Garth Hudson, the longest living founding member of The Band, has died at the age of 87.
Eric Garth Hudson was born in Ontario, Canada on 2 August, 1937. In 1961, Ronnie Hawkins asked Garth to join his band The Hawks. Garth agreed on the condition Hawkins bought him a Lowrey organ. That instrument created his signature sound moving forward.
When Hudson joined The Hawks, Hawkins band also included Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson. With Hudson, and minus Hawkins in 1963, they continued as The Hawks. In 1965, they were introduced by Bob Dylan and as The Hawks recorded Bob’s single ‘Can I Please Crawl Out Your Window’ and then went on to work with Dylan for what became the album ‘Blonde On Blonde’.
After Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident in 1966 the band (still called The Hawks) all lived in a pink house in Woodstock. It was here the recordings for Dylan’s ‘The Basement Tapes’ were made as well as the band’s debut album ‘Music from Big Pink’. At this point the band became The Band.
As well as the Lowrey organ, Hudson also played accordion as heard on Dylan’s ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’.
The Band broke-up in 1976 with one of the greatest concerts of all-time ‘The Last Waltz’. The concert featured their friends Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris and a host of the major names of the day.
The Band released one more album with the original line-up after ‘The Last Waltz’, ‘Islands’ in 1977. The Band reformed again in 1983 with Robbie Robertson. Richard Manuel was the first member to die in 1986. and released three more albums, the first two ‘Jericho’ and ‘High On The Hog’ featured songs with Manuel recorded in the mid-80s.
Garth Hudson played keyboards on The Call hit ‘The Walls Came Down’. He also performed with Roger Waters in Berlin for ‘The Wall’ live. Over the years he played on solo albums for Danko, Helm and Roberston.
Garth Hudson died on 21 January 2025 at a nursing home in Woodstock, New York.
He released his first solo album ‘The Sea of the North’ in 2001.
The Band members:
Richard Manuel, piano (1986, aged 42)
Rick Danko, bass (1999, aged 55)
Levon Helm, drums, (2012, aged 71)
Robbie Robertson (lead guitarist, 2023, aged 80)
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