"This is by far the most comprehensive, in-depth, and beautifully put together collection of The Band's musical journey," says The Band's Robbie Robertson.

Among A Musical History's previously unreleased audio tracks are live and studio recordings The Band created with Bob Dylan and Ronnie Hawkins, as well as various song sketches. The DVD's nine film clips include rare and previously unreleased concert performances, a filmed studio jam, and three songs The Band performed on "Saturday Night Live" in 1976, never before issued in their entirety.

A Musical History's release concludes a comprehensive restoration campaign for The Band's entire Capitol Records catalog. In 2000 and 2001, The Band's original Capitol albums were remastered and reissued with bonus tracks: Music From Big Pink (1968); The Band (1969); Stage Fright (1970); Cahoots (1971); Rock Of Ages (1972); Moondog Matinee (1973); Northern Lights-Southern Cross (1975); Islands (1977); and a new Greatest Hits compilation was released.

By the late 1960s, The Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, and the group's members shared an extensive collaborative history dating back to the late 1950s and early '60s. Between 1958 and 1962, the then-teenaged multi-instrumentalists Levon Helm (drums, vocals), Robbie Robertson (guitar, piano, vocals), Rick Danko (bass, vocals), Richard Manuel (keyboards, vocals, drums) and Garth Hudson (keyboards, horns) first performed and recorded together as members of the backing band for Ronnie Hawkins called the Hawks. In late 1963, the Hawks struck out on their own and became Levon & the Hawks, playing and recording under this name in 1964 and 1965.

In 1965, Robertson met with Bob Dylan in New York, just as Dylan was seeking an electric guitarist for his touring band. The Band was born, with all of the former Hawks backing Bob Dylan on the road from October 1965 through 1966 as he incensed audiences in the U.S., Australia and Europe, performing electric sets. Disheartened by the vocally disdainful 'folkie purist' audience response to their first plugged-in performances with Dylan, Helm left The Band in November 1965.

After the 1966 tour concluded, The Band woodshedded for the next year in upstate New York, often in the company of Bob Dylan, forging a highly original sound that in one way or another encompassed the panoply of American roots music: country, blues, R&B, gospel, soul, rockabilly, the honking tenor sax tradition, Anglican hymns, funeral dirges, brass band music, folk music, modern rock, fused and synthesized in ways that no one had ever thought possible before. Levon Helm re-joined The Band in 1967, as the group prepared to record their first full-length album, Music From Big Pink. The Band's line-up remained intact until they disbanded in November 1976, following the live recording and Martin Scorsese's filmed documentation of their final concert for The Last Waltz.

Released in 1968, Music From Big Pink received glowing reviews; a journalist for Life magazine wrote that The Band "dipped into the well of tradition and came up with a bucketful of clear, cool, country soul that washed the ears with a sound never heard before," and icons such as Eric Clapton and George Harrison extolled the virtues of the album in print. While it only reached the #30 slot on Billboard's album charts when it was initially released, over time it has become recognized as one of the most important and classic albums in the history of rock.

Between 1968 and 1976, The Band released seven albums, and two additional releases followed in 1977 and 1978. The aforementioned Music From Big Pink (1968) was adorned with an original folk art cover painting by Bob Dylan. The eponymous album The Band (1969) sailed into Billboard's Top 10 and is hailed as one of rock's seminal releases. Stage Fright (1970) was recorded at the Woodstock Playhouse without an audience (due to local government's worries about a potential fan rush on the town from the greater Northeast), and climbed to #5 on the album charts, the highest position any Band album would ever attain. Cahoots (1971) peaked at #21 on the chart. The double live album Rock Of Ages (1972) peaked at #6 on Billboard's album charts. Moondog Matinee (1973) was a collection of covers recorded in Bearsville and Hollywood which reached #28 on the chart. Northern Lights-Southern Cross (1975), which peaked at #26, was The Band's first studio recording of original material since 1971 (1974 had seen a studio album collaboration with Bob Dylan, Planet Waves, and a live album from their subsequent tour, Before The Flood). Islands (recorded in 1975 and released in 1977) was The Band's final studio album, a collection of odds and ends they had not intended for a specific album. The Last Waltz, filmed in 1976 by Martin Scorsese and recorded live with all-star ensemble of guest performers, was theatrically released with an accompanying 3-album soundtrack in 1978, capping The Band's original recorded legacy.

