One of my heroes. As far as I'm concerned, The Band invented that delicious stew of American roots music currently known as "Americana." Ironic, given that all but Helm were Canadians. When they were in their prime, they offered badly needed relief from the slicker, less substantive "country rock." Looking back, these root farmers are now the roots themselves, feeding hearty nutrition to hundreds of artists who have been creating the great American music of this era on the fringes of commerciality, where this kind of music really belongs. It was wonderful, that brief period when The Band, Dylan and many others could make earnest art and get great commercial success from it, but personally, I'm comfortable enough having the real artists and songwriters a bit on the fringe. Leave pop stardom to pop tarts. That way I know where they are and can ignore them more easily.
Tim