Times Like These

Rick Danko

As most modern rock musicians will attest it is nearly impossible to ignore the influence of The Band. The musicians of this seminal five piece are highly regarded multi-instrumentalists/vocalists/songwriters, having backed almost everybody at one time or another, but most notably in their early career as the backing band for a semi-popular guy you may have heard of…Bob Dylan! Times Like These is the final solo studio effort from The Band’s bassist and delicate vocalist, Rick Danko and it lives up to the legend this man helped to create.

Danko has a litany of killer players on this record, most notably the New York band The Crowmatix for almost all of the record’s songs. Danko sings, plays bass and acoustic guitar but it is his delicate warble and snappy songwriting that truly shine. Not so stylistically different then what you’d here him do on a Band album, Danko and his proficient players put the precise parts of these puckishly-penned pieces together for a perfect pastiche.

Opening with the pretty title track, featuring some nice harmonies of Danko and Marie Spinosa and Prof “Louie” Hurwitz’s angelic piano, “Times Like These” is pure Danko. Never the strongest vocalist, his talking-the-lyric on this one is truly sweet and starts the collection off perfectly. Next up is a reading of the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple,” nice but nothing new. With “All Our Past Times,” things really begin to cook. The Crowmatix are in fine form here with a tightness that carefully backs Danko’s delicate voice every step of the way. It almost feels like we’re in familiar Band territory with most of the tunes. A near spiritual take of Paul Jost’s “Book Faded Brown” has Garth Hudson’s wife Maud providing a perfect vocal counterpoint to Danko.

Next to the title track, a rousing “Change Is Good” is probably the most accessible tune here. Danko’s vocals were limited, but somehow the guy knew how to make them align properly with his backing vocalists. Even when he’s a bit pitchy, it works. I really like the dynamics in “Change,” especially the guitar work from Joe Walsh. We’re given a nice countrified passage for the Danko/Dylan “This Wheel’s On Fire” (hey, how many people can list Dylan as a collaborator!) and The Crowmatix are on fire (with Garth Hudson) providing an amazing instrumental opening which might be worth the price of the album alone.

“You Can Go Home” is lush and maybe just a bit too simple, but Danko’s vocal works effectively around this song of regret and solace. “Home” holds a little extra sadness given the fact that this album was a work in progress when Danko died in 1999. The country-flavored “Let The Four Winds Blow” (with Professor Louie on lead vocals and Levon Helm on harmonica) lifts the spirits before “People of Conscience” ends the disc. We are reminded of the importance of Danko’s role in The Band; how his unique, if sometimes limited vocal range, usually fit the proceedings perfectly; and how that rag-tag tumble of musicians seemed to resurrect an old American songbook with stuff wholly unique and inspired. “People” is one grand tune with the full compliment of most of the previous players on this one, but it’s really Danko’s warble and his leading of ‘the band’ behind him on this Tom Pacheco tune that makes this the album’s tour de force.

Rick Danko truly never knew popularity beyond The Band. Let’s face it they were a hard act to follow — Robbie Roberson flirted with acting, solo work and Scorsese soundtracks; Levon Helm acted as well, overcame some health problems and recently put out a critically acclaimed CD; and every musician in the world loves Garth Hudson. Band piano player/vocalist Richard Manuel died in 1986. He was never able to rise out of his addictions. Which leaves Rick Danko. Times Like These is a welcomed, though late addition, a testament to the spirit and voice of The Band’s enigmatic bassist.

~ Ralph Greco, Jr.

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