Although Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Levon Helm got back together and went back on the road in 1983 under the name The Band, without all five original members it was never the same. Wracked by demons for far too long, in March 1986 Richard Manuel committed suicide in a Florida motel. In 1989, The Band was inducted into the Canadian Juno Hall of Fame and five years later they were accorded the same honor by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. With the exception of Manuel, all of the former members of The Band have issued a variety of solo recordings over the years, enjoying successful careers as individuals. Sadly, Rick Danko passed away in his sleep on December 10, 1999.

The Band's legacy lives on, both in their own recordings and in their tangible influence on popular music since they first hit the scene, wowing not only Bob Dylan, but many other major players of the day, including Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Miles Davis. Making Americana music before the term even existed, Rick, Levon, Garth, Richard and Robbie collectively constituted the only ensemble to ever rightfully earn the sobriquet The Band.

The Band - A Musical History

DISC ONE

1) Who Do You Love? - Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks 2:40

2) You Know I Love You - Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks 2:44 (stereo)

3) Further On Up The Road - Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks 3:06 (stereo)

4) Nineteen Years Old - Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks 4:12 (stereo)

5) Honky Tonk - Levon & The Hawks 3:02 #

6) Bacon Fat - Levon & The Hawks 2:38 #

7) Robbie's Blues - Levon & The Hawks 3:37 #

8) Leave Me Alone - Levon & The Hawks 2:37 *

9) Uh Uh Uh - Levon & The Hawks 2:21 *

10) He Don't Love You (And He'll Break Your Heart) - Levon & The Hawks 2:37

11) (I Want To Be) The Rainmaker (song sketch) 2:59 #

12) The Stones I Throw (song sketch) 1:07 #

13) The Stones I Throw (Will Free All Men) - Levon & The Hawks 2:06

14) Go Go Liza Jane - Levon & The Hawks 2:11

15) Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window? (single version) - Bob Dylan 3:32

16) Tell Me, Momma (live 5/14/66, The Odeon, Liverpool) - Bob Dylan 4:05 #

17) Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (live 5/14/66, The Odeon, Liverpool) - Bob Dylan 5:36 **

18) Words And Numbers (song sketch) 4:09 #

19) You Don't Come Through (song sketch) 2:03 #

20) Beautiful Thing (song sketch) 1:41 #

21) Caledonia Mission (song sketch) 2:29 #

22) Odds And Ends - Bob Dylan & The Band 1:46 (stereo)

23) Ferdinand The Impostor 4:06

24) Ruben Remus 3:13 (stereo)

25) Will The Circle Be Unbroken :55 #

# track previously unissued
* track previously unissued on CD
** track previously unissued on LP (in the U.S.) or CD

All tracks on disc one are presented in mono unless otherwise noted

DISC TWO

1) Katie's Been Gone 2:45

2) Ain't No More Cane On The Brazos 3:58

3) Don't Ya Tell Henry - Bob Dylan & The Band 3:13

4) Tears Of Rage 5:21

5) To Kingdom Come (full-length version) 3:57 #

6) In A Station 3:31

7) The Weight 4:36

8) We Can Talk 3:03

9) Long Black Veil 3:03

10) Chest Fever 5:15

11) This Wheel's On Fire 3:11

12) I Shall Be Released 3:12

13) Yazoo Street Scandal 3:54 #

14) I Ain't Got No Home (live 1/20/68, Carnegie Hall, NYC) - Bob Dylan with The Band 3:44

