The Band, "The Band", Released September 1969 

The Band has two albums in the Top 50 of this all-time greatest list.  This album ranked at #45 and "Music from Big Pink" at #34.  And yet most American music listeners can't name one member of the band.  But I suspect, based upon what I've read and know about them, that's okay with them as they preferred their quiet notoriety.  They first came to prominence as Bob Dylan's backup band.  Clearly, they had immense talent for someone of Bob Dylan's prominence to choose to work with them. 

I've always loved The Band.  With three very capable lead singers and incredible musicianship, their songs are soulful and absolutely great. With Levon Helms (drums), Rick Danko (bass) and Richard Manuel (piano) sharing lead vocal duties there is such variety in the presentation of the songs and the harmonies their voices get are just incredible.  I've always admired a drummer that can sing and in my opinion, no one did it as well as Levon Helm.  His drumming is subtle but that rhythmic shuffle is so distinctively his sound that I've never heard a drummer that can quite mimic him.  Strangely enough, this album was recorded in a pool house of a home owned by Sammy Davis Jr.!  But I have a feeling The Band could have recorded in a outhouse and made it sound amazing. 

This album features a few of their most well-known songs like "Up On Cripple Creek" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".  But the rest of the songs are just as great and I really dug "Look Out Cleveland", "King Harvest" and "Whispering Pines" in particular.  It's a great album that combined all the styles of music they enjoyed and in the end created something uniquely their own.  People should dig deeper into The Band and discover all the hits plus all the other great songs that weren't "hits." They are one of America's greatest bands of all time (even though 4 of the 5 are Canadians).  :)

Additional reading/listening:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band_(album)

A Streetcar Named Desire, Released March 1952

I wasn't sure what to think as I sat down to this movie. Released in 1952, it is the oldest live action movie (Snow White is older) on the list to this point.  It's shot entirely in black and white, which immediately makes it feel even older in my color oriented mind.  This film was adapted from a play written by legendary playwright Tennessee Williams. 

Because I had some difficulty with hearing the words (inferior sound production in 1952), I watched with the closed captioning on.  In hindsight, this was probably a good thing as reading/listening to the words helped me appreciate how talented of a writer Williams is and why he's considered an American icon.  It's a great story and I can understand why it does so well when produced on a stage. 

All the dialogue is very natural and the actors do such an incredible job "becoming" the characters.  This film was one of Marlon Brando's first and he was nominated for an Oscar Award (lost to Humphrey Bogart).  His performance helped launch his legendary career and today is considered one of the greatest actors of all time.  Vivien Leigh (lead actress), Karl Malden (supporting actor) and Kim Hunter (supporting actress) all won Oscars for their performances.  Vivien Leigh's performance is incredible and she carries so many scenes with the quantity of her dialogue. 

Seeing Brando and Leigh give such memorable and legendary performances was great.  The film is around 2 hours long, which is manageable.  Watching these older films is worth it to see how acting and film making has evolved.  Movies are different now but not necessarily better, especially with regard to the acting and writing.  I'd definitely recommend people see this movie, it's worthy of being in the Top 50 of all time.

Additional reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire_(1951_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlon_Brando
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivien_Leigh

Next week #44 

Patti Smith, "Horses"

Birth of a Nation