The Band Albums Ranked

By the time the Band released their debut album, Music From Big Pink, in 1968, they were already rock 'n' roll veterans, having performed as the Hawks behind Ronnie Hawkins since the late '50s and then joined Bob Dylan as his backing band on his myth-making 1966 tour.

They quickly grew into one of the era's most versatile and busiest groups. Their historical mark as roots music pioneers is well documented, but their legacy extends far beyond the Americana label they helped define on such visionary albums as 1969's The Band.

The Band's five members — Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson — were prone to swapping instruments onstage and in the studio, where songs would swing from ragtime romps to Cajun history lessons, which is reflected in the list below of the Band Albums Ranked

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They famously ended their career with an all-star Thanksgiving performance at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom in 1976 with friends including Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Neil Young and, of course, Dylan. In 1983, without Robertson, the other members reunited for live performances, before recording three albums (again sans Robertson, busy with film soundtracks and solo records) in the '90s.

Also of note are two albums with Dylan on which the Band received co-billing: The Basement Tapes, recorded in 1967 at a house in West Saugerties, New York, but not released until 1975, and 1974's Planet Waves, released to coincide with a Band-Dylan reunion tour. Plus, the live sets Rock of Ages (1972), Before the Flood (1974, with Dylan) and The Last Waltz (1978), a three-LP set documenting the original Band lineup's final show, are all worth hearing.