Garth Hudson, the last living member of The Band, dead at 87

The Windsor-born multi-instrumentalist was part of the Canadian contingent of the famous band.

He was 87.

Born in Windsor and raised in London, Ont., Hudson was recruited by Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm in 1961 to join Levon and The Hawks, the forerunner of The Band.

He was part of the Canadian contingent of the group that included guitarist Robbie Robertson, bass player Rick Danko and keyboardist/singer Richard Manuel, a musical collective that joined Bob Dylan in 1965 and went on to forge their own identity with such influential albums as “Music From The Big Pink” and “The Band.”

The Band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

This is a developing story.

[www.thestar.com]

Genius!
It's the end of an era, with the complete Band gone.





Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

A true legend from a legendary band !

Rest in Peace Garth.

So sad to hear this - when I was doing my radio program I would do entire evenings of the band- Garth and his wife maude were great contributors to those programs, sending me all kinds of unreleased songs and rarities. I interviewed him once and I have to say it was wild. I would ask a question and he would play piano for a couple of minutes before answering...we talked a lot about the band as well as his superb dad solo album sea to the north which had just been released. We also talked about his session work with folks like Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr. He was a class act all the way

Oh Lord

May you rest in peace Mr Professor.

One of a Kind. Now he is up there givin ' the rest a hint of the Best.

Live Forever Garth

RIP Garth. Such sad news.

Garth was one of the greats........RIP

R.I.P. Garth, you shared so much with all of us, thank you.

The Band truly created Rock Of Ages.

RIP to Garth & the Band.

Some vintage Garth on this track. RIP.

Very sad news. A genious

Met Garth an Maude in Christchurch NZ 2016 great memory of talking to them as they had a smoke together outside the theatre in their wheel chairs RIP Garth keyboard genius

very sad news, r.i.p. Garth.

RIP Garth. As a multi instrumentalist and musical mentor to his bandmates he was a huge contributor to the overall 'sound' of the group and his intro to Chest Fever (as noted above) always mesmerizing.

RIP Garth.

RIP.

I really hate how many greats from the classics we're losing right now

This is a sad one for me. Always loved The Band. And Garth was, as already mentioned, pure genius. RIP and condolences to friends and family.

Rod

Garth Hudson, founding member of the Band, dead at 87: ‘He was always all about the music’

The Windsor-born multi-instrumentalist was part of the Canadian contingent of the famous band.

By Nick KrewenSpecial to the Star
The last living charter member of the Band has died.

Keyboardist and saxophonist Garth Hudson, perhaps best known for his powerful, blasting Lowrey organ intro for the classic Band song “Chest Fever,” passed away peacefully in his sleep after a lengthy illness Tuesday morning at a nursing home in Woodstock, N.Y.

He was 87.

Revered as a key architect of the Band’s dual keyboard sound — along with Stratford, Ont.‘s Richard Manuel — Hudson played organ, piano, accordion and occasionally saxophone and trumpet for the influential lineup that also included Toronto-born Jaime Robbie Robertson on guitar; Blayney, Ont.-born bassist Rick Danko; and drummer and singer Levon Helm, a native of Elaine, Ark. Hudson was widely regarded as the group’s secret weapon, adding his own resourceful stamp to the arrangements of such Band masterworks as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “The Weight.”

He also played a significant role musically in the pre-Band Levon and the Hawks as they supported rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins and assisted Bob Dylan when he famously — and controversially — transitioned from acoustic folk to polarizing rock in the mid ‘60s.

And when Dylan was convalescing from a serious motorcycle accident in Woodstock, it was Hudson who set up the recording equipment in the house known as Big Pink and engineered the majority of the over 150 experimental compositions and performances by Dylan and the Hawks that comprised the notorious “Basement Tapes.”

When the Band struck out on its own with 1968’s “Music From Big Pink,” producer John Simon called Hudson the “wild card” that made that album a favourite of such superstars as Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

“Garth was essentially a colourist. He had an incredible palette,” Simon told the Star in a phone interview.

“Levon Helm said the Band wouldn’t be the Band without him.”

Hudson was an important part of the chemistry that fuelled 12 albums (nine from the Robertson era), two tours and six albums with Dylan. The Band received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and inductions into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (1989), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994) and Canada’s Walk of Fame (2014).

