Hudson was part of the legendary band that accompanied Bob Dylan in his transition from folk to electric music.
Garth Hudsonwhose fantastic approach to the organ and virtuosity on many other instruments gave a distinctive touch to the Canadian-American group’s rock sound The Bandhas died.
Hudson “passed away peacefully in his sleep” Tuesday morning at a nursing home at the band’s longtime headquarters in Woodstock, New York, the executor of the musician’s estate confirmed to the Toronto Star. He was 87 years old.
Gart Hudson’s career with Bob Dylan and The Band
Retired and rarely interviewed, Hudson was the quiet man of the group that began life as the backing band for Hawks, Arkansas-born rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins, who in 1966 went on to support Bob Dylan on his tumultuous first tour as a rock ‘n’ roll performer.
After working with Dylan in West Saugerties, New York (where Hudson worked as a recording engineer for Dylan and the group’s legendary “basement tapes”), the musicians emerged as The Band In a surprising debut in 1968, “Music From Big Pink”. That album and its 1969 follow-up established them as one of the best rock groups of the era.
In an interview with Canadian magazine Maclean’s in 2003, Hudson – the only member of the band to never contribute vocals on stage or on a record – downplayed their unique achievements.
“It was a job,” he said. “Playing in a stadium, playing in a theater. My job was to provide arrangements with pads underneath, pads and fills behind good poets. “The same poems every night.”
Robbie Robertsonthe band’s guitarist and songwriter in the group’s years of stardom (who died in August 2023), offered a much more effusive assessment than Hudson provided in his 2016 memoir, “Testimony”.
“He played brilliantly, in a more complex way than anyone we had played with before.”wrote. “Most of us had started playing instruments as children and had made steady progress, but Garth was classically trained and could find musical avenues on the keyboard that we didn’t know existed. “It impressed us deeply.”
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Band in 1994. and received a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy in 2008. The group was inducted into the Juno Awards Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
