The Band (and My Mom Is Always Right)

When I was a child, my father had an amazing stereo system and record collection we were not allowed to touch.

Ever.

That means we were forced to listen to whatever he decided to play -- mostly bluesy, funky, folky bands (Poco, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, the Doobie Brothers, etc.). After all, this was the 70s and early 80s (heck, my favorite album was No Nukes).

We whined and complained. Of course.

But my mother told me something that stuck with me: she said, someday, you're going to go off to college, and you're going to meet a boy, and he's going to say 'Have you ever heard The Band?' and you'll say 'why, yes, I've been listening to them for years.'"

She was right . . . it happened exactly like that when I was a First Year.

The Band was always great, and it's sad that they seem slightly lost to the sands of time, despite being in one of the best concert films ever The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorcese. I even sang a few bars (badly) of Acadian Driftwood to A recently, a song he'd never heard.

I thought about all of this I heard a cover of "Rocking Chair" by Death Cab for Cutie this week. It is a surprisingly faithful cover.

Here are both songs:

Rocking Chair, Death Cab for Cutie.

Rocking Chair, The Band.

Buy it on Amazon here.