The authors wish to extend special thanks to Rick Danko and Garth Hudson.
Also to the late J. D. Helm, Modena Cagle, Mary Cavette, Paul and Mary Berry, Edward Carter, C. W. Gatlin, Sam Tillman, Ben Story, and Jim Howe of KFFA, Helena, Arkansas.
Also to Bill Avis and Ronnie Hawkins.
Also to Jane Manuel, John Simon, and the family of the late Stan Szelest.
Also to Richard Bell, Randy Ciarlante, and Jim Weider.
Also to Joe Forno, Jr., without whom...
Also to the memory of Ralph Shultis, and to his grandson, Paul Shultis, Jr., who has continued the finest tradition of building homes in the Catskills.
Also to Elliott Landy.
This book was researched in Phillips County, Arkansas, and Ulster County, New York, between 1990 and 1993. David Fishof and David Vigliano helped fire it up. Jim Landis thought it was a good thing. Judy Moore and Henry Pinkham gave it shelter from Catskill summer thunderstorms. Chris Davis maintained editorial standards. The David Bieber Archive of Boston, Massachusetts, provided rare documents and recordings, as did James Isaacs and Andy Robinson. James Henke made available Rolling Stone magazine’s extensive file on The Band.
Special thanks to Paul Bresnick, Ben Ratliff, Philip Bashe, and all our friends at William Morrow and Company for helping our story make the harrowing transition from manuscript to print.
Love to Sandy Helm and Judith Arons.
Special mention: for friendship above and beyond—Don Tyson, Duck and June Dunn, Ace Kutsuna, Hayden McIlroy, Jake and Arlene Christofora, Judge and Mrs. Joseph Forno, Sr., and Leon “Butch” Dener. Mojo navigation: Joel Zoss.
Also to Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, and Jane Fonda for opportunities I could only dream about as a kid.
The authors of the following texts, from which quotations not already cited in the text are taken.
Alfred G. Aronowitz, “Friends and Neighbors Just Call Us The Band,” Rolling Stone (August 24, 1968).
Joshua Baer, “The Robbie Robertson Interview,” Musician (May 1982).
Rob Bowman, “Life Is a Carnival,” Goldmine (July 26, 1991).
Dix Bruce, “Levon Helm,” Mandolin World News (Summer 1983).
Jay Cocks, “Down to Old Dixie and Back,” Time (January 12, 1970).
Sara Davidson, “The Band in Suits and Ties,” The Boston Sunday Globe, June 1969.
Bill Flanagan, “The Return of Robbie Robertson,” Musician (October 1987).
Robyn Flans, “Levon Helm,” Modern Drummer (August 1984).
Howard Gladstone, “Robbie Robertson,” Rolling Stone (December 27, 1969).
Ralph J. Gleason, “The Band at Winterland,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 17, 1969.
Tony Glover, “Music From Big Pink,” Eye (October 1968).
Michael Goldberg, “The Second Coming of Robbie Robertson,” Rolling Stone (November 19, 1987).
Bill Graham and Robert Greenfield, Bill Graham Presents (Double-day, 1992).
Ronnie Hawkins with Peter Goddard, Last of the Good Ol’ Boys (Stoddard, 1989), the Hawk’s autobiography.
Robert Palmer, “A Portrait of The Band,” Rolling Stone (June 10, 1978) and “Robbie Robertson,” Rolling Stone (November 14, 1991).
John Poppy, “The Band: Music From Home,” Look (August 25, 1970).
Tony Scherman, “The Wild Youth of Robbie Robertson,” Musician (December 1991).
Robert Shelton, No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan (Beech Tree Books, 1986).
Ruth Spencer, four-part interview with The Band, The Woodstock Times, March 21—April 11, 1985.
Max Weinberg with Robert Santelli, The Big Beat (Contemporary Books, 1984).