HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RICK DANKO! Born Richard Clare Danko on December 29, 1942 in Blayney, Ontario, Canada. He was a multiinstrumentalist musician, singer and songwtiter best known as a member of The Band. Danko formed the Rick Danko Band at the age of 12 or 13, and at 14, he left school to pursue music. At 17, already a five-year music veteran, he booked himself as the opening act for Ronnie Hawkins, an American rockabilly singer whose group, The Hawks, were considered to be one of the best in Canada. Hawkins invited Danko to join The Hawks. The Hawks played with Hawkins through mid-1963. An altercation that year between Danko and Hawkins led Danko, Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Manuel, and Hudson to give two-weeks notice in early 1964 and parted ways with Hawkins on reasonably amicable terms. Playing a circuit that stretched in an arc from Ontario to Arkansas, they became known as the best damn bar band in the land. In 1965 Bob Dylan contacted them, and they became his backing group traveling across America, Australia, and Europe, playing new versions of Dylan classics. After the final shows in England, Dylan retreated to his new home in Woodstock, New York, and the Hawks joined him shortly thereafter. It was Danko who found the pink house on Parnassus Lane in Saugerties, New York, which became known as Big Pink. Danko, Hudson, and Manuel moved in, with Robertson ensconcing himself nearby. The Bands musical sessions with Dylan took place in the basement of Big Pink, between June–October 1967, generating recordings that were officially released in 1975 as The Basement Tapes album. Their manager, Albert Grossman, secured them a recording deal with Capitol Records in late 1967. From January to March 1968, The Band recorded their debut album, Music From Big Pink. Before The Band could promote the album by touring, Danko was severely injured in a car accident, breaking his neck and back in six places, which put him in traction for months. The Band finally made their concert debut at Bill Grahams Winterland in San Francisco April 1969.The Bands albums were defined by each member; Robertsons lyrics and guitar work, Helms bayou folk drumming and Southern voice, Manuels Ray Charles-like vocals and complex keyboard rhythms, Hudsons arrangements on an assortment of instruments and Dankos iconic tenor, his on-top-of-the-melody harmonies, and his percussive, melodic bass-playing style were an integral part of the groups sound. After The Band performed its farewell concert (The Last Waltz) at Winterland in November 1976, Danko was offered a contract with Arista Records by Clive Davis, making him the first Band member to record a solo album. Issued in 1977, his self titled début featured each of his former bandmates in addition to Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, Doug Sahm and Dankos brother, Terry. In early 1979 Danko opened shows for Boz Scaggs. Also in 1979, Danko and Paul Butterfield toured together as the Danko/Butterfield Band. Among the songs they covered was Sail On, Sailor, originally recorded by The Beach Boys. From 1983 to 1999, Danko alternated between a reformed version of The Band, a solo career and collaborations. In 1989, he toured with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson as part of Ringo Starrs first All-Starr Band. Danko sang on the Pink Floyd songs Comfortably Numb and Mother, the former with Van Morrison, Roger Waters, and Levon Helm, and the latter with Helm and Sinéad OConnor on July 21, 1990, in Roger Waters stage production of The Wall Concert in Berlin. In 1996, Danko was found guilty of receiving a package of heroin mailed to him in Japan. He received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence. In 1994, Danko was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band. On December 10, 1999, days after the end of a brief tour of the Midwest that included two shows in the Chicago area and a final gig at The Ark in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Danko died in his sleep at his home in Marbletown, New York, near Woodstock due to heart failure. Heres Rick Danko singing lead, with The Band, performing Stage Fright..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:52:36 +0000
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