I Don't Want to Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes

The end of 1971 went out with a bang for The Band. After a hard and rigorous year of touring, the boys were feeling exhausted and ready to hang it up for a while. Yet, the contract demands that another new album come out in 1972. With the recording of Cahoots being highly strained and draining the last bit of original energy they had within them, The Band was left wondering what to do to satisfy the demands while trying to preserve the group from falling apart. The general consensus was that they would put out a double album to satisfy Capitol Records and then take a brief hiatus. For four nights, from December 28-December 31, The Band took residence at the Academy of Music in New York City. To try out something new, they decided to have a backing horn band. For these arrangements, they contacted musician and arranger Allen Toussaint to write horn charts for their songs that would back up their usual sound. This new idea equally excited and terrified The Band. While they wanted to branch out and try something new to spice up their usual performances, they had no idea how it would go off and if the audience would respond positively. No doubt the boys were scarred and reflecting on how the crowd became irate when they backed Bob Dylan's electric sound only just a few years prior.

Yet, all three shows at the Academy of Music sold out with a total of 9,000 tickets sold. The Band found opportunities to bring out old tunes, take new spins on them, and surprised themselves as much as the audience with brilliant takes. Some of these include the most iconic version of "Don't Do It", "I Don't Want to Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes", "W.S. Walcott Medicine Show", "Get Up Jake", and much more. On the last show, New Year's Eye of 1971, they brought out Bob Dylan, which made the audience ecstatic and spontaneously did several songs that went back to The Basement Tapes. Some of my personal favorites from The Academy of Music shows are performed by Rick Danko. Whether you are watching the saved archival videos from the shows or just listening, in true Danko fashion you are able to feel the passion he gave 100% of himself to. That show's version of "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" grips you and makes you feel in love just by listening to it. He soulfully sings it with everything inside of him, and the backing harmonies are powerful and match Rick's strain.

Other songs from the Academy of Music that truly stand out from Danko are "Caledonia Mission", "The Rumor", "Unfaithful Servant", and "Stage Fright". "Caledonia Mission" from this show is personally my favorite of all the versions, even more so than the studio track. I feel that his voice and the instrumentation are fuller and more melodic which truly conveys the beauty of the song. His voice is bouncy yet flowing at the same time in a way that only Rick could produce. "Unfaithful Servant" is powerful, sensitive, and fragile. His voice alone makes you feel like you are a part of that song and leaves you feeling sad from the contagious emotions. In "The Rumor", Rick's voice is so strong that he truly stands out and holds the song from each first stanza he is responsible for. It is truly a statement that he is the first one to open the song and grab your attention. A part that especially affirms how powerful of a singer he was is when he sang the line "Now all you vigilantes wanna make a move...". The way his voice just effortlessly goes up high on "a move" shocked me when I first heard it due to how smooth and strong he was able to vocally transition quickly. Danko had a wide vocal range, and it is those subtleties that most singers would not think about that he made count.

After the Academy of Music shows entered 1972. This is a year that essentially closed one chapter of The Band, and paved the way for a brand-new one. The Band entered their sabbatical period and limited the shows and touring while still fulfilling their contract by producing a compilation of their Academy of Music shows on a record called Rock of Ages. Not only were they tired of the road and the strain of having to come up with new material, but they were also needing personal time away from each other as well. Rick Danko mentioned in an interview that more often than not they hardly saw each other outside of their recording/touring time. Levon Helm was going back to school for drumming technique courses, Richard was, unfortunately, finding the sabbatical period a time for his demons to haunt him further, Garth was working on a new house, Robbie and his wife were spending time in Canada, and Rick was dealing with his own personal matters as well.

One of the projects that he was working on was co-producing his good friend and fellow Woodstock artist Bobby Charles' eponymous album. Almost all of The Band members were involved in some form on this album, but Rick was the most invested. Along with Charles, he co-wrote "Small Town Talk" which he would later make a faster tempo cut on his own album a few years later. Instrumentally, he played bass on "Long Face", trombone on a separate cut of "Small Town Talk", violin on "Homemade Songs", and lent vocals on "New Mexico". The latter three songs did not make it onto the album itself, but would later be released on a compilation called Bearsville Box Set. Bobby Charles' album has a great mixture of his signature swampy, laid-back sound, along with Danko's audible feel-good, bouncy presence as well. Overall, it shares a resemblance with the sound of The Band's first two albums. Perhaps it being recorded in Bearsville with the help of friends rather than big-time recording engineers brought out that intimate feeling. Another Bearsville Studios project Rick was helping out on in 1972 was Jackie Lomax's album Three. He played bass, along with Levon on drums, on the track "Hellfire, Night-Crier".

Besides the album projects, Rick Danko was dealing with more personal life matters. With not a lot keeping him busy during the sabbatical period, there was time to get invested in more unhealthy distractions. He explained, "When I was young, I either worked too hard or didn't work enough. Either stayed away from home too long or stayed home too long... Since I wasn't recuperating from any accidents, it was a wild kind of time.". Unfortunately, this "wild kind of time" caused a rift between Rick and Grace. Rick's addictions, much like many of the other musicians in the Woodstock area, were getting worse and life away from home was not helping either. Around 1972, Rick and Grace separated, but quite soon after a new relationship was formed with a recently divorced mutual friend, Elizabeth Grafton. While it is not known how exactly they met, there was an instant connection between them. As coincidence would have it, she had a son who was born the same year as Eli, Justin. While they started officially dating in 1972, Grace and Rick were still legally married and Rick tried to remain as close to them as possible for the sake of Lisa and Eli.

1972 may have been one of the most significantly changing years for Rick and The Band in general, but it was a time of trying to figure out where they stood both personally and professionally, and where they needed to go if they were going to keep the group together. Ultimately, Rick reflects on this period in his typical positive manner: "During this period...thank God everybody changes. We all had a habit, something we were going through. We learned that success is like an animal. When there's no limit, you do whatever you want... Over the years we might not have dealt with it right, but we're still here, still communicating with one another. If there's any long-term example to be set, I hope we get to set a few yet!".

Academy of Music rehearsals, 1971