Toronto-born, Nashville-based producer and musician Colin Linden, who first met Hudson while opening for a reunited Band at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre in 1985 — and later joined them as a touring guitarist in the early ‘90s — emphasized Hudson’s uniqueness.

“He was so incredibly unlike anyone else,” Linden told the Star. “And absolutely everything that he said and everything that he played was like nobody else would have or could have. I treasured every bit of time that I spent with him.”

Born in Windsor on Aug. 2, 1937, and raised in London, Ont., Eric “Garth” Hudson grew up in a musical household, taking his first piano lessons at the age of five. His mother Olive sang, played piano and accordion; his father Fred was a drummer and reed player. His parents sent young Garth to the Toronto Conservatory to study piano and theory and composition, among other things.

When he joined the Hawks in 1961, he was already regarded as something of a musical savant, having played earlier in a number of country and R&B dance outfits, as well as the organ in the local Anglican church and at his uncle’s funeral parlour.

“He learned so many Anglican hymns, and really came from a Southwestern Ontario tradition,” said Linden. “He always told me, and you could hear it in his playing, that that was sort of a through-line of how his improvisational and compositional sense went.”

Jan Haust, Hudson’s long-time friend, colleague and executor of his estate, who, with Hudson’s blessing, assembled and released the Grammy-winning “Basement Tapes Complete” in 2014, remembers the bearded musician as an “uncompromising gentleman” who had a great sense of humour and lived to learn.

“He was always all about the music,” said Haust.

Predeceased by Maud, his wife of 43 years, in 2022, Hudson left no immediate family.

But he has left an immeasurable impact as one of Canada’s national treasures.

[www.thestar.com]

That sadly closes the book of The Band. I'm still having trouble getting over RR's passing. I like Simon's "wild card" comment. Garth gave the group a unique weirdness, a rural twang, an almost dreamlike carnival quality, all disguised with superb musicianship. I often had a daydream that if The Beatles ever performed Sgt. Pepper live all they'd need was Garth back there surrounded by all the equipment and instruments that he'd need to pull it off.

Quote
SomeTorontoGirl
“Levon Helm said the Band wouldn’t be the Band without him.”

The Band wouldn't have been The Band without any of the five guys. Bands with such tightness come around once in a blue moon.

It is now the end of the story but not the end of their music. Not a week goes by without me putting on their music.

Hate to see Garth go.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025-01-22 10:33 by frenki09.

Quote
bob r
So sad to hear this - when I was doing my radio program I would do entire evenings of the band- Garth and his wife maude were great contributors to those programs, sending me all kinds of unreleased songs and rarities. I interviewed him once and I have to say it was wild. I would ask a question and he would play piano for a couple of minutes before answering...we talked a lot about the band as well as his superb dad solo album sea to the north which had just been released. We also talked about his session work with folks like Leonard Cohen and Ringo Starr. He was a class act all the way

Bob, is it possible to listen to your radio shows? I am a sucker for good radio shows.

How very sad. Garth “the teacher” is gone. The Band was special and Garth played a massive role in coloring their sound. He always came off as a gentle soft spoken person. Strangely, Monday night, Music From Big Pink just came into my head while playing some records so I put it on! No idea, Garth had been terminally ill. Garth and his band mates left us with some serious musical treasures.Thank you.
RIP Garth

sad. very sad. What an incredible mark he and his bandmates left on music.

He and I grew up in the same town, though many decades apart. While definitely spending time listening to the popular grunge music of our teenage years, my merry band of moronic pals bonded greatly over The Band and they were the soundtrack to many of our silly adventures. I was fortunate enough to see the latter incarnation of The Band a couple of times and it was always so cool do see Garth do his thing. Also got to see him with Wilco at Massey Hall.
While, for whatever reason, Levon's death hit me the hardest this one hurts too.

"We don't cry because we knew them. We cry because they helped us know ourselves."

One of may favorite bands. They were my intro to what is now called Americana. RIP sir.

RIP, Garth. The Band is together again.

"Take all the pain...It's yours anyway"

Very sad Rip Garth

The end of an era. RIP Garth Hudson.

There is a short bit of Garth playing Old Rugged Cross ( on insta?) that is pretty recent and it is amazing. I used to see him in Kingston in the 80s during bar gigs with Rick and especially if Rick was not ready to roll Garth would just let loose for a while and blow everyone's minds.