The Band essays – Track 5 Side 2 – Unfaithful Servant

This idea sprang from here.

Track 1 Side 1 - Across the Great Divide is here.
Track 2 Side 1 - Rag Mama Rag is here.
Track 3 Side 1 - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down is here.
Track 4 Side 1 - When You Awake is here.
Track 5 Side 1 - Up On Cripple Creek is here.
Track 6 Side 1 - Whispering Pines is here.
Track 1 Side 2 - Jemima Surrender is here. 
Track 2 Side 2 - Rockin’ Chair is here.
Track 3 Side 2 - Look Out Cleveland is here.
Track 4 Side 2 - Jawbone is here.

"God don't like complaints."

--Rick Danko

Unfaithful Servant is one of the great lead vocals. Rick Danko's voice almost quivers at times. There is something so vulnerable in his performance of Robbie's somewhat creepy song of the not-so-genteel old south...which reads like something out of a gothic Handmaiden's Tale, with sexual exploitation bubbling just beneath the surface. It's all the more extraordinary because Danko remembers singing the song 40 or so times in the studio, only to come back to his very first pass at it. His first take is the one that ended up on the record. Levon mentions that the lead vocal on Band songs would be decided almost telepathically. They might all take a crack at it, and ultimately there was never any doubt as to who the choice was. It just seemed obvious to all of them at the same time. There is something that aches in Rick's voice. His heart is always on the verge of breaking.