15) Orange Juice Blues (Blues For Breakfast) 3:18

16) Baby Lou 3:38 #

17) Long Distance Operator 4:32 #

18) Key To The Highway 2:22 #

19) Bessie Smith 4:17

# track previously unissued

DISC THREE

1) Across The Great Divide 2:53

2) Rag Mama Rag 3:05

3) The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 3:33

4) When You Awake 3:15

5) Up On Cripple Creek 4:34

6) Whispering Pines 3:57

7) King Harvest (Has Surely Come) 3:37

8) Get Up Jake 2:16

9) Jemima Surrender (early version) 3:47 #

10) Daniel And The Sacred Harp (alternate take) 4:21

11) Time To Kill 3:26

12) All La Glory (early version) 3:24 #

13) The Shape I'm In 4:02

14) Stage Fright 3:43

15) The Rumor 4:14

16) Slippin' & Slidin' (live 7/5/70, the Festival Express Train Tour, Calgary, Canada) 3:21 #

17) Don't Do It 3:46

18) Strawberry Wine (live 6/2/71, Royal Albert Hall, London) 3:46 #

19) Rockin' Chair (live 6/2/71, Royal Albert Hall, London) 4:12 #

20) Look Out Cleveland (live 6/2/71, Royal Albert Hall, London) 3:33 #

21) 4% Pantomime 6:01 #

# track previously unissued

DISC FOUR

1) Life Is A Carnival 3:55

2) When I Paint My Masterpiece 4:21

3) The Moon Struck One 4:09

4) The River Hymn 4:39

tracks 5-13 from Rock Of Ages (live 12/28-12/31/71, the Academy of Music, NYC)

5) Don't Do It 4:36

6) Caledonia Mission 3:22

7) Smoke Signal 5:09 #

8) Unfaithful Servant 4:41

9) The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show 4:05

10) The Genetic Method 7:31

11) Chest Fever 5:04

12) (I Don't Want To Hang Up My) Rock 'N' Roll Shoes 4:30

13) Loving You (Is Sweeter Than Ever) 3:35

14) Endless Highway 5:07

15) Move Me (song sketch) 2:57 #

16) Two Piano Song 4:12 #

17) Mystery Train 5:33

# track previously unissued

DISC FIVE

1) Ain't Got No Home 3:24

2) Share Your Love With Me 2:54

3) Didn't It Rain 3:18

4) Forever Young - Bob Dylan 4:56

5) Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (live 2/13/74, The Forum, Inglewood, CA) - Bob Dylan & The Band 3:37

6) Highway 61 Revisited (live 1/31/74, Madison Square Garden, NYC) - Bob Dylan 3:55 #

7) Ophelia 3:31

8) Acadian Driftwood 6:41

9) It Makes No Difference 6:32

10) Twilight (song sketch) 3:25 #

11) Christmas Must Be Tonight 3:36

12) The Saga Of Pepote Rouge 4:13

13) Livin' In A Dream 2:51

14) Forbidden Fruit (live 9/18/76, The Palladium, NYC) 5:39 #

15) Home Cookin' 3:44 #

16) Out Of The Blue 3:20

17) Evangeline - with Emmylou Harris 3:10

18) The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (from The Last Waltz, live 11/25/76, Winterland Palace, San Francisco, CA) 4:32

19) The Weight - with The Staples 4:36

# track previously unissued

DISC SIX - DVD

1) Jam/King Harvest (Has Surely Come) (rec. 1970, Robbie's Studio, Woodstock, NY) 4:22 †

2) Long Black Veil (live 7/5/70, the Festival Express Train Tour, Calgary, Canada) 2:46 #

3) Rockin' Chair (live 7/5/70, the Festival Express Train Tour, Calgary, Canada) 3:52 #

4) Don't Do It (live 12/28-12/31/71, the Academy of Music, NYC) 4:33 #

5) Hard Times (The Slop)/Just Another Whistle Stop (live 9/14/74, Wembley Stadium, London) 7:20 #

6) The Genetic Method/Chest Fever (live 9/14/74, Wembley Stadium, London) 7:49 #

7) Life Is A Carnival (live 10/30/76, Saturday Night Live, NYC) 3:14 †

8) Stage Fright (live 10/30/76, Saturday Night Live, NYC) 3:32 †

9) Georgia On My Mind (live 10/30/76, Saturday Night Live, NYC) 3:10 #