The Band’s self-titled album

Some music is made for crowded bars, and some albums are meant to be heard at loud parties where someone will inevitably end up naked on the front lawn. The Band’s self-titled album is back-porch music for breezy Saturday afternoons when the only “work” that has to be done is picking up another case of beer at the gas station.

It boggles my mind that a band in which four of the five members were Canadian could make music that settles me into my Southern roots. I loathe country music about cheating wives and pickup trucks, but the Band some-fucking-how made music that to me is perfectly Southern and yet totally rock. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? I just don’t know. I know Levon Helm grew up in Arkansas, so maybe that’s how it happened. I’m going to stop looking this gift horse in the mouth before I end up ruining it for myself.

Favorite track: The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down