Garth Hudson


Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group the Band, he was a principal architect of the group's sound. Hudson has been called "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Hudson is one of only two living original members of The Band, the other being Robbie Robertson.
A master of the Lowrey organ, Hudson's other primary instruments are piano, electronic keyboards, saxophone, and accordion. He has been a much-in-demand and respected session musician, performing with dozens of artists, including Elton John, who has cited him as an early influence.

Biography

Early life

Hudson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His parents, Fred James Hudson and Olive Louella Pentland, were musicians. His mother played piano and accordion and sang. His father, a farm inspector who had fought as a fighter pilot in World War I, played drums, C melody saxophone, clarinet, flute and piano. Hudson moved with his family to London, Ontario, around 1940. Starting piano lessons at an early age, Hudson also played organ at his church and his uncle's funeral parlour, and performed country songs on the accordion Classically trained in piano, music theory, harmony and counterpoint, Hudson wrote his first song at the age of eleven and first played professionally with dance bands in 1949, at the age of twelve. He attended Broughdale Public School and Medway High School before studying music at the University of Western Ontario. During this period, he grew increasingly frustrated with the rigidity of the classical repertoire, leading him to drop out after a year.
In 1956, he joined London band The Silhouettes. The group relocated to the Windsor/Detroit area where work was more plentiful. It was there, in 1958, that The Silhouettes joined with fellow Londoner Paul "London" Hutchins and became Paul London And The Capers. Hudson primarily played saxophone in the group, and some piano in a style inspired by Johnnie Johnson, but saw his first Lowrey Organ at a show in Detroit and determined that he would get one. The group found moderate success and plenty of work, recording a few songs in Toronto in 1960, changing their name to "...Kapers" with a 'K', recording a few more songs at Chess Studios in Chicago.
Hudson was first approached by Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm in the summer of 1961, after a Kapers show in London, and asked to join The Hawks, an offer he declined. The Hawks persisted, and in December 1961, Hudson agreed to join the band on two conditions: that Hawkins buy him a Lowrey organ, and that he be paid and extra $10 a week to give music lessons to the other Hawks. This second condition was in part to justify the move to his parents, who he feared would think he was squandering his years of music education by playing in a rock and roll band. Discussing the thinking behind his early fears in The Last Waltz, Hudson told interviewer-director Martin Scorsese: "There is a view that jazz is 'evil' because it comes from evil people, but actually the greatest priests on 52nd Street and on the streets of New York City were the musicians. They were doing the greatest healing work. They knew how to punch through music that would cure and make people feel good."
When the 24-year-old Hudson joined the Hawks, the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins, the band already consisted of 21-year-old Levon Helm on drums, 18-year-old Robbie Robertson on guitar, 18-year-old Rick Danko on bass and 18-year-old Richard Manuel on piano. The line up that would become The Band was now complete.

Lowrey organ

Hudson was one the few organ players in rock and roll and rhythm and blues to eschew the Hammond organ. Upon joining the Hawks, Hudson took the opportunity to negotiate the procurement of a new Lowrey organ as part of his compensation. The Lowrey organ offered a different mix of features, and Hudson stayed with Lowrey right through Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, Bob Dylan and the Band, playing three different models: originally a Festival console, which was replaced by a Lincolnwood TSO-25 during 1969, and later still a horseshoe console H25 model, as depicted in The Last Waltz.

The Band: 1965–1976

Under the strict supervision of Hawkins, the Hawks became an accomplished band. They split from Hawkins in 1963, recorded two singles and toured almost continually, playing in bars and clubs, usually billed as Levon and the Hawks. Hudson started work as a session musician in 1965, playing on John Hammond, Jr.'s So Many Roads along with Robertson and Helm.
In August 1965, they were introduced to Bob Dylan by manager Albert Grossman's assistant, Mary Martin. In October, Dylan and the Hawks recorded the single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", and in January 1966 they recorded material with Dylan for what would turn into the Blonde on Blonde album. Dylan recruited the band to accompany him on his controversial 1966 "electric" tour of the United States, Australia and Europe. Subsequent to Bob Dylan's motorcycle accident in July 1966, the group settled in a pink house in West Saugerties, New York, near Woodstock. Dylan was a frequent visitor, and Hudson's recordings of their collaborations resulted in The Basement Tapes.
By 1968, the group recorded its debut album, Music from Big Pink. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and New York. Capitol originally announced that the group would be called the Crackers, but when Music From Big Pink was released they were officially named the Band. The album includes Hudson's organ showcase, "Chest Fever", a song that in the Band's live shows would be vastly expanded by a solo organ introduction, entitled "The Genetic Method", an improvisational work that would be played differently at each performance. An example can be heard on the live album Rock of Ages. Hudson is also adept at the accordion, which he played on some of the group's recordings, such as "Rockin Chair", from The Band; the traditional "Ain't No More Cane", from The Basement Tapes; Dylan's "When I Paint My Masterpiece"; and Bobby Charles's "Down South in New Orleans" during The Last Waltz. His saxophone solo work can be heard on such songs as "Tears of Rage" and "Unfaithful Servant". Hudson is credited with playing all of the brass and woodwinds on the studio version of "Ophelia" from the 1975 album Northern Lights - Southern Cross. This album, the first to be recorded in the Band's Shangri-La recording studio in Malibu, California, also saw Hudson adding synthesizers to his arsenal of instruments.
concert in 1976
Hudson provided innovative accompaniment. For example, the song "Up on Cripple Creek" features Hudson playing a clavinet through a wah-wah pedal to create a swampy sound reminiscent of a Jew's harp or the croak of a frog. This clavinet–wah wah pedal configuration was later adopted by many funk musicians.
The initial iteration of the Band made its final bow as a touring band with a lavish final concert on Thanksgiving Day 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, an all-star tribute concert documented in The Last Waltz.

