Music From Big Pink

Music from Big Pink is the 1968 debut album by rock band The Band. It features their best-known song, “The Weight.”

With a distinctive blend of country, rock, folk, classical, R&B, and soul, Music From Big Pink is generally considered one of the best albums by the Band, along with their 1969 second album The Band. The album follows the band’s backing of Bob Dylan on his 1966 tour (as The Hawks) and time spent at a shared house in upstate New York recording what would become The Basement Tapes, also with Dylan.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 34 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The laid-back feel of the album drew the attention of many other artists. For example, Eric Clapton cites the album’s roots rock style as what convinced him to quit Cream, and pursue the styles of Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and his debut album. George Harrison also took note of this style as well as the down-home camaraderie as he was becoming more disgruntled with the constant rifts between The Beatles at the time.