Rock of Ages
Four nights at the Academy of Music, with horns arranged by Allen Toussaint.
The Band, 1972
- Released
- 15 August 1972
- Recorded
- 28 to 31 December 1971
- Studio
- Academy of Music, New York City
- Label
- Capitol
- Producer
- The Band
- Length
- 78:19
- Type
- live
The Band booked a residency at the Academy of Music for the last week of 1971 and recorded four nights, 28 to 31 December. Robertson had commissioned Allen Toussaint for the Cahoots single Life Is a Carnival and decided to have him write special charts for a five-man horn section. The first set of charts, written in New Orleans, was in luggage lost at the airport, so a new set was written in a cabin near Robertson's house in Woodstock. Eleven songs received horn charts. American Songwriter reports that the group rehearsed with the horn players for only one night. Beside songs from all their studio albums, the band played a new song, Get Up Jake, and three covers.
Dylan, their old employer, joined them on New Year's Eve for the last four songs, in the early morning of 1 January 1972. Those performances were left off the original album and were added to a 2001 expanded edition. The album reached 6 on the Billboard 200 and went gold. In 2013 Capitol issued Live at the Academy of Music 1971, a new mix of the concerts.
Track listing
- Introduction by Robertson1:22
- Don't Do It5:00
- King Harvest (Has Surely Come)4:04
- Caledonia Mission3:38
- Get Up Jake3:33
- The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show3:54
- Stage Fright4:38
- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down4:34
- Across the Great Divide3:59
- This Wheel's on Fire4:07
- Rag Mama Rag4:33
- The Weight5:32
- The Shape I'm In4:14
- The Unfaithful Servant4:48
- Life Is a Carnival4:17
- The Genetic Method7:48
- Chest Fever5:24
- (I Don't Want to) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes4:20
Personnel
- Robbie Robertson guitar, backing vocals, introduction
- Garth Hudson organ, piano, accordion, tenor and soprano saxophone solos
- Richard Manuel vocals, piano, organ, clavinet, drums
- Rick Danko vocals, bass guitar, violin
- Levon Helm vocals, drums, mandolin
- Allen Toussaint horn arrangements
- Howard Johnson tuba, euphonium, baritone saxophone
- Snooky Young trumpet, flugelhorn
- Joe Farrell tenor and soprano saxophones, English horn
- Earl McIntyre trombone
- J.D. Parron alto saxophone, E-flat clarinet
More from The Band
Music from Big Pink (1968), The Band (1969), Stage Fright (1970)
Sources
- Rock of Ages (The Band album), Wikipedia
- Remembering when the Band released their ultimate live album with the help of a New Orleans legend in 1972, American Songwriter (2026-04-30)