In 1985, the Band went into the studio for the first time since 1977 with the intent of recording tracks for an eventual album, as Richard Manuel had recently expressed interest in writing new material for the group, and had written 'Breaking New Ground' with Gerry Goffin and Carole King. However, on 4 March 1986 Manuel died by his own hand, and the Band abandoned efforts to make an album for several years. In 1990, Sony offered the group a recording contract, and they hired fellow Hawks member Stan Szelest to replace Manuel on keyboards, and proceeded to record new material with songwriter Jules Shear, but these recordings were rejected by Sony, who suggested the group take submissions from various songwriters. However, bad luck dogged the group again, when Szelest died of a heart attack while sessions were ongoing. The Band then requested release from Sony and found a new contract with Great Pyramid Records, and without Manuel or Robbie Robertson as songwriters, the group relied mostly on outside sources, such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bruce Springsteen, and their friends Bob Dylan and Artie Traum, and a few sessions also involved Champion Jack Dupree. 'Country Boy', a song from the 1985 sessions with Manuel on vocals, was also selected for inclusion on the album, and John Simon, who had produced the Band's first two albums, was again brought in to produce along with Aaron L. Hurwitz. The album was finally completed in 1993, with new members Richard Bell on keyboards, Randy Ciarlante on second drums, and Jim Weider on lead guitar.
Among the material are four new originals written by the group: 'Remedy', written by Weider and producer John Simon, 'The Caves Of Jericho', co-written by Helm and Bell with Simon, 'Too Soon Gone', co-written by Szelest with Jules Shear, and 'Move To Japan, written by Helm, Szelest, and Weider with Simon and Joe Flood. Two contributions came from outside songwriters, with Artie Traum's 'Amazon (River Of Dreams)', and Shine A Light, composed by Marty Grebb and Daniel Moore, and the rest of the album consists of covers of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, and The Delmore Brothers. The record was generally well-received, with critic Mark Deming writing that while Robertson's strong song-writing and stinging lead guitar were sorely missed, the remaining musicians and guests performed well, and Jericho did unexpectedly prove that the Band could function very well without Robertson. Some time after the release of the album, a selection of alternate versions and outtakes appeared, although none of them are final mixes, and there seems to be little overdubbing and backing voices, so they might be classed more as rehearsals. There rarely seem to be two drummers, and Garth Hudson plays a lot of accordion throughout the first half, while a number of them feature a horn section. These previously unheard tracks have been examined by theband.hiof.no website, and their comments are as follows:
The Bruce Hornsby cover 'Night On The Town' has a lead vocal by Ciarlante, but this version takes too many directions and is ultimately too messy to get anywhere, although there's a great bit of wild organ from Hudson. 'Circle Of Time' is a loping mid-sixties style soul influenced song. Rick Danko sings lead, supported (I think) by a female singer. The prominent instruments are bass, drums and guitar with less piano and a touch of synth with a horns sound. Jim Weider bends some very un-Band like guitar sounds. If this had made it through to 'Jericho' it would definitely have been one of the best tracks on the album. 'The Tide Will Rise' is another Bruce Hornsby cover, with a lead vocal from Levon Helm, and is a song to Hornsby's ancestors, the watermen of Virginia. With words like 'they say we're a dying breed, they say we're gonna disappear' it reminds me of 'Cahoots', complete with tinkling orientalish synth and guitar sounds. They've put out worse than this in the past - most of 'Islands' and 'Cahoots' for starters. 'Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray' was co-written by Jim Rooney, and is a jazzy tribute to Ray Charles, with Hudson performing powerfully on horns. Three voices share equal honours, Helm, Danko and probably Ciarlante. It's very catchy, and has great lyrics, and it's incomprehensible that it wasn't used. 'Keep The Home Fires Burning' opens with a jaunty sax lead, and vocals are shared, with a C&W feel on the chorus. 'Stuff You Gotta Watch' is the only alternate take that I've included, as it opens in Sgt Pepper style with a voice announcing 'the triumphant return of the Kenny Wayne Orchestra!' then goes into a very live sounding big band pastiche of 'Stuff You Gotta Watch', which is faster and better than the album cut.
Lastly we have 'Soul Deep', which is a cover of the classic Box Tops' song, and I've also included live versions of 'Remedy' and 'Blind Willie McTell', which were issued on a rare promotional 7" single to publicise the album.
Track listing
01 Night On The Town
02 Circle Of Time
03 The Tide Will Rise
04 Remedy (live)
05 Keep The Home Fires Burning
06 Nobody Sings 'Em Like Ray
07 Stuff You Gotta Watch
08 Blind Willie McTell (live)
09 Soul Deep
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