Greatest Song Evah 4/4/25

The Weight

It will always be a uniquely great irony that The Band is one of the most quintessentially American bands even though 4 of the 5 members were Canadian. The fact that Arkansas native Levon Helm was one of their 3 lead singers helps; there is so much grit and swampiness in his vocal timbre. Add that to the assorted specifically American musical influences that they stirred together into their particular stew and that the members looked like they stepped out of Civil War photos and they were the epitome of the term “rootsy.”

The Weight was their first single and remains arguably their best known song. Filled with religious imagery it tells the tale of a man constantly asked to do one favor after another. (It’s also one of those songs in which the title doesn’t appear in the lyrics. It’s practically a rite of passage for people to refer to it as that Take a Load Off Fanny song before they learn the actual title.)

Many of the individuals referenced in the song are real people that the members of The Band knew. There was an actual Fanny, an actual Crazy Chester, etc. I was only 2 years old when Music From Big Pink was released, so I only have a vague understanding of the anticipation that avid fans felt when they heard that Bob Dylan’s backup band was releasing an album under their own name. It’s a debut release but it doesn’t feel like one. They had been an ensemble for years at this point, and it had the feel of a well-oiled machine in which everyone knew their part. All 5 members were magnificent musicians, and the interplay both vocally and musically found here is perfection.

Side Categories

The majority of winners of the Ertegun Award have been label executives, songwriters, or producers, but the Hall has on occasion looked outside of those categories for recipients. Today I’ll take a look at some of those potential candidates and next week I’ll concentrate on producers, etc.

The relationship between disc jockey and audience has been crucial in introducing music to the masses. The challenge is that the vast majority of jocks are heroes within their own market but largely unknown outside. Growing up in New York I can talk about someone like Murray the K, and while it’s true that someone working in such a large media market is bound to have a larger national profile, most local air personalities mean little to audiences in large swaths of the country. I can think of 2 men who made names for themselves on a national basis, beginning with Casey Kasem. Not only was he the long running host of American Top 40, but he also hosted the weekly syndicated TV show America’s Top 10, which was the chief outlet to show music videos during MTV’s infancy when that network had yet to reach many large markets. Wolfman Jack was quite possibly the most famous DJ of them all and a major champion of rock & roll from his early days working at a pirate radio station to his later fame when he hosted Midnight Special and made regular TV appearances.

When it came to music on television, one cannot ignore the culture shifting phenomenon of MTV. There were elements of MTV that bothered the purist in me: I grew tired of the quick cutting aesthetic, and there was an essential vapidity to the whole ethos. But it’s undeniable that the network was a star making machine, and the 5 original VJ’s were important faces and voices in pop culture. Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, JJ Jackson, and Martha Quinn would be deserving of an induction as a unit.

If authenticity is your preference, then Hilly Kristal is your man. He was wise enough to tap into the zeitgeist and give stage time at his cowboy bar to many of the most promising up and coming New York based acts of the 1970’s. CBGB’s stood for country, bluegrass, and blues, but it was the sub acronym - OMFUG, or other music for uplifting gourmandizers - that turned his club into a legendary venue. By the same token, I could also include Rodney Bingenheimer, the so-called Mayor Of Sunset Strip, who as a DJ, club owner, and man about town, helped make the LA punk scene possible. (There are also some disturbing sexual misconduct allegations against Bingenheimer, which makes his candidacy a non-starter. I only bring his name up for historical purposes.)

Moving across the pond, a lot of what I said in the previous paragraph could also apply to Malcolm McLaren. You can accuse him of exploiting trends, but he did have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Retailer, manager, producer, and occasional recording artist himself, he was a central figure in the UK punk scene.

Moving outside of punk, I am a little surprised that neither Alan Lomax nor Harry Smith have been inducted. Both spent years recording rural roots music; without their work many blues and folk singers would have been lost to history and those recordings helped keep standards alive as well. The chief purpose of a museum, and that is what the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame is at its essence, is to preserve history. It seems that the Hall should honor such crucial music historians.

Paul Shaffer (and the CBS Orchestra as well) slips in between assorted cracks. He can’t be considered a non-performer, but it’s not as if he has had a notable recording career either. He has one of the most overstuffed Rolodexes in the music industry, and he has put that to good use. He helped put together the Blues Brothers band, the CBS Orchestra long served as the house band for many huge events including the Hall’s own induction ceremony, and of course he and his band performed with hundreds of acts during David Letterman’s epic late night run.

There are other subcategories that are also worth exploring. What about photographers such as Mick Rock or Annie Leibovitz, or album cover artists who have been a part of the aesthetic feel of rock? Would it be worth considering journalists or critics such as Lester Bangs or Ralph Gleason? There are a handful of famous agents that have been inducted, what about Peter Grant or Paul McGuinness? Concert promoters? I would hesitate there because the first one I think of is John Scher and then I remember seeing how dismissive he was in the Woodstock ‘99 documentary and how unwilling he was to accept any responsibility for that fiasco and I say to myself the heck with him.

Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer had been in poor health for quite some time - his cameo in Top Gun: Maverick had all of the trappings of a farewell performance - so his passing this week was not a surprise, but it was very sad to hear.

His earliest work included an outstanding one-two introductory punch. Starring roles in Top Secret! and Real Genius showed his charisma as well as his slightly off-kilter sensibility. Top Secret! was Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker’s spoof of spy movies and Elvis movies, giving Kilmer the opportunity to channel Elvis years before True Romance. And he was a perfect smartass in Real Genius; some of his lines still live in my head 40 years later.

