Across the Great Divide: The Band

Rating:
Summary: Shoddy research
Review: Across The Great Divide: The Band and America Barney Hoskyns

After reading this book, it left me with a valid picture of the group I have grown to love. With close-up analysis by The Band's "mentor", Ronnie Hawkins, we are taken on a journey of their wonderous lives. From the rise of this magnificent band to their virtual disappearance after the Last Waltz. This bio is thorough and left me with a greater understanding of the choices they were forced to make. An enjoyable read. mid

Rating:
Summary: The Fan's Paradise.
Review: Across The Great Divide: The Band and America Barney Hoskyns

After reading this book, it left me with a valid picture of the group I have grown to love. With close-up analysis by The Band's "mentor", Ronnie Hawkins, we are taken on a journey of their wonderous lives. From the rise of this magnificent band to their virtual disappearance after the Last Waltz. This bio is thorough and left me with a greater understanding of the choices they were forced to make. An enjoyable read. mid

Rating:
Summary: Good but flawed
Review: I suspect that among the reasons why this is not currently in print, two stand out. The first is, unfortunately, The Band aren't in vogue anymore, so why reprint the book and use paper that's earmarked for a Britney Spears quickie bio, right? Another reason, though, is that Barney Hoskyns is only passable at writing a biography, however much he may love his subject. There's a lot of details he simply gets wrong (No, Mr. Hoskyns, Lily Tomlin and Albert Brooks are NOT from Canada; Tomlin was born in Detroit and Brooks in California) and there's a lot of his critical opinions which render his judgement suspect (his critiques of Jesse Winchester and John Hammond, Jr. are laughable). But, as said, Hoskyns does love The Band and when he sticks to telling their story, their musical legacy gains dimension. You come away from the book wishing that so many things could've been different for them all, but grateful that they've also given us a lot of great music. So I hope it gets reprinted, but with considerable revisions.

Rating:
Summary: Shoddy research
Review: The research in this book is unbelievably shoddy. In addition to the examples already given, here are two more: On page 328 he states that The Band played the Carter Baron Amphitheater in Washington, DC on 16 August 1976. The actual date was 17 JULY 1976, and there was a King Biscuit Flower Hour recorded there to prove it, complete with the correct date. Also, I saw The Band on 18 July 1976 at Music Inn, Lenox, MA, where they were late because their equipment had been delayed from DC the night before. Then on page 384 he states that The Band was opening for Crosby, Stills and Nash on their Florida tour the first week in March of 1986. That would have been a real trick, as David Crosby was in prison then. I saw three of those Florida shows, and The Band headlined all of them, no CS&N. Their final show with Richard Manuel was March 3, 1986 in Winter Park, FL, something Hoskyns managed to get right. Avoid this poorly researched mess.