By the time he begins trading lines with Helm, “Whispering Pines” takes on the character of the most powerful devotional music. Stream music now using our webplayer. Their relationship with Dylan helped the group move to New York, where they collaborated with him on music that would end up becoming some of the most sought-after bootlegs of the time; namely, the 1975-released project known as The Basement Tapes. There is a sadness that gathers around the story of the Band, but also a sense of triumph. Manuel’s lead vocals are stunning — somehow conveying a complex cocktail of vulnerability, hurt, and aspirational wonder that conveys the song’s central message about the awesome loneliness of life and nature.

“They signed a treaty/ And our homes were taken/ Loved ones forsaken/ They didn’t give a damn.” Danko, Manuel, and Helm all take a turn singing the verses, telling this heartbreaking tale of loss, alienation, and homesickness, giving voice to a people who didn’t have any say in their ultimate fate.

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen. Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour. The irony of their magisterial greatness was captured only too adroitly by a young Martin Scorsese in his 1978 concert film The Last Waltz, which chronicled the group playing in its original lineup for the final time at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in 1976. Like a gorgeous Northern cousin to Gram Parson’s “Hickory Wind,” the yearning “Whispering Pines” is one of the most intense and transporting four minutes in the history of the folk and rock tradition.

Visit the YouTube Music Channel to find today’s top talent, featured artists, and playlists. The Band was a Canadian-American rock group, consisting of Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm. The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band. Years on the road had burnished a continuity of sound and a sense of purpose that immediately yielded the instant classics Music From Big Pink in 1968 and the equally wonderful self-titled album The Band in 1969. One of the group’s mesmerizing conjurer’s tricks is the ability to make a song move like lightning, while never seeming to be in any sort of rush themselves as players.

It feels epic, but is barely three and a half minutes long. The poignant centerpiece of the great Northern Lights/Southern Cross, the Danko-sung “It Makes No Difference” is an emotional cratering of such profound proportions that it can be difficult to recover from a casual listening.

Joined by luminaries like Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Dr. John, the group never sounded more incandescent. Subscribe to the YouTube Music channel to stay up on the latest news and updates from YouTube Music. But the story of the group itself and the inimitable individuals who formed its ranks has more in common with a 19th century Russian novel: epic, historical, and mainly tragic. It carries you away to places of exultant happiness and terrible misery — and then just like that, just like the group itself, it’s gone. Download the YouTube Music app free for Android or iOS.