Kilmer was a very handsome man, and that sometimes served to his detriment. He was a character actor in a leading man’s body - call it the Jude Law Syndrome - so studios were eager to push him into tentpoles rather than taking the sort of supporting roles that served him better. For example, The Saint was a waste of his time. More indicative of his talents was what is likely the first role people thought of when news of his death came out: Doc Holliday in Tombstone. It is rightfully praised as one of the most brilliant acting performances of the era. He stole that movie.

That’s not to say that he didn’t bring something to flashier projects. Oliver Stone’s The Doors was a mess, but Kilmer was mesmerizing as Jim Morrison. And I believe he was the best of the Batmen. Batman Forever was an undisciplined film because it felt as if every actor was acting as if they were in a different movie, but more than any actor who wore the cowl Kilmer effectively conveyed the trauma of having witnessed his parent’s murder. Oh, Bruce Wayne is so psychologically damaged that he dresses up as bat to fight crime? Makes sense.

I want to mention one more movie of his that hasn’t been discussed as much as others these past couple of days - The Ghost and the Darkness. He and Michael Douglas had a real Hooper & Quint interaction going on, in this case battling a pair of man-eating lions rather than a great white shark. Plus, Kilmer was nowhere as irritating as Richard Dreyfuss was.

Val Kilmer was 65. We could use a lot more Kilmers. He made some, let’s say interesting choices over the years, but he was never dull.

The Attack Of The Torpedo Bats

This is not me throwing a stone whilst in a glass house. I am as guilty of early season overreaction as the next guy. It still astonishes me how quickly we all forget about the concept of small sample size in baseball and jump to premature conclusions. The torpedo bat discourse is a perfect case in point.

In Saturday’s game the Yankees blasted a near record 9 home runs against the Brewers. At the same time Michael Kay mentioned that a handful of Yankees hitters have begun using the so-called torpedo bats with the barrel of the bat larger at the sweet spot than it has traditionally been. Suddenly everyone added 2+2. The redesigned bats were clearly the cause of that power outburst. Are they legal? The Evil Empire strikes again.

It’s only the first week of the season, take a chill pill. Most important issue first; the bats follow all regulations in the rule book; they are 100% legal. Next, not all Yankee hitters are using the bats. Aaron Judge hit 3 of those home runs and he is using the same bat he has always used. Hear me out on this; is it possible that it was just one of those days? Stuff happens. I think of my pre-season post. You know, the one in which I listed the Braves #1 in my power rankings. That doesn’t look all that smart right now being that they started the season off with an 0-7 record. I think (?) they will be fine. We’re still in the weird results portion of the season.

That’s not to say that there is nothing to the bats, just that we need a lot more data. As more players on more teams order the torpedo bats for themselves we’ll have a better idea of their efficacy. If the bats are the new great secret, cool. It’s simply the latest example of the constant push and pull between hitting and pitching. Pitchers will adjust, hitters will adjust to the adjustment, and so on and so on. It’s a tale as old as time.

SNL Preview

Force of nature Jack Black will host this weekend; it’s his 4th time but the first in 20 years. No one will ever accuse him of being a subtle performer; it will be fascinating to see how he gels with the current cast. There are at least 4 cast members who have a propensity to play big - will they attempt to match Black’s intensity? And if so, will it be an exhausting episode? And what are the chances that the cold open will include jokes on penguin tariffs? Black will be joined by musical guests Elton John and Brandi Carlile.

The Oscar Mulligan - 2007

Best Picture: No Country For Old Men

Other Nominees: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

2007 is a battle between two choices, two movies which fittingly featured a pair of the most iconic villains in movie history. The 3 runners-up all had much to recommend. Michael Clayton in particular has become an easy reference point. How many times have we seen a fixer described as a real life Michael Clayton?

Wouldn’t you love to see a crossover in the Daniel Day-Lewis Cinematic Universe? What would happen if Bill the Butcher and Daniel Plainview could somehow meet? Plainview was truly a frightening creation, he was a threat even when he was at his lowest points. Day-Lewis gave the famous “I drink your milkshake” line the proper amount of menace. There Will Be Blood was impressive, but it still falls short of No Country For Old Men.

As fearsome as Daniel Plainview was, he had nothing on Anton Chigurh. What was most terrifying about Javier Bardem’s portrayal? Was it the haircut? The perpetually crazed look in his eyes? The relentless shark constantly swimming forward aspect to his actions? The malicious way that he says the word “friend-o?” He wasn’t a man, he was an unstoppable monster in human form with no regard for the unfortunate souls who crossed his path. The scene with the gas station owner is so legendary because the innocent man quickly recognizes that the stakes of the coin flip aren’t so simple. Chigurh is so bereft of a human soul that everyone else in his wake is merely a chess piece.

No Country came out more than 20 years into the career of the Coen Brothers, a time span in which they produced classic after classic, with more highlights still to come. They hopped around across multiple genres, all while maintaining their own sensibility to the material. If I’m being honest I would not rank this in my personal Coen Top 5. That’s not a criticism of No Country as much as it is an acknowledgment of how fantastic their filmography is. If there was a common complaint surrounding the movie it was about its abrupt ending, but I think the entire third act suffered from a lack of focus.

That’s not a dealbreaker. The good parts of this movie more than make up for any other issues. Since seeing it I never look at a cattle gun the same way and if I see someone with a bad haircut I head for the hills. The Coen Brothers and Javier Bardem created something memorable and it remains the 2007 champ.

Closing Laughs

Well, this has been the longest week of our lives, surpassing the previous record holder of last week. As for next week? Let’s get through this together. Thanks for being part of the Tending the Herd family. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you again on Monday.