Pink by The Band

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

117

2011 Album Rank

91

Total Points

512.5

Year Released

1968

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

30

Weeks at #1

N/A

RIAA Sales Certification

500,000 (Gold)

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Music From Big Pink Album Details

Released in July 1968, Music from Big Pink was The Band's groundbreaking debut album, a work that helped shift the direction of popular music away from psychedelic experimentation toward a rootsier, Americana-based sound. Recorded partly in New York and Los Angeles, the album took its name from the house in West Saugerties, New York, known as "Big Pink", where members of The Band had lived and worked with Bob Dylan on what would later become The Basement Tapes.

With its blend of rock, folk, gospel, soul, and country influences, Music from Big Pink introduced a uniquely communal approach to songwriting and performance. The album features classics like The Weight and I Shall Be Released, alongside Dylan collaborations such as Tears of Rage. Its organic, lived-in feel and reliance on ensemble interplay rather than individual stardom made it both an artistic and cultural pivot in late '60s rock.

Interesting Facts About Music From Big Pink

• Though Robbie Robertson would later emerge as The Band's primary songwriter, the standout track Tears of Rage was co-written by Richard Manuel and Bob Dylan, with Manuel delivering one of the most aching lead vocals of his career.
• The album cover was painted by Bob Dylan himself, adding to the mystique surrounding the project and its connections to Dylan's secretive Basement Tapes period.
• The Weight became the album's most famous song, though it was not a major chart hit upon release. Its stature grew as other artists, including Aretha Franklin and The Staple Singers, covered it.
• Much of the album was recorded in New York atA&R Studios and in Los Angeles at Capitol Studios, not actually in Big Pink itself, despite the association.
• Eric Clapton has frequently cited Music from Big Pink as a major reason he left Cream, wanting to pursue a more ensemble-driven, song-focused approach to music after hearing the album.
• The Band's rich vocal harmonies, with multiple members taking turns on lead vocals, provided a distinctive sonic character that set them apart from other groups of the time.
• Music from Big Pink helped spark the entire Americana movement decades before the genre would even have a name, influencing groups like The Eagles, Little Feat, and Wilco.
• The album received initial mixed reviews from some critics in 1968, who were still in the thrall of psychedelia, but its stature has grown steadily ever since.
• Among the songs written solely by Dylan for the album is I Shall Be Released, a haunting meditation on imprisonment and redemption that became a standard in Dylan's and The Band's repertoires.
• Garth Hudson's subtle, church-influenced organ work throughout the album provides one of its most distinctive textures, weaving between rock, gospel, and classical traditions.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 for its cultural and historical significance.

Music From Big Pink Tracklist

1. Tears of Rage
2. To Kingdom Come
3. In a Station
4. Caledonia Mission
5. The Weight
6. We Can Talk
7. Long Black Veil
8. Chest Fever
9. Lonesome Suzie
10. This Wheel's on Fire
11. I Shall be Released