The Band - Tombstone (1990)

Following their iconic Last Waltz tour in 1978, The Band went their separate ways. By the mid-80's they were missing touring enough to regroup and start playing again, but Robbie Robertson had found a new career in the movies writing soundtracks, and so decided not to join the rest of the group on the tour. Before long the studio beckoned for a new album, and as Robertson was the main songwriter they needed a producer, and eventually chose songwriter Jules Shear, most famous at that time for writing Cyndi Lauper's hit 'All Through The Night'. An album was recorded, with Shear writing some of the songs, but it was rejected by their new label Sony - in fact they never issued anything on the label, with their next official record being 1993's 'Jericho', on the small Pyramid Label. The rustic Americana that The Band are known for is still in evidence, and Rick Danko's vocals as good as ever, but it sounds like Shear also sang on a number of the songs, which could be part of the reason that the album was rejected, as the label might not have been keen on a Robertson-less Band. 'You Don't Know Me' is a live recording from Tokyo in 1983, sung by Richard Manuel.

Track listing

01 Tombstone, Tombstone
02 River Of Honey
03 All Creation
04 Baby Don't You Cry No More
05 The High Price Of Love
06 Long Ways To Tennessee
07 Too Soon Gone
08 Money Whipped
09 Never Again Or Forever
10 You Don't Know Me