The Band reformed: 1980s–1990s

The Band released one more album after the Last Waltz, Islands, and then dissolved. By then, Hudson had married his singer/actress wife, Maud. He had his own property, Big Oak Basin Dude Ranch, in Malibu, which was destroyed by wildfires in 1978, after extensive renovations that included an impressive studio.
He was active during this period as a session musician, performing on movie soundtracks and albums by many other artists, including Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison and Leonard Cohen. He composed music for Our Lady Queen of the Angels, a multimedia show created for the Los Angeles in 1980. In the early 1980s he accompanied the Call on one of their albums and appeared with them in a music video which was played on MTV. He can be seen playing 2 separate keyboards in The Calls video of "the walls came down"
The Band reformed in 1983, with all the original members except Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel, who had lived at Hudson's ranch in 1978, committed suicide in 1986. Supplemented by a rotating roster of additional musicians, the Band continued to tour, releasing three albums in the 1990s.
In 1988, Hudson recorded Feed the Birds on , produced by Hal Willner.
In 1990 Hudson, playing accordion and soprano saxophone, along with bandmates Levon Helm and Rick Danko, who harmonized with the vocalists, took part in Roger Waters's massive performance of The Wall at the Berlin Wall.
As a member of the Band, Hudson was inducted into the Juno Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
He has played on various solo efforts of his bandmates Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Robbie Robertson.

Solo artist: 2001–present

Hudson released his first solo album, The Sea to the North, on September 11, 2001. In 2002, with his home in foreclosure and Robertson having bought out his stake in the Band, Hudson was forced to declare bankruptcy for the third time. He continued to record and perform. On July 13, 2002, he was honoured with the Canada South Blues Society's Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2002, he joined with former Flying Burrito Brothers' pedal steel player Sneaky Pete Kleinow to form Burrito Deluxe, with Carlton Moody of the Moody Brothers on lead vocals and guitars, bassist Jeff "Stick" Davis of the Amazing Rhythm Aces and drummer Rick Lonow. The group recorded two albums, Georgia Peach and The Whole Enchilada, before Kleinow departed in 2004 because of health problems.
In 2005, Hudson formed his own 12-piece band, the Best!, with his wife, Maud, on vocals. That same year, Garth and Maud Hudson released Live at the Wolf, a piano and vocal album recorded live at the Wolf Performance Hall in London, Ontario.
On November 20, 2005, Hudson received the Hamilton Music Award for Best Instrumentalist.
He continues as a much-in-demand session player, performing with such artists as Neko Case, Chris Castle, Teddy Thompson, the Secret Machines, the Sadies, the Lemonheads, Jonah Smith, Yesterday's News, Billy the Kid and others. He contributed an original electronic score to an off-Broadway production of Dragon Slayers, written by Stanley Keyes and directed by Brad Mays in 1986 at the Union Square Theatre in New York. The production was restaged with a new cast in Los Angeles in 1990.
A few of the artists Hudson performed with in 2006 are Ronnie Hawkins, the Sadies, Neko Case, Heavy Trash, John Hiatt, the North Mississippi All-Stars, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and Chris Zaloom, some of which were recorded. Hudson and his talent on piano are prominently featured in the 2007 Daniel Lanois DVD documentary Here Is What Is.
In 2010, Hudson released Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of the Band. The album features Canadian artists covering songs that were recorded by the Band. Hudson plays on every track and co-produced the album with Peter J. Moore. Acts that appear on the album include Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, the Trews, Great Big Sea, Hawksley Workman, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Ian Thornley.

Awards and honours

As a solo artist

Albums

YearAlbumLabelNote
1980Music For Our Lady Queen Of The AngelsBuscador Music*CD release on Other People's Music 2005
2001The Sea to the NorthWoodstock
2005Live at the WolfMake It Real*with Sister Maud Hudson
2010Garth Hudson Presents: A Canadian Celebration of the BandSony Music

Other Appearances

YearAlbumLabelNote
1975The Muddy Waters Woodstock AlbumChess Recordswith Muddy Waters
1988Stay Awake A&M RecordsFeed The Birds
2006The Harry Smith Project: Anthology Of American Folk Music RevisitedShout! FactoryNo Depression in Heaven
2013The Beautiful Old: Turn-Of-The-Century SongsDoubloon RecordsThe Rosary, Till We Meet Again
2013Love for Levon Time LifeAppears with John Prine on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and Dierks Bentley on "Chest Fever"

Film credits

Hudson is credited in the following films: