Bob Dylan Remerges to Eulogize ‘the Real Driving Force Behind the Band’

Take a load off and get a load of this. Bob Dylan has returned to his favorite social-media cesspool of choice, X, not to review a trio of SNL curveballs from a certain young admirer but to instead memorialize a recently deceased friend and collaborator. “Sorry to hear the news about Garth Hudson. He was a beautiful guy and the real driving force behind the Band,” he wrote. “Just listen to the original recording of ‘the Weight’ and you’ll see.” Hudson, who specialized in organ and piano and was the last living member of the Band, died last week at the age of 87. Dylan and Hudson prominently played together at the Band’s “farewell” concert, dubbed The Last Waltz, which was recorded in 1976 under the direction of Martin Scorsese. (Dylan was a bit of a diva getting onstage with the cameras rolling, but we’ll gossip about that another time.) In the Band’s earliest years as a unit, Dylan recruited them to be among his backing band when he went electric. This period included Hudson overseeing Dylan’s The Basement Tapes sessions in upstate New York — Dylan once reminisced about the “peaceful, relaxed setting” of it all — and touring with him throughout 1965 and 1966. The infamous “Judas!” concert in Manchester was their cherry on top. Per Dylan’s request, we’ll leave that version of “The Weight” right here to enjoy.

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