The Band’s classic third album, 1970’s Stage Fright, has been remixed, remastered, and expanded into several configurations including a lush 50th anniversary deluxe edition package. There are alternate takes of songs from the album, plus a real intimate look at these players on the seven-song Calgary Hotel Recordings, 1970, as well as a superb live performance via Live At The Royal Albert Hall, June 1971.Â
Stage Fright came into existence when the Band: Garth Hudson (keyboards, piano, horn), Levon Helm (drums, vocals, mandolin), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums), Rick Danko (bass, vocals, fiddle), and Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals) set up on the Woodstock Playhouse stage. As residents of the infamous music and arts community, the group rented the theatre, hoping to host a small concert of new songs to play for their neighbors. The show was scrapped, though, for fear it would attract more outsiders than the infamous community wanted, so they simply recorded Stage Fright on the playhouse stage, sans audience.
From the stompin’ beat and flickering guitar of “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show,” to the rumbling “The Shape I’m In” and the piano-driven “Stage Fright,” featuring strong vocals from Danko, to Robertson’s wailing round Hudson’s organ trilling on “Just Another Whistle Stop” — the audio, overseen by Robertson with a new stereo mix by Bob Clearmountain, is pristine. The original album is presented here is in its originally planned song order.
On Calgary Hotel Recordings, 1970, Robertson, Danko, and Manuel are captured running through a late-night jam of “Calgary Blues,” “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show,” and Bo Diddley’s “Before You Accuse Me,” among others, during their legendary Festival Express train tour in Canada.
The real extra gem, though, is Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 1971. The Band, then known as the Hawks, had been part of Bob Dylan’s backing band on his European tour in 1966 when they first played the UK. This is when Dylan infamously strapped on an electric guitar for half his set and whipped his backing band through electric versions of his most famous songs, only to get a lot of booing from audiences faithful to Dylan’s brand of folk.
Not knowing what to expect with their first real run through Europe on their own, you can hear in this set of 20 songs that the Band need not have worried. Released here for the first time, this show reveals the group in top form. Tunes like “The Shape I’m In,” “Time To Kill,” and the wild flights of Hudson’s keys on “The Genetic Method” are loud and joyously received.
For the box set, there are new 5.1 surround mixes of the album, bonus tracks and the Royal Albert Hall show on Blu-ray Disc. For vinyl lovers, there’s also a vinyl version of the whole album and a reproduction of the Spanish pressing of 1971 seven-inch vinyl single for “Time To Kill” and “The Shape I’m In” the new stereo mix. Throw in a reprint of the original Los Angeles Times album review by critic Robert Hilburn and a bunch of photos, and you can see why Stage Fright is something fans, collectors and even casual fans need to get their hands on.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.     Â
